All Brett C (WLP645) - Belgian taste

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selivem

selivem

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In a 100% Brett beer Brett C is supposed to give pineapple flavors. Does it also give a light phenolic character to the beer? I'm looking for a light Belgian taste.
 
Doesn't it depend on whose Brett. you are using? I only use wyeast bretts and I have tasted pineapple with brett. c. I don't recall a phenolic character. Maybe if you fermented at the upper end of the temperature range for the yeast, you could stress it enough to produce some.
 
I just fermented a 100% Brett C beer @ around 80-82 degrees F, and it smells and tastes more "belgian" than any other brett fermentation I have done. The grist was 90% Pils and 10% wheat. It is pretty phenolic, with a bready(yeast bread, not grainy bread) fruity aroma. Only a bit of fusels, which surprised me at the higher heat.
 
The times I used WLP brettC I made a large starter and fermented it out at 70ºF it tasted like a and English ale yeast at first, but after being in the bottle for two months the pineapple/passion fruit came out, but only slightly.

I plan on doing this brew again, but this time i will not make a starter, I think the stress and a low pitch are what make the yeast produce the pineapple/passion fruit flavor this strain is known for.
 
ElkSherpa, BSquared - looks like different results. Did you oxygenate the wort? Also did the yeast develop the barnyard aroma after a while?
 
The only oxygenation the wort received was via the transfer from the kettle to the fermentor. So, the wort got some oxygen, but nothing vigorous.

I forgot to add, a 750mL starter was made a day or two in advance.
 
This was before I used O2 to aerate, but It was aerated by spraying it in to the fermenter. I did not get any barnyard out of it like you can get with other brett strains. This was a primary fermentation, and from what I hear primary fermentations with Brett can be fairly clean. I've only used Brett-C for primary fermentations so I can't say for other strains.
 
The 100% brett c fermentation I recently did has only a hint of the signature brettanomyces barnyardy funk. You really have to be looking for it to find it. I don't really get any citrus tones either. The fruitiness is more along the lines of cantaloupe or honeydew melon. Very refreshing and "belgiany" clean. Not quite american or english ale clean however.
 
I fermented at an ambient 78-82 degrees F. I was concerned with a lot of fusel production at those temps, but surprisingly the beer isn't remotely "hot".

I pulled a gallon off to leave as is, and just bottled it about two weeks ago. The remaining 4 gallons got about 4.5lbs of local Texas peaches. The fruit really compliments the profile of the yeast without overpowering it. For such a simple grist (90%pils/10%wheat) it offers a lot of depth and complexity.
 
I've only used WLP650 (Brett-B) as a primary strain, and it has a very Belgian taste. I've found it makes an excellent beer.

I use 0.5 lbs of acid malt, and aerate the heck out of it, as it seems Brett likes it.
 
Thanks to your replies I understand Brett C first produces Belgian flavors especially when stressed, then the pineapple and eventually some barnyard after a long while. The more the yeast is stressed the more flavors it produces.

I will make a very small starter, no aeration and ferment around 75F. The yeast will be stressed as it propagates and I will leave it do it's thing during a few months of storage.

I'm boiling my wort as I write these lines. 8# Pilsner, 2# dark malted wheat and 1# sour mashed Pilsner.

Thanks again for your help !
 
I would be interested to hear your results. If you are only using Brett, no aeration, and a low pitch, it is going to be really slow and you might be giving nasty bugs a chance to spoil your wort.
 
Oh, sure ! I'll be posting the results. I pitched a 65F but the fermenting fridge is set to 72F (instead of 75, I couldn't help and changed my mind at the last minute). The thing took off almost right away, well... 6 hours after the pitch the something had started.

I can't really describe what was happening because my fermenter is opaque. But it smelled like vomit with a nice touch of pineapple. It sounds horrible - and it is - but I read somewhere that sometimes it does that so I Relaxed, did not worry etc. I also got a lot of Co2 coming out curling my nose hair. which is a good sign and makes my kids laugh.

I'll check the gravity this weekend.
 
I took some gravity readings:

- Day one, OG 1.060
- Day 8 1.024
- Day 13 1.019

I mashed at 156F, small starter, no aeration. How low do you think it will go? I'll be away for three weeks and I wonder if I should transfer into another carboy that has much less head space before I leave.
 
Headspace matters more after you transfer to secondary. In primary it will still have the blanket of CO2.

I would just leave it.
 
I did a 100% Brett C. beer last year, and I really liked it. It was clean, and had a very slight funky Brett "musty" character to it.

However, I am also curious to see how you get the Pineapple/Tropical character from Brett C. Maybe we can bring this thread back to life?
 
Clint04 said:
I did a 100% Brett C. beer last year, and I really liked it. It was clean, and had a very slight funky Brett "musty" character to it.

