Brett Beer Wild Fellers - 100% Brett IPA

This is the 2nd version of an all-brett IPA that I've made. The first one turned out great, just made a few tweaks. Its the fruitiest beer Ive ever made, but has none sweetness that your palate expects from the flavor. I brought this into the brewery down the road from me and they were nice enough to pass it around. They couldnt believe the fruit character and how little sweetness was in the finish. So they asked what it would take to get this on tap. Im currently working out the schedule and details to brew something similar to this with them. Fingers crossed

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7.0lb / 55% 2Row
2.0lb / 16% Flaked Wheat
2.0lb / 16% Wheat
0.25lb / 2% Acidulated Malt
0.5lb / 4% Golden Naked Oats
1.0lb / 8% Cane Sugar

@60 1 oz Magnum
@10: 1 Belma / 1 Huell Melon
@0: 2 Belma / 1 Huell Melon / 1 Hallertau Blanc
*hopstand for 60min before cooling*
@30min into hopstand: 1 Belma / 1 Huell Melon / 1 Hallertau Blanc / 2 Citra
@dry: 1 Huell Melon / 2 Hallertau Blanc / 1 Citra
@keg: 2 oz citra (whole leaf)

Mash at 148 for 60min
10min mashout at 168F
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The hop combo of Belma and Huell Melon is my new favorite thing for IPAs. These two hops together impart a character that Ive never tasted in beer before. Add in what Brett brings to the table and its like a liquid fruit salad. The wheat definitely helps with this perceived flavor too. It makes the hops seem very "juicy" and gives the beer a silky body that Brett beers normally dont have. One other weird detail is that the beer has the slightest tinge of a pinkish hue. Im guessing its from the Brett cause it didnt look like that before. Anyway the color seems to go well with how uniquely fruity it turned out.

With any all-brett beers, definitely start the starter well ahead of time and step it up to lager pitching rates. I like to leave it undisturbed for 36hrs or so before pitching to decant.

Im sure any Brett strains would work well, but I would recommend using a blend and not just a single strain. Ive read that blends will be much less 1-dimensional and have a lesser chance of fermentation issues.

Congrats on the beer. As far as scalling uo u will need to adjust for eff but u already have ir grain on % so that will help. It looks good tho what blend do u use if you dont mind.

Ive made it with Omega yeast Brett Blend #2 and then the Yeast Bay Amalgamation. The YB one turned out better but that could also be due to my tweaking of the recipe. For some reason, brett seems to mute any harsh bitterness from the hops so its straight up fruit salad. Smells like an Edible Arrangement. You cant tell where the hops end and the Brett starts

I have a starter of amalgamation going right now for a Brett IPA I'm going to brew this weekend and from your description it sounds like its all fruit do you get any funk from this yeast, cause the starter is throwing some serious barnyard right now! Also how long did you let this ferment before dry hopping?

redolent said:

I have a starter of amalgamation going right now for a Brett IPA I'm going to brew this weekend and from your description it sounds like its all fruit do you get any funk from this yeast, cause the starter is throwing some serious barnyard right now! Also how long did you let this ferment before dry hopping?

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Ive used Amalgamation 3 times now and the last 2 times I got a lot of funk coming out of the starter and airlock. There wasnt really any in the final beer though, even when I used it co-pitched with a saison yeast and it had to compete for sugars. Same thing when I tasted the starter wort that gave of funky smells. Event he starter wort was tastier than most beers Ive had...

I usually let my IPAs go for 2 weeks before kegging. I know brett doesnt attenuate to absurd levels by itself, but I do 3 weeks as a rule of thumb to be safe. I dry hop at about 2 weeks before packing it

m00ps said:

Ive used Amalgamation 3 times now and the last 2 times I got a lot of funk coming out of the starter and airlock. There wasnt really any in the final beer though, even when I used it co-pitched with a saison yeast and it had to compete for sugars. Same thing when I tasted the starter wort that gave of funky smells. Event he starter wort was tastier than most beers Ive had...

I usually let my IPAs go for 2 weeks before kegging. I know brett doesnt attenuate to absurd levels by itself, but I do 3 weeks as a rule of thumb to be safe. I dry hop at about 2 weeks before packing it

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Would you recommend pitching thus brett with another yeast and not aerating to 'stress' the yeast? Really looking to get some funk in the nose along with the hops ala Evil Twin Femme Fatale.

