Brett Beer Saison Brett

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Three weeks in on this recipe. OG was 1.054 and the yeast exploded the first night. Ferm wrap on the carboy for 2 weeks in the garage and then let settle down. Been bubbling the whole time. Tasted it this past weekend, very nice bright flavors, sour is there but needs to build a bit. Currently at 1.02 but still bubbling once every 15-20 seconds. This is going to be very nice.
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I made this back in March (2014) using vanguard hops in place of saaz as the store was out. Additionally, instead of dregs of Boulevard, I used a saison yeast and a farmhouse ale yeast which had hints of Brett and lacto in it. I let it sit in primary for 3 months, then kegged half and bottled half. The keg didn't last long at all and I'm trying to hold on to some of the bottles....
This is an incredible beer. Some good funk to it, great balance, and I've had numerous friends, casual beer folks and those that really know their stuff be absolutely amazed with this one. Couldn't stop talking about it. Hanks for the recipe, I am planning on playing around with this with more Brett, more time, oak, cab soaked oak and more....and keeping it in the rotation


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Well, I just tried my first sample. I brewed this 11/17/2013, using 3724 and 0644. I co-pitched the yeast and left it in my attic in the primary bucket. Kegged it tonight and tasting my sample.

Extremely interesting. I pick out some tropical fruit (pineapple, perhaps?) with definite cherry notes in the nose. Dried out to 1.005 from 1.068. I get the tropical fruit and some bitterness from the hops, a warming boozy flavor, and then a very dry finish. Quite nice.
 
This has been a great thread to stumble across and read through.

Not this recipe, but I have my first Brett ale, a Brett saison sitting in wait. I used 3711 as the primary, transferred to a keg, pitched White Labs Brett B. and Orval dregs. It's sitting under pressure at room temp and will stay there until next summer.
 
I'm about to do my 15m hop addition on this as we speak.

Not really asking which is "better", but what would be the difference between co-pitching and pitching the Brett around the 2 week mark (on transfer to secondary)?
 
I know y'all are on the edge of your seats with suspense, but I ended up pitching separately. My thinking is that I'd like to rack a non-brett saison on the non-brett yeast cake.

An aside...usually not an issue in TX, but it's been pretty cold here lately so I had to actually raise my fermentation temperature. I did this by placing an electric heating pad on my carboy and wrapping the whole thing in a towel.
 
Has anyone added oak chips to this recipe? Doing this in two weeks with 3 different yeast strains (3 2.5 gallon batches) and was going to consider adding oak.
 
I'm going to brew this on Friday, but was wondering about the mash temp. I know 3724 tends to stall out, is that the reason mash temp is 150F? Seems kind of low for Brett... wouldn't it help to mash a little higher to leave more for the brett to chew on?
 
I usually mash lower on saisons. Hit FG, then let the brett work under pressure in bottles.
 
I'm going to brew this on Friday, but was wondering about the mash temp. I know 3724 tends to stall out, is that the reason mash temp is 150F? Seems kind of low for Brett... wouldn't it help to mash a little higher to leave more for the brett to chew on?

Brett doesn't really need gravity points to chew away at to contribute it's characteristic flavors. It needs only a tiny bit of sugar to metabolize, but other than that it's ripping apart other non-sugar compounds in the beer and reforming them into new ones.
 
Brett doesn't really need gravity points to chew away at to contribute it's characteristic flavors. It needs only a tiny bit of sugar to metabolize, but other than that it's ripping apart other non-sugar compounds in the beer and reforming them into new ones.

I keep reading this, but my experience has proved differently. I did a saison brett before where I added a vial of Brett B to secondary and it dropped the gravity from 1.007 to .998 and there was little to no funk and mostly band aid taste. This was after a year in which I bottled it, and have been sampling bottles every few months (now about 18 months) and it's still not good.
 
I'm going to brew this on Friday, but was wondering about the mash temp. I know 3724 tends to stall out, is that the reason mash temp is 150F? Seems kind of low for Brett... wouldn't it help to mash a little higher to leave more for the brett to chew on?

Mash temp depends on how you intend to use the brett. If you pitch with sacch right from the get go, 150 is fine. If you intend to ferment with sacch first, and then add brett later I would mash higher, like 156.
 
I made this two weeks ago and split the batch into two, with stepped up bruery saison de lente in one and jp weizen bam in the other

Gravity came in high at 1.071, I extended the boil because I thought my mash efficiency was way low but beersmith was counting the candi sugar in the mash also so that screwed up my numbers there.

Check em today and they are both 1.005-1.006, definite farmhouse flavors.

I think the yeast is done, but I roused it gently and put it back in the chamber at 80F, for another week, then ill stick em in the closet for several months.
 
I've brewed similar recipes to this using Orval dregs either in secondary or at bottling and I have been pleased with the results. Has anyone done a higher gravity version? I have a blonde with an OG of 1.83 fermenting right now. Debating on whether or not to add the Orval to this one.
 
Brett does not impart much, if any tartness. For that you need to add pedio or lacto. I'd suggest reading American Sours book before you embark on your first sour, it has a wealth of information.
 
Down to 1.005 now. Probably send 5 gallons to NHC.


I brewed mine on 3/7 and i haven't touched it since. It has a few nasty Brett bubbles on top, so I think I'm fine. There are fewer than on my last Brett beer though. Maybe I should kick up the temperature...

I was thinking of dry hopping with Saaz and bottling next week (as long as the gravity is low enough).

Cheers!
 