However, I am also curious to see how you get the Pineapple/Tropical character from Brett C. Maybe we can bring this thread back to life?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd be curious to hear about getting the fruitiness. I think I read in this thread or another that an elevated fermentation temp, maybe up into the low 80s, resulted in a fruitier beer with no fusels. But I have no direct experience with Brett C, so would like to hear from people who have used it for 100% Brett fermentations.
 
I ran about 5.5 gallons of Wit beer wort and pitched 2 vials of Brett C. No oxygenation other than the splashing of the fill. The resulting flavor 3 weeks later was a nice tangy flavor. Only a light touch of pineapple. Fairly clean funk-wise. I ended up blending it into a wine barrel of 100% Brett B Trois fermented Wit with pineapple, grapefruit & blood orange. Resulting beer has been quite popular.
 
I'll add my 2 cents to this thread. I brewed a 100% brett-c pale ale yesterday. I started with a vial of WLP645 and an 800mL starter. After a week I pitched that into 3 liters of 1.030 wort and let that ferment for another week.

I ended up decanting some liquid and saving some for future use. All in all I probably pitched about 2L into my 5 gallon batch.

The recipe is as follows:

Code: 
Recipe: 100% Brett-C Pale Ale
Style: American Pale Ale
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.05 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.25 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal   
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.050 SG
Estimated Color: 7.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 68.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 74.2 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt                   Name                                     Type          #        %/IBU         
5.10 g                Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 mins)        Water Agent   1        -             
2.50 g                Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash 60.0 mins)      Water Agent   2        -             
1.90 g                Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent   3        -             
1.30 g                Salt (Mash 60.0 mins)                    Water Agent   4        -             
1.20 g                Chalk (Mash 60.0 mins)                   Water Agent   5        -             
7 lbs 8.0 oz          Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)           Grain         6        68.2 %        
2 lbs 8.0 oz          White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)               Grain         7        22.7 %        
1 lbs                 Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM)    Grain         8        9.1 %         
0.36 oz               East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Firs Hop           9        6.7 IBUs      
0.28 oz               Columbus (Tomahawk) [15.00 %] - First Wo Hop           10       15.6 IBUs     
0.50 oz               Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min         Hop           11       4.2 IBUs      
1.00 oz               Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min          Hop           12       3.4 IBUs      
1.0 pkg               Brettanomyces Claussenii (White Labs #WL Yeast         13       -             


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs
----------------------------
Name              Description                             Step Temperat Step Time     
Mash In           Add 16.63 qt of water at 162.7 F        150.0 F       75 min        

Sparge: Batch sparge with 4.71 gal water at 168.0 F for 15 min

I plan on letting this ferment for 4 weeks at 85'F and then I'll keg it. I'll keep this thread updated with gravities and tasting notes.
 
TandemTails said:
I'll add my 2 cents to this thread. I brewed a 100% brett-c pale ale yesterday. I started with a vial of WLP645 and an 800mL starter. After a week I pitched that into 3 liters of 1.030 wort and let that ferment for another week.

I plan on letting this ferment for 4 weeks at 85'F and then I'll keg it. I'll keep this thread updated with gravities and tasting notes.
Click to expand...

Let us know how it turns out. I've had problems with getting that yeast to finish. Usually stops around 65% attenuation. I've had to use another yeast to finish off the beers. Produced great beers, just took some extra effort.
 
Resurrecting this thread in case members are still around.

I am currently working on my first 100% Brett brew. I am doing the session ale from the Michael Tonsmeires book (90% pils/105 wheat, continental hops for 23ibus, mashed @ 67c/153F)
I prepared the wort yesterday and pitched the yeast after injecting 1,5min pure oxygen @ 63F (17c).
I went for a lager like pitching rate so I did a twostep starter (1,5L each) out of a WLP645. (around 350 billion cells).

Per the recipe the brew should be fermented around 80F (27c).
By mistake (rookie mistake) I left the temperature @63F (17c) for the entire night (10 hours).
When I woke up this morning the airlock was already bubbling.
When I realised my mistake I started to raise the temp. I am guessing that to get to 80F it will take me the best part of this day (30 hours since pitch temp). As heat source I am using a germination pad wrapped around my bucket which is placed in my fermentation fridge.

As the lag phase determines to a large extent the fermentation character I am worried that I will end up making a rather clean been, lucking in the brett character (fruit and funkiness).
What do you reckon???
 
Same here. Got spicy phenols from a warm brett ferment with no o2. Smelled like a saison.

Was going for clean and fruity. Big bummer. Whats the consensus on getting the clean fruit and avoiding the phenols? 60s, 70s, 80s? Aerate or no?
 

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