Brett noob w/ questions

dcp27 said:

the darker candi sugars definitely add flavor as well, its not just a fermentability thing

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Thanks, that's kind of what I was wondering - if using the lighter colored sugar in a dubbel will give me enough of the caramel/toffee flavors that I want.

Have you used D-45 much?

Burgs said:

Have you used D-45 much?

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no, I like D2 the most so I usually stick with that or make my own.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/20-lb-sugar-jar-yeast-nutrient-114837/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/candi-syrup-experiment-trying-clone-d2-220882/

since you're adding the C120 I think it'll work out tho. definitely curious to hear how it works out.

I'm definitely going to split the dubbel and ferment half with the brett c. By the time my new kettle/burner gets here, it will have been on that yeast for a month, so I don't think there will be any harm in moving it to a clean carboy so I can borrow the cake underneath.

dcp27 said:

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why would you drink it any less than others?

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Brett beers don't strike me as something I'd want to drink several of. I suppose that's just personal taste. If you have a brett beer good enough to session, job well done sir.

kingwood-kid said:

Brett beers don't strike me as something I'd want to drink several of. I suppose that's just personal taste. If you have a brett beer good enough to session, job well done sir.

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Cambridge Brewing Co has one on tap right now that I could drink all day. Crazy good all brett beer.

Burgs, I'll likely be bottling at the 5 1/2 week mark. I took a reading and its the same it was 2 weeks ago but Im still going to let it go another week.

Might there be a trade in our future?

Yeah, definitely. You have a bit of a head start on me though.

How is your batch tasting, Coff?

I post my notes later tonight when I get home.

You know, I've never actually had a 100% Brett beer before so I really don't know what flavors I'm looking for in this beer. I took another reading and drank a sample yesterday, 1.012 same as week 2. I really think this thing is ready.

So it was a 12 gallon batch of Jamil's ESB that I fermented in 3 different ways, Burton Ale, 100% Brett C, and just 1 gallon with 1056 as a control. At this point I don't taste much of a difference between the Brett C batch and the 1056 batch. The Brett beer tastes great, a little bit of roast, slightly bitter but settles softly on the palate. Maybe someone can guide me on what I'm looking for, the beer tastes very good but I'm not tasting anything different.

That is interesting that you don't notice a difference between the Brett batch and the 1056. However, I say that being in a similar position as you - never having tasted a 100% Brett fermentation before.

My only frame of reference is my own batch - and the early tasting of it seemed really similar to the Patersbier I made around a year ago. That yeast was 3787 Trappist High Gravity. Mine is at the 3 week mark now, I may take another quick taste and gravity sample tonight.

It would be cool to be able to bottle this, wash and save the yeast, and have both my 3 gallon carboys empty and ready, but I don't want to rush anything.

I went back and double checked my notes and the reading from Friday was not the same as the one I took at week 2. Week 2 it was at 1.-14, week ~5 was 1.012, during that entire time the airlock was still and there was no visible signs of fermentation as far as tiny bubble go so definitely give it a bit of time. I am going to bottle next Monday night.

A couple posts back I had mentioned doing something with a Belgian Pilsner / Biscuit / Aromatic grain bill that I already had split up for a 2.5 gallon batch.

This morning I checked out the Mustache Envy Belgian Stout recipe on Northern Brewer, and lo and behold it has Pilsner, Biscuit and Aromatic already in there, plus some Carafa III Special and some Roasted Barley, both of which I have.

So, new plan! I'm going to add some flaked oats to this for chewiness + some chocolate wheat, because a while back I ordered 2 oz. and they sent me 2 lbs. Half will get fermented with Belgian Bastogne ale yeast & probably kegged. The other half I think I'm going to put on the Brett C. cake - possibly with some oak chips in there as well, right before bottling. Experimentation!

Coff said:

You know, I've never actually had a 100% Brett beer before so I really don't know what flavors I'm looking for in this beer. I took another reading and drank a sample yesterday, 1.012 same as week 2. I really think this thing is ready.

So it was a 12 gallon batch of Jamil's ESB that I fermented in 3 different ways, Burton Ale, 100% Brett C, and just 1 gallon with 1056 as a control. At this point I don't taste much of a difference between the Brett C batch and the 1056 batch. The Brett beer tastes great, a little bit of roast, slightly bitter but settles softly on the palate. Maybe someone can guide me on what I'm looking for, the beer tastes very good but I'm not tasting anything different.