I read up on aerating for 100% brett beers and my conclusion was to only slightly aerate it, if at all. Brett will make acetic acid in the presence of a lot of oxygen (though more towards the end of fermentation). So I just only do 5-6 shakes of the fermentor as opposed to my usual MO of keep shaking till my arms give out.

I also read that brett blends are best suited for 100% brett beers because single brett strains tend to lack the depth of pure single strain sacch fermentation. There supposedly 6 different ones in this blend and it works very well by itself.

If you want more funk, ive used it twice so far with different saison yeasts and it definitely gave out more funk from the mixed fermentation. I co-pitched them 50/50 with a saison yeast.

This looks interesting. After having Crooked Stave's Progenitor, I need to brew a brett IPA. Two things:

Well DUH it's going to taste like fruit salad. That's 17 oz of flavor hops!

Did you age this at all? Or straight from fermentation to carbonation?

This fruit-salad-ness is exactly what I am going for in with my 100% brett braggot, using Yeast Bay Amalgamation. It is an experiment based on very little real information. So It's great to hear you got a lot of the very same character I'm looking for in mine.

I actually combined YB Amalgamation with Omega Yeast All The Bretts in my latest one and it took the fruit character to another level. I cant pick up any bitterness at all. The grain bill was the same, hops were a bit switched, but somehow the combination of all the brett strains made for a super hazy beer. It also has a very full body despite it getting to 1.002.

m00ps said:

I actually combined YB Amalgamation with Omega Yeast All The Bretts in my latest one and it took the fruit character to another level. I cant pick up any bitterness at all. The grain bill was the same, hops were a bit switched, but somehow the combination of all the brett strains made for a super hazy beer. It also has a very full body despite it getting to 1.002.

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That looks like an ideal beer. You should try making one with mosaic hops btw

m00ps said:

I actually combined YB Amalgamation with Omega Yeast All The Bretts in my latest one and it took the fruit character to another level. I cant pick up any bitterness at all. The grain bill was the same, hops were a bit switched, but somehow the combination of all the brett strains made for a super hazy beer. It also has a very full body despite it getting to 1.002.

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That beer looks amazing, do the 100% bretts get the crazy looking pellicles?

Rhaop said:

That beer looks amazing, do the 100% bretts get the crazy looking pellicles?

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Sometimes. It definitely can, you just have to punch through it.

But the last few I've made didnt get one. Its not really good or bad whether or not you get one (unless its unintended). The pellicle is just a biofilm that the brett or bacteria makes to keep out oxygen. So if you don't expose it to much oxygen, there's a good chance youll never see one. I make my brett IPAs in glass carboys so I can clean them and re-use with my other beers, the narrow neck keep oxygen exposure lower than a wide mouthed bucket

Whelp, the last batch of this I made with ~50/50 YB Amalgamation & Omega All the Bretts had the exact same permanent haze, silky body, almost nitro carbonation, and zero bitterness. Im gonna call this a experimental win and stick with the combo. I'd encourage anyone trying an all-brett beer to try blending these 2 if you have access to both.

I'm not familiar with either strain. Do you make a starter for either? If so, what volume and gravity? Do you oxygenate your wort?

I keep vials of all my yeasts so I always make starters whenever I am going to brew and re-harvest from that starter. I usually shoot for a total of 3L or more with all-brett beers since Ive read you want close to a lager pitch rate.

For all-brett beers, I barely oxygenate. Just shake the carboy once or twice after pitching. Ive read too much oxygen can create acetic acid with brett

m00ps said:

I keep vials of all my yeasts so I always make starters whenever I am going to brew and re-harvest from that starter. I usually shoot for a total of 3L or more with all-brett beers since Ive read you want close to a lager pitch rate.

For all-brett beers, I barely oxygenate. Just shake the carboy once or twice after pitching. Ive read too much oxygen can create acetic acid with brett

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When you make a starter with two different blends do you combine them into the same beaker and put them on the same stir plate or are you running two separate starters one for each blend?

FoCobrewguy said:

When you make a starter with two different blends do you combine them into the same beaker and put them on the same stir plate or are you running two separate starters one for each blend?

