Comment on Boulevard Saison Brett Recipe

[jmwc95]

I am trying to develop a Boulevard Saison Brett clone. I only have 7 batches under my belt, so I am going to need some help coming up with a good clone. Here is what I know: Saison Brett is 8.5% ABV, 35 IBUs, Brett Yeast, mostly pale malt, some malted wheat, and a small amount of corn. It is bittered with Magnum and Simcoe and is dry-hopped with Amarillo. Here is my first draft of the recipe (from Hopville):

% LB OZ Malt or Fermentable ppg °L
65% 9 0 Belgian Pale info 37 3
20% 2 12 American Wheat info 39 2
7% 1 0 Belgian Candy Sugar Light info 36 0
5% 0 10 Flaked Corn (Maize) info 40 1
4% 0 8 Corn Sugar info 40 0
13 14
Batch size: 5.5 gallons

Original Gravity
1.072
(1.065 to 1.075)
Final Gravity
1.016
(1.014 to 1.017)
Color
5° SRM / 10° EBC
(Yellow to Gold)
Mash Efficiency
75%

hops
use time oz variety form aa
boil 60 mins 0.5 Magnum info pellet 14.4
boil 15 mins 0.5 Simcoe info pellet 13.2
boil 5 mins 0.5 Simcoe info pellet 13.2
dry hop 7 days 1.0 Amarillo info pellet 8.8
Boil: 6.1 avg gallons for 60 minutes

Bitterness
35.6 IBU / 7 HBU
ƒ: Tinseth
BU:GU
0.49

yeast
Belgian Saison Yeast info
ale yeast in liquid form with low flocculation
Brettanomyces Bruxellensis info
ale yeast in liquid form with medium flocculation

Alcohol
7.5% ABV / 6% ABW
Calories
236 per 12 oz.

Mash @ 150 deg C for 1 hour. Sparge @ 168 deg C.
Primary fermentation with Saison yeast at 75-80 deg C for 1 week.
Secondary fermentation with Brett yeast for 3 weeks at 65-70 deg C.
Bottle with 3/4 cup corn sugar and condition for 3-6 months.

My questions are as follows:
1) Should I be using the Belgian Saison yeast? I bet that Boulevard just uses the same strain of Belgian yeast for all their Smokestack series.

2) I know it calculates the alcohol at 7.5%, and I will get a 0.2% ABV boost at bottling, but since I am mashing low and fermenting with Brett and a high attenuating yeast, what should I shoot for an original gravity?

3) What strain of Brett should I use?

4) Does my fermentation schedule seem right for the yeast? Boulevard says they bottle condition with Brett. Do they just add the yeast at bottling? Or should I just add it in the secondary? I know you should let Brett age, but I would rather age it in bottles than tie up a carboy for months.

5) What do you think of my ratios of grain to adjuncts? Does that seem right for the beer? Should I add more or less malt?

I think that is all I have now, but if you have anything else to add, feel free to type away. This is by far the most complicated brew I will be attempting, and I don't want to ruin an entire batch.

 

[Oldsock]

Looks like a good start. I pitch the Brett in with the primary strain, this will give it some oxygen and simple sugars to get going. I would age it in primary for a few months for the gravity to stabilize, then dry hop and bottle. That way you'll still have some of the fresh hop aroma while you are drinking the beer.

Brett B is a fine choice, it is the most common choice for hoppy beers (Orval, Ommegeddon, Hop Goddess, Deification etc&#8230. You could even use the dregs from any of those beers instead of buying a pure culture.

You can add the Brett at bottling, but it can be risky. You’d need to get the beer really dry and I would use thick glass to avoid bottle bombs. I think letting the Brett do its thing before bottling is the way to go early on. You may want to primary for more than a week, its a pretty big beer and saison yeast can be slow. I really like 3711, much faster/easier to work with than the Dupont strains.

Use the yeast of your choice, saison would be great, the Brett will change the profile quite a bit anyway.

Hope that helps, good luck.

 

[jmwc95]

I am afraid to add the Brett at primary. I'm not a big wild ale drinker, and my friends (who probably drink half of my beer) definitely aren't wild ale drinkers. I'm trying to expand my palate, and I like the SLIGHT sourness of the Saison Brett. I don't think Boulevard adds the Brett until 90+% of the fermentation is already over. Now if I age it for a couple months in the carboy, will I need to re-yeast at bottling?

Also, I found the OG and FG of Boulevard's regular Saison. They say the Saison Brett is just an amped up version of that. The OG is 1.057 and the FG is 1.009. That is an apparent attenuation of 84%, so that is what I'll use to shoot for on the OG.

 

[Oldsock]

They also probably do a bigger pitch of Brett, adding it early will get the same results without the added work of a starter. The bigger factor in Brett character is how much residual sugars/dextrins are left after primary fermentation. If you mash low and get a strong fermentation the Brett won't have much to eat. In general it is almost impossible to get more than a faint tartness from Brett, true "sour" beers get their low pH from lactic acid bacteria.

No need for reyeasting in my experience, the Brett will hang around and be more than happy to carb the bottles. That said there is no harm in adding some neutral ale yeast to ensure quick carbonation if you are in a hurry.

I just did a Belgian Brown and pitched a small starter of Brett B into 1 gallon of it when I racked to secondary. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[skeezerpleezer]

Did you make this? If so, how did it come out?