How to use brett?

Im going to be brewing a fairly heft Saison at about 8% or so and I wanted to add some brett to it similar to what Boulevard does with their Saison Brett. Do you guys recommend that I ferment with a normal saison style yeast and then add Brett to the secondary? Or add both at the same time in the primary. Or should I just skip the saison yeast and just ferment with the brett? Any help is much appreciated!

I did a saison brett a while back, with a super simple grain bill of 90% pils, 10% munich. I pitched Wy#3724 and dregs from a bottle of Saison Brett at the same time in primary. The beer is awesome- it doesn't do very well in contests as it's more brett than saison yeast flavor, but it's delicious.Very close to the Boulevard beer - if I did it again I'd add a little wheat to try to get just a touch more smoothness in the body like the original has.

Do did you only ferment with the brett or did you ferment with another yeast first?

I did the bottle dregs, saison dupont dregs, and the Wy#3724 smackpack all at the same time.

I sent this beer into the NHC; it scored a 37 but didn't advance. The comment from the Master judge was "I'd keep this beauty to myself. Competitions will not do justice to how elegant this beer is to drink".

I must say that using bottle dregs with your pitch is a fantastic idea.

First. What kind of profile are you hoping to achieve from the Brett, also how much intensity do you want?

Unless you want super hardcore Brett taste I don't recommend using it as your primary fermenter.

Instead I would pitch a regular saison strain, wait for your krausen to drop, then throw in the Brett.

If you want some a barnyardy/smokey profile (much more intense) use Brett L. If you want something more mild and fruity, go with Brett B.

Using brett as a primary fermenter doesn't give you hardcore anything. I've done it a couple times, and it behaves basically like regular yeast. I did it with Brett B and got a spicy, peppery profile, and with whichever brett that Boulevard Saison Brett uses to get a nice tropical fruit and light spice profile.

I was talking about something different, though... adding dregs at the start of ferment does increase the brett presence over adding dregs later, but in a beer like this it's absolutely worth your time. Just use the Saison Brett dregs and you can't go wrong.

100% brett or co-pitched beers are really... aggressive, taste-wise. Depends on how strong you want the brett qualities. I make a brett-Quadrupel by fermenting out with WY3522. Then I racked to a keg and added a pack of WY5112. Then I sealed it, purged it, and stuck it in a warm place for a long time.

I have a Flanders red in secondary currently. I co-pitched with wyeast London ale and wyeast lambic blend smack packs(sorry don't have my notes, can't remember the numbers) they primaried very nicely together, and after about three weeks I racked to secondary.

Here is where I'm confused, the recipe calls for pitching a pack of straight Brett (wyeast 5526? I think) but I already have a mild pellicle, I guess left over from the lambic blend.

Should I go ahead and pitch the Brett? I have a good sourness from the sour mash wort. But I was planning on separating the secondary so I could rack both onto oak with some and cherries with some also. If I'm going to age for 6 more months I want a little variety, but I don't want any bugs from the oak or fruit to take over.

Also I've heard that I should add yeast prior to bottling? I've never bottled after using Brett, any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

Have you seen this new Saison strain from White Labs?

WLP670 American Farmhouse Blend
Inspired by local American brewers crafting semi- traditional Belgian-style ales. This
blend creates a complex flavor profile with a moderate level of sourness. It consists of a
traditional farmhouse yeast strain and Brettanomyces. Great yeast for farmhouse ales,
Saisons, and other Belgian-inspired beers.
Attenuation: 75-82%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 68-72°F
(20-22°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: 5-10%

dwarven_stout said:

Using brett as a primary fermenter doesn't give you hardcore anything. I've done it a couple times, and it behaves basically like regular yeast. I did it with Brett B and got a spicy, peppery profile, and with whichever brett that Boulevard Saison Brett uses to get a nice tropical fruit and light spice profile.

I was talking about something different, though... adding dregs at the start of ferment does increase the brett presence over adding dregs later, but in a beer like this it's absolutely worth your time. Just use the Saison Brett dregs and you can't go wrong.

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You must not ever have fermented with strait Brett. L. It's intense.

Homebrewtastic said:

You must not ever have fermented with strait Brett. L. It's intense.

Click to expand...

Yeah I have never fermented with Brett. Maybe ill just try a batch with Brett L and see what happens

Homebrewtastic said:

You must not ever have fermented with strait Brett. L. It's intense.

Click to expand...

I haven't done a pure Brett L. primary, but I have tasted a beer done with one. It was slightly tart, phenolic and stone fruit/cherry. I have done secondary with Brett L and gotten more traditional "brett", but there's also more tart cherry.


Did you use White labs or Wyeast? There are significant reported differences between the two- they are likely not the same strain despite the yeast companies both calling their product "Brett L.". I've only used the Wyeast, so if you used the WLP that's likely the source of our differences.

Also, what do you mean when you say "fermented with straight brett"? I'm talking about a lager-sized pitch of brett when I do an "all brett primary", not putting a activator and nothing else into a fermenter. There is a *significant* difference in flavor between the two.

I used the WLP. And I have heard that too that they're very different.

The beer I made with it was slightly smoky, and a little bit "horsey".