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I keep them separate, which is mostly just a practice I started with my single strain sacch combos I would try. This would enable me to try different combos later on. I did the same thing here, built up a starter of each, harvested separate, then pitched into the same fermentor.

I considered harvesting them all in one container for a giant brett blend, but I wanted to see the results before doing so. I still may keep them separate, just in case. I figure each culture is probably already changing on its own

Did you age this? I am very interested in doing a brew like this, but I have never done a 100% brett beer before.

all-brett IPAs are pretty interesting to age. I usually try to keep a 6 pack or so of most beers I bottle condition to see how they age over time. So I have some amounts of batch 3, 4, 5, and 6 sitting around somewhere. There are notable changes between each, mostly the yeast blend change from 3 to 4, but they all age well.

The hop flavors definitely fade and become less intense, but the brett fruit flavors come out more. Overall, it seems to become more musty wine-like fruity and less in-your-face fruity. Im not too great on picking out particular sensory flavors

Hey m00ps,
What is your water profile like? I'm going to make an All the Bretts IPA soon and I'm trying to nail down ion concentrations for a full, fruity finish. So far I've been toying with the following:
Ca: 80
Mg: 7
Na: 30
SO4: 150
Cl: 75
HCO3: 100

m00ps said:

all-brett IPAs are pretty interesting to age. I usually try to keep a 6 pack or so of most beers I bottle condition to see how they age over time. So I have some amounts of batch 3, 4, 5, and 6 sitting around somewhere. There are notable changes between each, mostly the yeast blend change from 3 to 4, but they all age well.

The hop flavors definitely fade and become less intense, but the brett fruit flavors come out more. Overall, it seems to become more musty wine-like fruity and less in-your-face fruity. Im not too great on picking out particular sensory flavors

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specharka said:

Hey m00ps,
What is your water profile like? I'm going to make an All the Bretts IPA soon and I'm trying to nail down ion concentrations for a full, fruity finish. So far I've been toying with the following:
Ca: 80
Mg: 7
Na: 30
SO4: 150
Cl: 75
HCO3: 100

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Interested in this as well as I think I want to try my first Brett beer after almost 4 years of "clean" brewing.

Thoughts on this with WLP644, instead of YB or Omega? Formerly called "Brett Trois", it's actually a sacc strain. Meant to add a ton of tropical fruit....

3rd place best in show with this recipe. Thank you.

1.1 trillion cells of Amalgamation starter ready to go for a 4/13 brewday.
Splitting a 10 gallon batch into two 5s.
One to go on tap as is.
Second 5 to age on american oak cubes with a can of Vintners Harvest Peach Puree ~3 months.
Going with Bru'n Waters Yellow/dry profile unless someone says NO.
Calcium 50
Magnesium 10
Sodium 5
Sulfate 105
Chloride 45
Wish me luck.?

I don't have access to those hops, so I'm using a similar grain bill and hop schedule but with Mandarina Bavaria, Zythos, Galaxy, Idaho 7, and Citra.
Wish me luck!

Is the "16% wheat" malted wheat or some other form?

Beeru said:

I don't have access to those hops, so I'm using a similar grain bill and hop schedule but with Mandarina Bavaria, Zythos, Galaxy, Idaho 7, and Citra.
Wish me luck!

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Good luck! I'm in love with this Amalgamation blend.

h0psnobery said:

Is the "16% wheat" malted wheat or some other form?

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Good question. I used Great Western white wheat. With all the hop and brett flavors going on I suspect differences in wheat choice may not be very noticeable. But IDK...

h0psnobery said:

Is the "16% wheat" malted wheat or some other form?

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White wheat malt.

I’m brewing a saison in the same closet at this brett ipa and another brett apricot sour, and I think it got infected with the Brett. What do you think - is this white mould stuff a brett infection or something else?

Looks like normal yeasties to me. Just farting off CO2

fourfarthing said:

Looks like normal yeasties to me. Just farting off CO2

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I know it looks like that on the top, and the photo doesn't show it well, but there is a white mould kinda thing in there, which you can see better along the rim. It also had quite a funky smell, but I think maybe in a good way.

Beeru said:

View attachment 631135 I’m brewing a saison in the same closet at this brett ipa and another brett apricot sour, and I think it got infected with the Brett. What do you think - is this white mould stuff a brett infection or something else?

