100% Brett Belgian beer

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electric_beer

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Looking to make my first 100% Brett beer. I love Wild Devil and am thinking about making something in the same realm, not a clone by any means.

So far the idea I had was:

7lbs 6oz Belgian Pilsner
1.5lb Flaked Wheat
6oz Special B
Possibly Acid Malt, never used it but read it helps with PH for the brett (How much to use??)

Amarillo @ FWH 24 IBU
Amarillo @ 10min 5 IBU

OG 1.047
FG 1.011
IBU 29 IBU

Mash @ 150 for 60min
Ferment with Brett C.

for a 5.5 Gallon batch

Any ideas, suggestions? I couldn't find just a simple brett recipe. Although Madfermentist and Ryane are both very inspirational. I need something a bit more beginner at this point.

Would it be a bad idea to keg this bad boy once complete or as long as I use a different line I should be ok?
 
Personally, I'd swap out the special b for 1lb of caramunich 60. I've used acid malt in the past for mash ph correction, but never for flavour. In that case, the amount to use would depend on your water profile more than anything else.
 
looks fine to me, I would agree with prosper in switching out the special b, although its because i dont enjoy black licorish flavors in beer
 
Thanks guys for the help! OK, so I'll sub the Caramunich 60. Haven't worked with it, assuming its somewhere in-between Munich and crystal 60?

Do you guys think that the Brett C will work with Amarillo or do you have a better hop choice?

One more question, if I have Los Angeles (I actually know most of the info about my local water source - good for Brown Ales) water profile do you think I should just adjust my water by adding Calcium Chloride or Gypsum to lower the PH or is it better to use Acid malt during the mash? I really appreciate your time in helping a Brett rookie out!
 
Any particular reason you are using Brett. C as opposed to L. or A.? I've done two riffs of the same recipe fermented 100% with White Labs Brett. C. I did a light-bodied pale rye ale with lots of wheat, and 1/2 lb. each of honey malt and acid malt. I think they are both pretty good, but there's something about Brett. C that reminds me of bread, and not in a nice biscuit, sourdough way, but in a chewy, not-so-pleasant yeasty sort of way.

I'm not an experienced brewer by any stretch of the imagination, and it's entirely possible that the recipe is at fault, but I get the feeling that Brett. C might be throwing some of those bready flavors in addition to the nice funky pineapple that people talk about. Here's the thread if you're interested in the recipe I came up with: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/help-formulating-all-brett-c-session-beer-158283/

Wild Devil is a fantastic beer, but to me it tastes like they used a different strain (i.e. not C.). If you like it, you might want to try culturing a starter from the dregs of a bottle of Wild Devil.

EDIT: I should really add that plenty of people on this forum have done all Brett. C. beers and not reported any yeasty off flavors, so take the above with a grain of salt. I've just done two brews with it at this point, and tasted the same yeasty flavor both times.
 
The WLP brett c is actually a mix of C and lacto, since their brett c strain is an extremely mild flavor producer, my favorite is B, but for a fruity beer Lambicus with some acid is really good
 
The WLP brett c is actually a mix of C and lacto, since their brett c strain is an extremely mild flavor producer, my favorite is B, but for a fruity beer Lambicus with some acid is really good

Hmm, this is very interesting info. Does that mean if I leave my WLP Brett. C. beers to age for a few months they'll start to develop a Berliner Weisse style sourness?

This also explains what I smelled when I opened the fermenter on my last batch. The beer smelled faintly of clean, lactic sourness, like a vial of Lacto. D., but very faint. I can't catch a whiff of it in the finished beer though...
 
Hmm, this is very interesting info. Does that mean if I leave my WLP Brett. C. beers to age for a few months they'll start to develop a Berliner Weisse style sourness?

This also explains what I smelled when I opened the fermenter on my last batch. The beer smelled faintly of clean, lactic sourness, like a vial of Lacto. D., but very faint. I can't catch a whiff of it in the finished beer though...

No, both WY/WL lacto is inhibited by >5IBU and alcohol in any real amount, so the lacto is doing most of its work very early on, there is a thread about this over on BBB, chadyak separated the strain and used it as a sole fermenter and got terrible AA from it (this was for a Brewing MS btw)
 
Ryane - Do you think Brett B is a better choice? I haven't had much experience with brett, or brett only beers so right now I'm relying on what I've read here as well as Wild Brews. Fantastic read btw.
 
Ryane - Do you think Brett B is a better choice? I haven't had much experience with brett, or brett only beers so right now I'm relying on what I've read here as well as Wild Brews. Fantastic read btw.

really any of them is a decent choice, I havent made a particularily hoppy brett beer, so I cant offer any direct experiences with that, but I do find that Brett B and L are much more characterful that C, if it were me I would probably use B or L

I really like L in fruited beers or malty beers, and B is great alone in a very dry or malt oriented beer,


In my experiences
L has very fruity nose, and a classic brett character and is slightlier fruity
B is more phenolic in the nose and has a bit stronger brett character
 
chadyak separated the strain and used it as a sole fermenter and got terrible AA from it (this was for a Brewing MS btw)
what is AA? i don't see how you can get terrible alpha acids so that can't be it. and what is Brewing MS - master of science? What an awesome masters degree that would be!
 
what is AA? i don't see how you can get terrible alpha acids so that can't be it. and what is Brewing MS - master of science? What an awesome masters degree that would be!

aa - apparent attenuation

and yes a masters in brewing
 
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