Inspired by Orval & Bringing Belgian Brett into my Brewery

[pantsmachine]

My first batch of Brett C'd beer had classic pineapple and depth to it. This was a brett'd Apricot Saison. The second is a Belgian Golden ale and has more classic funky notes. It is early days but the second one is developing into the more interesting beer. Steve' i'll be culturing up Brett C next week, you want a test tube sent down? Classic live yeast shipping weather at the moment!

[pantsmachine]

I *think* it's actually quite clean as there's een nothing too funky in mine - which i need to bottle. They used to use the rodenbach strain so any 'extras' are likely to be slow working and largely unknwon. It's NOT from 'Oerbier' though which definitely takes on a funky edge but from 'arabier' and 'dolle treve' trippel...

The beauty of the unknowns is that you will end up with a different beer every 6 months from the same batch. Without appearing to be bragging(coz it wasn't me it was the brett C) i have had two people say that the apricot/Cherry brett'd saison was the best beer they have ever drank. Cue feelings of immense pride and happiness. I won't kid on i knew everything i had to to make it but what a pleasant surprise, flavours in the brett beers that do not exist in the 'normal' sacc world. A grand adventure!

[lancsSteve]

Ooh apricot saison! I've been thinking of using my berliner weisse culture to do a sour whaety apricot beer...

WOuld love a tube of brett - will PM addy

[pantsmachine]

It will store for 3 months at least as this is the age of the 1/2 tube i cultured. I don't know the shelf life but reckon 6 months would be do-able as it goes zombiedormant. New word, ace!

Yours is in amongst the flask the sample jar is the current IPA.



It'll be in the post next week once all finished and clarified. cheers.

P.

[lancsSteve]

So theoretically I could brew say a belgian pale ale along Orval lines and ferment with say WLP550 then stick some in a cornie, whack brett in the remained and botle that?

Would I need to leave it in secondary with the brett a while or just add as a bottling strain? Guessing it would be wise to watch the level of carbonation sugar added and go on the low side (like aim for 2 vols co2 anticipating something nearer the 3 you;d expect in a Belgian)

[pantsmachine]

Yes indeed you could do that. The approach i use is to ferment with yeast A and then move X of the batch to secondary and introduce the Brett C. Brett C doesn't do much until the yeast A is finished but it then runs away nice and slow for a long time on almost all the residual sugars left behind by yeast A. With this in mind using it as a bottling yeast would be potentially explosive! I am still learning my way round this yeast. My current active Brett C batch has just had a 1/2 tub of expensive cocoa powder introduced and its running away nice ans slowly. Bear in mind that the simpler the sugars that you introduce to the batch in secondary will influence whether or not Yeast A wakes up again and consumes before Brett C gets the chance to go to work. Long primary with a good drop out time for Yeast A before transfer is a good way to minimise its impact on the Brett C sec ferm. Splitting the batch to trial the difference between the two is absolutely critical. Not for a technicla reason but just so you can taste the 'oh my god' difference between two otherwise identical beers.

[pantsmachine]

As you can see, a higher mash temp aiming for more complex sugars and a yeast choice which finishes at a relatively high FG will give the Brett C more to work with. Just another layer of thought to go into the prep for the beer!

[Spud395]

I cant find a lot of information on Brett C after a look around.
What Temps does it operate at best? Normal fermentation temps?

I did find that it was originaly isolated as an english strain and am thinking about using some in a stout or porter, any thoughts on that?

[pantsmachine]

The batch in the flask is going well at about 18 degrees and my dark batch for Xmas 2012 does not register on the temp strip stuck to the glass fv so sub 9 degrees. That one is delberately being worked cool and long as its a complicated mulitlayer beer. Hope that helps plenty of room for experimentation by all in the temp range and hopefully we'll all boost our games off the back of it and our shared experiences.

[Spud395]

Excellent, I like the sound of this.
I'm limited to one FV in a temp controlled environment.
So it'd be a plan if I stuck on a brew, split after primary and brett'd some at shed temps for extended periods?

This just gets better the more I find out about it!

[pantsmachine]

That's the way. Bear in mind to culture the Brett before pitching so you have fresh single strain in your fridge for next time. Otherwise its stuck in with the primary yeast strain and then you've got a split yeast culture. There's no reason NOT to keep the primary/brett split yeast culture but you might not want to Brett the next beer you plan with that primary strain. Easier to grow the Brett culture at the beginning and split clean. I use 3 tablespoons of organic barley malt extract to approx 1/2 ltr boiled and cooled water and not had a problem with growth. Growth on this one has been massive so there will be plenty in the phials. Cheers!
P.

[pantsmachine]

Just drinking a a bottle of my mkII Quad B Brett'd Belgian golden ale. Its amazing, hits all the high notes, bright breezy and sherbert like with a light tropical nose. I'd take a picture but that's becoming obsessive.....

[Spud395]

Whats wrong with obsessive

[pantsmachine]

Nothing i suppose but i DO watch out for my overenthusiasm for brewing when in the real world. Don't these people realise how utterly magnificent it all is!!!!!!

Anyway, last thing to add is that its worth priming bottles(if indeed you go that way) with champagne yeast once sec Brett C Ferm is complete. More a belts and braces approach to ensure a carbonation than a must do. I feel in my gut that the Brett C alone will go many months of abuse before depleting and falling over and would ferment priming sugars easily in the bottle but we don't like to risk the final stage do we and i don't know what you plan to do? Right, that's me i've passed on my Brett C experience to date for what its worth. Your turns from next week onwards! Cheers.

P.

[pantsmachine]

They are in the post. Enjoy!