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There's a film? It's called a pellicle (not to be confused with mold).
Pellicle is not dangerous, but mold is dangerous, so it's important to distinguish between them. Mold is hairy or fuzzy. A pellicle is a thin film, slimy or powdery, often with bubbles trapped under it.

A pellicle indicates contamination (and not necessarily Brett -- that could be coincidence).

There's WAY too much headspace for an opened bucket ... Can you purge it with CO2? Or maybe transfer it to a smaller vessel and add some sugar? Or think about packaging it (there risk of over-carbonation if you bottle too soon, but you could refrigerate and/or drink it quickly to avoid that).
If it is Brett and you leave it in there, it'll be very vinegary in a short while.

RPh_Guy said:

There's a film? It's called a pellicle (not to be confused with mold).
Pellicle is not dangerous, but mold is dangerous, so it's important to distinguish between them. Mold is hairy or fuzzy. A pellicle is a thin film, slimy or powdery, often with bubbles trapped under it.

A pellicle indicates contamination (and not necessarily Brett -- that could be coincidence).

There's WAY too much headspace for an opened bucket ... Can you purge it with CO2? Or maybe transfer it to a smaller vessel and add some sugar? Or think about packaging it (there risk of over-carbonation if you bottle too soon, but you could refrigerate and/or drink it quickly to avoid that).
If it is Brett and you leave it in there, it'll be very vinegary in a short while.

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I am aware of pellicles - what I meant was that I couldn't quite tell if it was a pellicle or a mould. I've since cleaned it after racking to a carboy, so I can't check now. There was a slimy film, but it also looked slightly hairy.

As for headspace, that was the primary, as I was racking it to a carboy when the photo was taken. It was also purged with C02, so no issue there. And no risk of over carbonating, it's going into a keg.

Beeru said:

I couldn't quite tell if it was a pellicle or a mould. I've since cleaned it after racking to a carboy, so I can't check now. There was a slimy film, but it also looked slightly hairy.

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Nothing in the photo looks like mold to me.

However, if you saw some "hairy" patches, then it's definitely mold and not safe to drink.
Mold growth can range from a little fuzzy like a peach, to long filaments that look like cotton candy. On the other hand a pellicle is never hairy or fuzzy.
You have to be the judge because the photo isn't definitive.

FYI the fact that there's a pellicle means there's too much oxygen exposure to your beer and you might want to think about revising your process to reduce oxygen exposure (and obviously reduce contamination risk). Consider better-sealing fermentation vessels, skipping secondary, faster packaging, etc.

Pitch some Brett. Give it 12 months and see what happens

fourfarthing said:

Pitch some Brett. Give it 12 months and see what happens

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I just gave it a taste and it’s actually very nice. Just going to go ahead and keg it.

I also want to just say that I racked the Brett IPA into a carboy to age while I wait for space to open up in the kegerator, and it smells amazing. The beer itself has a great tropical fruit aroma but the trub actually smells incredible. It’s normally pretty skunky stuff but it was like a tropical fruit salad, with a surprising Mango smell, backed up my pineapple and other generally tropical things.

(This is for the version I brewed with different hops available to me: Mandarina Bavaria, Zythos, Galaxy, Idaho 7, and Citra)

Beeru said:

I just gave it a taste and it’s actually very nice. Just going to go ahead and keg it.

I also want to just say that I racked the Brett IPA into a carboy to age while I wait for space to open up in the kegerator, and it smells amazing. The beer itself has a great tropical fruit aroma but the trub actually smells incredible. It’s normally pretty skunky stuff but it was like a tropical fruit salad, with a surprising Mango smell, backed up my pineapple and other generally tropical things.

(This is for the version I brewed with different hops available to me: Mandarina Bavaria, Zythos, Galaxy, Idaho 7, and Citra)

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How did it come out?

fourfarthing said:

How did it come out?

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It’s quite nice! The brett is the overwhelming flavour. And lately it’s the overwhelming flavour of all my beers as my two buckets are infected with it.

But yes, it has a nice pineapple / mango + funk flavour going on.

Beeru said:

It’s quite nice! The brett is the overwhelming flavour. And lately it’s the overwhelming flavour of all my beers as my two buckets are infected with it.

But yes, it has a nice pineapple / mango + funk flavour going on.

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Now you have dedicated Brett vessels you need not pitch too. Win?!