I made this two weeks ago and split the batch into two, with stepped up bruery saison de lente in one and jp weizen bam in the other

Gravity came in high at 1.071, I extended the boil because I thought my mash efficiency was way low but beersmith was counting the candi sugar in the mash also so that screwed up my numbers there.

Check em today and they are both 1.005-1.006, definite farmhouse flavors.

I think the yeast is done, but I roused it gently and put it back in the chamber at 80F, for another week, then ill stick em in the closet for several months.

Just checked in on these ladys today, wow what a transformation
Both of them measure at 1.000 SG.
the Bruery one is super clear, tastes great, plenty of brett funk.
the JP one is completely opaque and is distinctly sour/acidic
couldn't detect any offlavors at this point, ive never used any bugs before but I was surprised how much the JP one soured considering how many hops this recipe calls for and also these beers are ~9.5%abv.

very excited how both of these came out so far, will be bottling whenever I get the chance here, likely a weekend or two, and will update again once theyve conditioned

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I used standard 12oz bottles, 3.3oz cornsugar for ~3 gallons, its only been just over two weeks no problems yet


Thanks! To be honest, just trying to save some money by not buying the 375 ML Belgian bottles
 
Anyone have any issues bottling these in standard 12 oz bottles?

Funny, I was just coming to this thread to ask that same question. I've got a crap-ton of standard bottles, but wasn't really looking forward to shelling out money for some Belgians.

Another question about bottling. This is my first Brett beer and I'm wondering how much priming sugar to use? Do I carb it just like I would for a "normal" beer? Want to make sure I don't overcarb and end up with bottle rockets.

Okay, one more question while I'm here. Brewed mine on August 9th, so coming up on 3 months in primary. I've checked gravity twice and it was at 1.000. Wondering if I should let it ride for awhile longer or bottle. Any need to rack to secondary?
 
People recommend using heavier bottles for the sake that brettanomcyes can ferment well below 1.000. You are fine using standard bottles but I would make sure the gravity doesn't change for at least for 6 weeks.

I would bottle like normal maybe go a little light on priming sugar just in case but should be fine.

Brett works fast in primary fermentation normally takes 6 weeks and has more of a clean taste

I would give it another 2 weeks before bottling to make sure gravity stables.

I normally leave my Brett beers in primary. Moving to secondary gives a chance for oxygen to get in and turn it into vinigar. Brettanomcyes eats dead yeast so it has plenty of food in primary.
 
Funny, I was just coming to this thread to ask that same question. I've got a crap-ton of standard bottles, but wasn't really looking forward to shelling out money for some Belgians.

Another question about bottling. This is my first Brett beer and I'm wondering how much priming sugar to use? Do I carb it just like I would for a "normal" beer? Want to make sure I don't overcarb and end up with bottle rockets.

Okay, one more question while I'm here. Brewed mine on August 9th, so coming up on 3 months in primary. I've checked gravity twice and it was at 1.000. Wondering if I should let it ride for awhile longer or bottle. Any need to rack to secondary?

You cna leave it in primary.

FWIW, Ive bottled all ym brettd beers in under 3 months. The gravity really should stablilize in about 2 months. Its the flavor development that makes peopel leave it longer. I co-pitch brett and sacch typically so mine develop rather quickly. I bottles a 9 week old brett wit last week and it alreayd had more brett character than msot commercial ales. I did use heavier bottles though as I do for all my wild beers.
 
I like my saisons at 3.5vol like they are traditionally packaged so I use champagne style. If you are at a stable FG and priming below 3.0vol you are fine with standard bottles and normal amounts of priming sugar. No need to undershoot the priming sugar.
 
I like my saisons at 3.5vol like they are traditionally packaged so I use champagne style. If you are at a stable FG and priming below 3.0vol you are fine with standard bottles and normal amounts of priming sugar. No need to undershoot the priming sugar.

Guess I should've mentioned that I'm shooting for a more "standard" 2.4 vol rather than carbing to style. If I were willing to shell out some cash for heavier bottles, I'd shoot higher, but I'd rather go low on the CO2 and save a few bucks.
 
You cna leave it in primary.

FWIW, Ive bottled all ym brettd beers in under 3 months. The gravity really should stablilize in about 2 months. Its the flavor development that makes peopel leave it longer. I co-pitch brett and sacch typically so mine develop rather quickly. I bottles a 9 week old brett wit last week and it alreayd had more brett character than msot commercial ales. I did use heavier bottles though as I do for all my wild beers.

Thanks, I co-pitched my sacch and brett too. Haven't taken a sample for over a month now, so I'll check it again soon and probably bottle if it's still at 1.000.
 
I just finally bottled my first crack at this beer last week, 6 months after brew day. Honestly, I kind of forgot about it sitting down in our boiler room all winter. It fermented down to 0.998, just over 8% ABV, but you'd never know drinking it....it's so drinkable, it could get you in trouble quick. Really looking forward to tasting it once it has carbed up.
 
Just bottled my first crack at this beer, but may have been a little premature on bottling...

Brewed 11 gals. Put half in a fermenter with raspberries and half as is. Fermented at 80 for one week then dropped to 70 for 2.5 weeks. Checked FG of the raspberry one and it was at 1.010. Thought it was strange but bottled it anyways. Then prepped the "as is" for bottling and found a gravity of 1.020. Decided this one absolutely needed more time, and now I'm wishing I gave the raspberry one more time... This was the first time I've gone to bottle a beer and not had it be at the expected gravity. I'm assuming that's the slow acting brett. Should I be worried about bottle bombs with bottling a batch at 1.010???
 
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