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I've been drinking my 100% Brett C pale ale for a couple of weeks now, and if I didn't already know it was a 100% Brett beer, I wouldn't pick it out at all. Its been said a ton of times on this thread, but using Brett as a primary strain is WAY different than using it as a secondary strain. Primary Brett beers can taste pretty much just like a nice fruity sacch beer, no funkiness, no sour, just a tasty beer. I split my 10 gallon batch into two 5 gallons - one I fermented with a saison yeast and the other with Brett C. They taste very similar, although the saison version is much spicier while the Brett C. is much fruitier. It pretty much just tastes like a (delicious) heavily late hopped pale ale.

If you want a commercial example, try Crooked Stave's Wild Wild Brett green. It just tastes like a great hoppy sacch beer, and again - if someone didn't tell you it was Brett, you wouldn't pick it out.

Never used Brett C, but my 100% Brett L has a lot of funk to it...

Interesting, I guess time will tell. I will know soon enough.

I cracked a bottle of this last night. It's only been in bottles for 10 days but I couldn't resist and was totally prepared for disappointing green beer...

However, I was really, really pleasantly surprised! I may have kicked up a little more of the Brett when I racked. The bottle hissed as I popped the top, and I imagine I lost a lot of CO2 that escaped from the headspace, because I didn't even bother to chill the bottle down. There was still a nice little amount in solution, too though.

The smell is spicy, little fruity, tiny bit of the aspriny smell I was getting from the starter. Hard to describe, probably the most complicated smelling beer I've made (in a good way, in my opinion).

Clarity was pretty good, the second pour was obviously a lot cloudier once I started getting closer to the dregs. I don't care though... I get my vitamins that way.

Taste & mouthfeel... I think this is going to change pretty substantially once it has the right amount of carbonation. For now, I still maintain that it tastes a lot like the Patersbier recipe I made from Northern Brewer. Bready malt, not much hop presence. Kinda silky from the oats... making it thicker, but I wonder how that will change if this ends up highly carbonated.

All in all, I was really happy! I may just have ugly baby syndrome though so, Coff - I definitely still want to swap a bottle with you to get a second opinion. And if there are others in this thread that want to maybe swap a bottle of Brett homebrew, that would be cool too! I want to taste more examples of 100% Brett fermentations.

Sounds awesome.

I'm planning on bottling tomorrow then let's do a trade. I'm excited to try yours, it sounds good.

I would also be interested in a trade. I brewed an arrogant bastard-ish clone and used the dregs from rayon vert and sabatuer as the primary yeast strains. It's been bottled for almost a week.

crawfman said:

I would also be interested in a trade. I brewed an arrogant bastard-ish clone and used the dregs from rayon vert and sabatuer as the primary yeast strains. It's been bottled for almost a week.

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Would love to try that. Keep in touch. I think it would be best to wait a bit before we all start swapping, since they're still young in the bottles. I'm gonna wait probably another week and a half before I crack another one, and as long as I don't suspect any like inconsistent carbonation or anything like that between the bottles - we should all trade, for sure.

Im in for a 3 way

trade that is...

@Coff & crawfman - what size bottles did you guys use? 12ozers or all larger format?

I'll probably use all 12oz for this batch. It depends on the beer though, I use 750s for my Belgians and 12oz for pretty much everything else.

In the trade, i propose we each send 2 bottles.

All of mine are 12oz-ers. Burgs, just noticed your from Decatur. I'm originally from down south in St. Elmo. Much smaller town. 2 bottles each sounds good.

I'm cool with two bottles as well. And yeah, I've heard of St. Elmo but I'm not sure if I've ever been there or been through there.

crawfman & Coff,

You guys ready to swap pretty soon?

I haven't even bottled yet, been pretty busy. But I plan to get it in a bottle tomorrow night, then I'll be ready to ship. I could bottle it and ship the next day and let you know when they should be ready. I'll get back to you once it's in a bottle.

sorry to be late to jump in this party, but id be up for a swap as well. my Brett IPA for some reason got a medicinal taste, but I'd be happy to trade some of my 100% brett tripel if that IPA doesnt reduce in the meantime.

Mines been in the bottle 3 weeks now. Had one last night and was surprised at how little, if even any, brett character there was. I know 100% brett ferms are suppose to act like sach, but wow!

Im willing to do trades with as many people as are willing.

