Dry beast with tail hidden (4)

I believe the answer is:

brut

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'dry beast' is the definition.
'brut' can be an answer for 'dry' (type of wine). I am not certain of the 'beast' bit.

'with tail hidden' is the wordplay.
'with' becomes 'by' (both can mean close together).
'tail' means to remove the last letter (I've seen 'tailed' mean this (to tail something can mean to remove its end)).
'hidden' becomes 'rut' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'by' with its last letter taken off is 'b'.
'b'+'rut'='BRUT'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for brut that I've seen before include "Dry (of champagne)" , "Of champagne, not sweet" , "one type of champagne" , "(Of sparkling wine) extremely dry" , "Unsweetened; very dry" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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