ALL the bretts?

[m00ps]

I got a pack of Omega Yeasts "All the Bretts" and I'm debating what to do with it. I have been using Yeast Bay's Amalgamation with good results in stuff like sours and 100% brett beers. Amalgamation is definitely a step up from what I was previously using (Omega Brett Blend #2). I'm considering just adding them all together for one hugely diverse brett culture that will hopefully be even better.

Has anyone used this yet and can comment on the flavors it produces?

 

[Biobrewer]

I got a pack of Omega Yeasts "All the Bretts" and I'm debating what to do with it. I have been using Yeast Bay's Amalgamation with good results in stuff like sours and 100% brett beers. Amalgamation is definitely a step up from what I was previously using (Omega Brett Blend #2). I'm considering just adding them all together for one hugely diverse brett culture that will hopefully be even better.

Has anyone used this yet and can comment on the flavors it produces?

Hi, this is Nick from The Yeast Bay. You certainly can combine as many pitches as you want to create a blend. Only one word of caution on that: while increasing organismal diversity ca create complexity, more strains is NOT always better. We carefully crafted our Amalgamation blend over many iterations of strain combinations to achieve a specific character. We had many iterations of Amalgamation that had well over six strains, and the character was not nearly as good as the six strains we ended up using.

In my opinion the whole "kitchen sink" mentality some folks have with creating Brett blends/sour blends often results not in complexity in the sense of elevating the beer character and creating a complex flavor profile, but more a muddled flavor profile that leaves me wondering what flavors/aromas the brewer was actually trying to showcase. A perfect model for the more minimalist, experiment-based way to achieve complexity is seen in many of the beers The Rare Barrel puts out. A few organism in perfect balance, achieving a complex flavor profile that isn't too busy.

That said, if you like both and think you can perhaps achieve a new character by combining cultures you think will complement each other, there's no loss in trying it, at least at a small scale.

 

[m00ps]

Wow, thanks!

Yeah I figured the 6 (i think?) strains were selected for certain purposes. I'm a fan of tasting my starter worts to get a feel for the yeast character at its purest. I'll probably keep them separate for now. Ive got a brett saison and (soon to be) soured IPA going right now with Amalgamation. It definitely hasnt dissapointed yet. you guys did a great job with it

Funny you mention the "kitchen sink" thing. The sour blend I use is exactly that, but with a bunch of commercial dregs slowly grown in a long term starter. I've done 3 beers with the current blend now and it definitely has unique characteristics I can pick out. I probably just had dumb luck on how it turned out

 

[Biobrewer]

Wow, thanks!

Yeah I figured the 6 (i think?) strains were selected for certain purposes. I'm a fan of tasting my starter worts to get a feel for the yeast character at its purest. I'll probably keep them separate for now. Ive got a brett saison and (soon to be) soured IPA going right now with Amalgamation. It definitely hasnt dissapointed yet. you guys did a great job with it

Funny you mention the "kitchen sink" thing. The sour blend I use is exactly that, but with a bunch of commercial dregs slowly grown in a long term starter. I've done 3 beers with the current blend now and it definitely has unique characteristics I can pick out. I probably just had dumb luck on how it turned out

Glad to hear the Amalgamation Brett Blend is working out so well for you. You certainly can make great beers with the kitchen sink approach especially with dregs, I've just had a lot that are kind of muddled in their flavor profile. Nothing really stands out, no continuity of flavor/aroma, clashing flavors/aromas, etc.

Cheers!

 

[m00ps]

well, the starter is going now. I'll give it a taste in a week or two.

One weird note, the yeast package smelled somewhat vinegary when I opened it. Well maybe, it was a much less harsh vinegar smell, but it definitely was there. The last Amalgamation vial I opened smelled like that too, but by the time the starter had fermented out, there wasnt anything. I thought acetobacter, but it definitely went away. I was worried with the first one, but not so much with this one.

 

[Biobrewer]

That would likely be from the Brett cultures which make up a majority of the volume, but I can definitely tell you it's not from acetobacter. We don't use acetobacter in any of our cultures, and it's a contaminant that White Labs screens for.

 

[m00ps]

OK cool thanks! Yeah I figured if it actually was infected, it definitely wouldnt have gone away over time

 

[TAK]

Acetic acid doesn't necessarily equal acetobacter. As I understand it, Brett has two growth phases. One metabolizes sugars to produce ethanol and CO2, the other path results in the same plus acetic acid. Nothing to worry about in a vial or a starter, but keeping O2 exposure in check for your beer is advisable to mitigate that metabolic path.

That's my totally layman's understanding.

 

[m00ps]

well I got starters of both going to be ready for a 100% brett IPA this weekend. I'll decide a few days before which I want to use based on taste. I've got enough of each made to pitch either by itself, or some combination of the two. They do smell pretty different, but both good. I'll update with my impression of the starter wort for each.

I know that Amalgamation is able to make a unhopped starter wort taste better than 90% of homebrews ive tried from people

 

[m00ps]

Well, I was still undecided so have have ~2.5L in starters of each of the Brett blends. They both smell and taste distinctively different. Last night I took a sample of the finished starter wort and had SWMBO help choose. We poured a small glass of YB Amalgamation, Omega All the bretts, and a 50-50 mix of the two. She liked the smell of amalgamation best, the taste of Omega, but liked the mixture of the two overall. I was entirely undecided even after finishing the samples...

Whatever I do, I plan to keep them stored separately though and I'll report what ends up happening

 

[m00ps]

So..............I ended up making some sort of beer.....ice cream sherbet?

I did 50/50 Omega All teh Bretts & Yeast Bay Amalgamation. Guessing there's a couple more than a dozen bretts in there due to a bit of overlap

Something with the fermentation created the haziest haze I have ever gazed upon in all my daze. The bottles look like a milkshake is in them. And something weird happened with the bitterness too. Its like completely gone. I try to make my IPAs with little bitterness by using lots of hopstand additions, but usually you can still get a bit, especially when its very young. This has none at all. You can swish it around in your mouth till its warm and still nothing. All I get is creamy fruit flavors from the bretts and hops. I need to get a picture when im home of the bottle and a poured glass.

Im glad I didnt combine both brett cultures so I can hopefully reproduce this same effect again next time. If I blended them all in what I harvested, Im guessing the balance would shift much quicker

 

[m00ps]

Ok here's a pic. Really looks like a milkshake in the bottle. I definitely want to try this brett blend blend again. This is the juiciest beer ive ever tried

I know it wasnt the result of just YB Amalgamation since Ive used it several times before. And I don't think it was just the Omega All the Bretts that made the haze and dissipated the bitterness since the starter wort didnt look or taste anything like that.