I've got six 12 oz bottles, the rest are in bombers. So if we do 2 for 2 swaps, I can swap with Coff, crawfman, and dcp27 and then I'll be out. PM me your addresses.

I will say, this isn't my favorite beer I've ever made - not sure if it's the yeast or the recipe isn't terribly exciting or what. It's alright, just not mind blowing.

I bottled last night so Im ready to go, I have no clue how its going to turn out but I guess we will see.

Im excited to try different 100% Brett beers, Ive actually never had one until the one I brewed, so I guess Ive never had a cold carbonated one ever since Ive only had samples of mine.

I have mine kegged, so I can bottle a few whenever you guys are ready.

just to make sure im following this right we have an ESB (Coff), an arrogant bastard (Crawfman), a blond (Burgs) and a tripel (me)?

dcp27 said:

I have mine kegged, so I can bottle a few whenever you guys are ready.

just to make sure im following this right we have an ESB (Coff), an arrogant bastard (Crawfman), a blond (Burgs) and a tripel (me)?

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I believe you're right

Hey fellas, should we still do our trade?

This is long overdue. Both Burgs and I brewed 100%Brett C fermented beers and decided to do a little trade.

I really enjoyed his beer and found it useful in learning about the strain. Here are my notes from the 2 tastings.

Burgs Brett C Blonde

Tasting 1

A bit cloudy 1 finger white head that fades quickly
Slight Brett aromas on the nose, a little bit funky smelling but not overwhelming.

A little bit malty, light body with soft carbonation. Fairly clean
tasting. No hop bitterness, a smooth mouthfeel.

Overall the beer is very good and well made, the Brett character is
minimal but its there for sure. I think with time it'll come out even
more.

Tasting 2 (much more detailed a few weeks later)

Beautiful golden color with decent clarity,a thin white head that
fades to a film that lasts only minimally, pretty standard for these Brett'ed beers.

A bready aroma with a slight pineapple Brett funk on the nose.

Soft carbonation, slightly fruity not much hop
bitterness, a solid malt presence that makes this a soft palatable
beer. The pilsner malt really stands out in this beer it gives it a
very solid backbone.

I really enjoyed the beer and feel like its on the right track but
might need a bit of tweaking. It's leaving me wanting either more funk
or a bigger more hop character be it aroma or bitterness. I'd be curious to taste this
same beer fermented with a funkier strain like Brux or Lambicus. Very well done.

Coff's Brett C. ESB

Notes from 1st bottle:

It had great carbonation, nice clarity. Was slightly more complex malt-wise than my beer, and a bit darker (to be expected).

I am admittedly not thoroughly versed with the ESB style but I thought yours was just overall really balanced between malty sweetness and hop bitterness - neither one stuck out, they just melded together well.

There was definitely a nice fruity tartness from the yeast, which I really enjoyed. I didn't taste or smell anything that was in-your-face funky or barnyardy or overly Brett-like, just more of a slight tartness in the finish.

If I had to guess, I'd say the finishing gravity was probably relatively low too? It seemed like a very lean beer.

Notes from 2nd bottle:

Pours a copper-golden color with brilliant clarity - no haze or cloudiness. Small white cap of foam that quickly falls away to nothing.

Smell: little more Brett character in the nose than mine, in my opinion. Somewhat wine-like fruitiness in the aroma plus some caramel sweetness as well. No hops coming through in a noticeable way.

Taste: Toast (with jelly?), bread crust, caramel. No dark fruit sweetness or anything like that but more of just a warm, rounded sweetness. Definitely not cloying, but the bitterness that is there seems to just offset the malt rather than coming through as a big component on its own.

Don't think I would describe the yeast characteristic as pineapple in either the taste or the nose, and the beer is not overly yeast-forward, but it doesn't taste like it was fermented with a regular ale yeast. Slight fruity tartness.

Mouthfeel: lean, a bit on the thin side, carbonation is good though and does a great job bringing out the flavors. Very easy to drink!

Overall:

I think yours is a bit more interesting take on the 100% Brett C. fermentation because of the malt backbone. I agree with the notes we've been trading back and forth about how this yeast needs something, rather than being interesting enough to carry an overly simple malt bill or an otherwise boring recipe. In the case of your beer, I think the malt component went well with it. In mine, I think more hop character would have helped. I am undecided on whether I think yours would benefit from being hoppier - perhaps. It's really, really well executed as it is though and if I were visiting your brewery I would gladly have another glass. Thanks again for sharing!