Big Brown Brett

So I'm planning a large brown (over 1.100) ale this weekend and I'm hoping to use one strain of the 3 different strains I have on hand. I've got B, C, and L to choose from. The only pure strain is C. The B came out of some Bruery saison and the L is from another blend. I plan on tossing in a slurry of S-04 or US-05 along with the Brett. Also planning on mashing mid-range (153-154) and doing a longer boil to keep some body in there.

So which strain should I use? I like the aromas the B is giving off in a starter, some overripe apricot and pear, the L gives off cherry, and the C gives off pineapple fruit and sometimes cherry. I'm really split here.

How long do you plan on letting the Brett work? That's a mighty big beer, plenty of sugar for the critters....you're looking at ~12% ABV if the bugs take you down below 1.010.

I enjoy stone-fruit flavors/aromas in a big malty beer (plum in Belgians, cherry in stouts & brown ales) so I would lean towards the Brett L. It might be fun to do a mixed cocktail of all three Brett strains along with your primary sacch.

Keep us updated on this one

what blend do you have that had Lambicus in it??

I cant say unfortunately, I was in communication with the company that produces it and they preferred that I keep it a secret. They only told me on condition that I dont blab it.

I dont think I'm going to be blending bretts on this one because I really dont want it to get stressed and start producing wet dog in a baby's diaper type taste or hot baby's diaper in a horse stable. So I'm going to choose one. I'm leaning lambicus but am still sway-able. I like the idea of using C due to its past as being a yeast discovered in English casks and its tendency to be a part time cherry aroma/flavor producer.

DC: I'm going to be aging this twice. Once in primary until the sacc gravity stabilizes then once in the secondary until the brett stabilizes for a couple of months. Then do the rest of the aging in the bottle. So maybe 8-10 months in-carboy aging. Then a few months in bottle before I try 1. A year total before I crack my first brew of this brown. Maybe.

Brewed last night. Pitched 1 cup S-04 slurry and about half a cup of brett C slurry.

Beginning gravity of 1.078.
6 Gallon batch. (Not 5 like I was originally intending)

17lbs Pale Malt
1lb Honey Malt
1lb Crystal 60
.5lbs Chocolate Malt

I decided to make this interesting and split the batch for a boil down. I had about 9 gallons and couldnt do all 9 in the kettle. So I took 3 for boil down. Used about 3 ounces of whole mystery hops I got in a bag from a buddy of mine to hop the split part. He had no idea what they were. After the addition, as they were getting up to a boil again, you could tell these were high AA whole hops. Maybe Centennial or Chinook or Amarillo. After boiling about 2 quarts off, I added it back to the main batch, straining out the hops. The main batch was hopped with Northern Brewer, 1oz at 85 mins, 1oz at 15. Tasting the gravity batch, it's going to be a bitter brown. Not off putting but still strong. Almost a black IPA in a way. That will age out I'm sure as the volatile hop flavors break down. I think, in a way, this will be more accurate to a strong porter maybe or dark brown. It's dark and ruby colored when held to the light. So, hoppy bretted English porter? Hmm, we'll see how it ages.

Your not worried about the high alpha hops and overall IBU's holding the brett back at all? Or is that mainly a Lacto thing?

I've used brett L in a high gravity stout that was aged on cherries that I really like. This sounds like an awesome beer. BTW, My OG was 1.099 and it only got down to 1.016 or so.

Anyone know whats in Sofie? I just used the dregs in a saison and they took off quickly forming a nice pellicle.

I'm pretty sure it's lacto that you dont want in a high IBU beer. I'm not worried about the AA holding the brett back. I'm expecting this to get down to about 1.010 because the brett has a tendency to chew through just about anything, albeit slowly.

The IBUs won't affect the brett. If you let this go 6month to a year the bitterness will die down nicely. The cool thing is it will age beautifully once you have it bottled allowing the hops to die down over time.

This is in a way a lower alcohol lighter colored version of what I'm brewing very soon. I'm taking a RIS type recipe, highly hopped, and bretting it.

Are you planning on using the Lambicus?

I gotta get the ingredients together to make the 12-12-12. Wife is planning on getting me a grain mill for x-mas. Guess what's going to go through it? The Wee Heavy grains. I'll still have plenty of time to age it after x-mas.

As far as this beer is concerned, it's happily blowing off into the pot I have staged below it. This being Halloween and all, I was absent-mindedly preparing dinner and all of a sudden I hear what sounded like my dog puking outside. I freaked out for a second and then I realized it was my beer letting off a huge and healthy bubble. Shows how much I pay attention to that kind of thing.

I'll be using the lambicus strain but I might throw a pipette full of a ECY brett blend in it also. I want it to get funky but not super funky so I may just leave it with the lambicus which can make it plenty funky on its own.

I'm looking forward to getting the ECY blends now that it's cooler outside. Now if they would get some in that would be awesome.

I have a $100 gift card to Prineton Homebrew so hopefully when I go to cash in they have some other strains. I want the flanders mix.