Almost commutative Q-algebras and derived brackets

We introduce the notion of almost commutative Q -algebras and demonstrate how the derived bracket formalism of Kosmann-Schwarzbach generalises to this setting. In particular, we construct 'almost commutative Lie algebroids' following Vaintrob's Q -manifold understanding of classical Lie algebroids. We show that the basic tenets of the theory of Lie algebroids carry over verbatim to the almost commutative world.