The Muse - All Brett L Blonde

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saq

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2008
Messages
783
Reaction score
51
Location
Tucson
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
WLP653
Yeast Starter
3.5L
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.5
Original Gravity
1.060
Final Gravity
1.006
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
26.3
Color
5.7
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
16
Tasting Notes
earthy, leather, big funk on top of a nice belgian blonde character
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.98 gal
Estimated OG: 1.060 SG
Estimated Color: 5.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 26.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 68.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 52.83 %
3.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 22.64 %
1.00 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 7.55 %
1.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 7.55 %
1.00 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 7.55 %
0.25 lb Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 1.89 %
2.00 oz Styrian Goldings [4.10 %] (60 min) Hops 26.3 IBU
1 Pkgs Brettanomyces Lambicus White Labs #WLP653 Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 13.25 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 20.94 qt of water at 166.6 F 156.0 F
10 min Step Add 10.00 qt of water at 197.1 F 168.0 F

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9/4/09 - Easy brewday, hit temps though efficiency was a little low. 1.060. Yeast not as ready as I want, delayed pitching till the morning.
9/5/98 - Yeast looks pretty ready, pitched. Few hours later a krausen had formed. Ferm temp is at 70f
9/7/09 - Krausen appears to be diminishing and bubbling is slowing, took out of fridge and placed into theater room where fermentatino temperature reached around 79-80 stable. Little to no activity going on.
9/18/09 - Some new krausen appears to have formed, its thin but looks a little hard and bubbly, some airlock activity is happening. Added figs
9/25/09 - Airlock activity is slowing and bubbling has subsided. Took gravity reading, 1.012.
9/29/09 - activity is slow, gravity reading 1.008
10/16/09 - definitely done, gravity reading read 1.006, very funky, blends in with some fig character, quite nice. kegging

Fermented in a 6g better bottle at 70f for about a month before kegging. After 2 weeks dropped in about a quarter pound or less of quartered frozen figs. The flavor of the fig didn't really stick around and should be considered an optional component.

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Here is my second experimental "wild ale" brewed with all Brett L (WLP653). I was thinking of doing a Belgian Blonde / Pale type of a beer when I thought it would be a great base for some funky brett action.
This beer took Silver at Walk The Line on Barleywine in the 23A category.
Here is a link to the thread where the whole thing started: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/muse-my-second-all-brett-beer-135753/
I've got about 6-8 bottles of this beer left. I'm going to age some and send the rest off to comps.
 
My all Brett beers usually take about 8 weeks of fermentation time to go from grain to glass. I do brett beers a lot (particularly brett blondes) as they are a wonderful beer thats really different than the rest.
No pellicle, 100% brett beers make krausen just like sacc.
No sourness at all, 100% brett beers don't produce acidity. (Note WLP Brett C has lacto and pychia and other bugs in it and it will get slightly tart).
 
Interesting. Thanks for the reply. You're inspiring me to read more into the 100% brett beer thing. I may have to try this. Is the WL brett culture available year round, or is that a platinum series?

Thanks,
TB
 
Its year round. This recipe (even minus the figs, they didn't do much) is a good first try for a brett beer that will help you get started on the ins and outs. The only thing I can recommend is lots of patience to wait for that FG to stop at around 1.007. It will look like it stops at around 1.011, and then for 2 weeks not seem to do anything before undergoing another fermentation with just a little bit of foam activity on the top and 2 weeks later the gravity will end around 1.007 or so.
 
Its year round. This recipe (even minus the figs, they didn't do much) is a good first try for a brett beer that will help you get started on the ins and outs. The only thing I can recommend is lots of patience to wait for that FG to stop at around 1.007. It will look like it stops at around 1.011, and then for 2 weeks not seem to do anything before undergoing another fermentation with just a little bit of foam activity on the top and 2 weeks later the gravity will end around 1.007 or so.

Patience I have; I usually have a pretty heavy pipeline going anyway, so I have no problem ignoring a carboy or 3 for a year or more. One thing I noticed about your all brett recipe is that it doesn't require bulk aging for as long as some wild/sour beers I've seen. 2-3 months from grain to glass gives me no excuse not to try this recipe (or something like it).

Thanks again,
TB
 
Thats because brett beers don't need bulk aging because they aren't sours. Brett is a yeast and when used by itself it acts a lot like saccharomyces does and doesn't take a lot of time.
Lambics and sours have lots of bacteria in them such as lactobacillus, pediococous, acetobacter, pychia, etc etc etc and they all work very slowly which means they need a lot of time to produce the acids you are looking for.
White Labs Brett L has been my favorite wild yeast to work with so far, its pretty dependable in its speed/attenuation and has a wonderful pineapple like exotic fruit character along with earthy wine-like character.
 
No pellicle, 100% brett beers make krausen just like sacc.

Sorry to bother ya once again, but I just read this recipe again and noticed in your OP, you mention a pellicle forming on 9.18.09 but you say here that there was no pellicle. I'm a bit confused. I'm looking to brew something like this this weekend, but I'm still a noob when it comes to non-sacch beers.

Thanks,
TB
 
Wasn't a pellicle, just a little bit of krausen from a second fermentation. Brett seems to go through and for 3-4 weeks does a primary fermentation where it just looks like a slow sacc fermentation, and then stops for about a week or so, and then starts back up again slowly and makes a little krausen.
 
OK, thanks. Might want to edit the OP to make that clear. Although experienced Brett brewers would know better, it confused me a bit.

Thanks again for your help. I'll let you know how mine turns out. :mug:

TB
 
Im resurrecting this thread for a second. Im going to do a double batch of 100% Brett fermented Belgian Blonde Ale. I plan to work on the very low extreme of the BJCP guidelines as I dont want too high of ABV. Anywho, with the Brett Brux Trois strain being released soon, Im planning to do one batch with the Trois and anther with Brett L. Can't wait. Last year I did a mixed fermentation summer saison with WLP001 and Brett B. This year, onward and upward to something new...although the Saison was soo good that I might make it again anyways.
 
I never followed up on my results. For the record, this beer turned out awesome. It was a hit with people from all corners of beer preferences. Have some more brett and will make another batch within a month or so.

TB
 
I have an all Brett L Blonde going right now. 7 weeks in the carboy with a nice, thick pellicle on top. I usually see the pellicle form at about the 2 month mark for all Brett beers. FYI.
 

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