Fermentis BR-8 - first dried Brett

[Northern_Brewer]

Fermentis are very proud of their new baby, BR-8, so much so they even did a fancy Guinness-style video which tells you absolutely nothing about the product but tells you how to feel about the "brewer’s journey, through his thoughts and doubts. It’s about his path towards his most creative self and the uncertainty he faces on the way there."

Nothing on what strain/species is involved, merely that :
BR-8 produces phenolic compounds that create a distinctive finishing touch which evolves over time as the beer is aged, with funkier notes (barnyard, horse, leather…) nicely balanced by refreshing, fruity notes.

https://fermentis.com/en/news/fermentation/beer-brewing/safbrew-br-8-launch/
https://fermentis.com/en/product/safbrew-br-8/

 

[DBhomebrew]

Don't want any of those wild Bretts.

 

[monkeymath]

Since cell counts aren't all that important when using brett for a secondary fermentation, my main pain point of liquid yeasts - their quick degradation - doesn't really apply and the availability of a dried yeast is not a real game changer to me.

Still, since German homebrew shops tend to stock at most one strain of Brett, I'm glad to see the expansion of Fermentis' repertoire.

 

[stealthfixr]

The idea of throwing dry Philly Sour and Brett at the same time seems very interesting to me. Or, a Brett IPA. I love using dry yeast when appropriate and skipping the starter.

In general, I applaud the innovation in dry yeast offerings. Used to be that liquid was exclusively recommended for the best results, but I don't think that is true anymore. Maybe it was not true all along, but it's harder to deny a dry yeast quality and results now.

 

[eshea3]

Unfortunately for home brewers, it appears to be available only in 100g packets at this time.

 

[Miraculix]

I just placed an order at rolling-beers.fr for a small pack of these. I will use it in a stronger london porter, inspired by historic recipes. I will do a split batch, wlp 645 brett claussenii in one part, BR 8 in one part, probably both in one part and the rest without any brett for reference.

I will let you all know about the outcome!

..... in about one year.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Heh - good spot. No sign of it in the UK yet but they seem to have outsourced it to a Lesaffre unit in Normandy to keep it away from their main production so perhaps not surprising that a French retailer has it first.

It's also reached Puerto Rico, where a 5g pack is selling for $20, 4x the price of eg US-05 :
https://brewersvaultpr.com/product/fermentis-safbrew-br-8-dry-brett-5g/
Pack confirms that it's a Brett bruxellensis.

 

[Miraculix]

Heh - good spot. No sign of it in the UK yet but they seem to have outsourced it to a Lesaffre unit in Normandy to keep it away from their main production so perhaps not surprising that a French retailer has it first.

It's also reached Puerto Rico, where a 5g pack is selling for $20, 4x the price of eg US-05 :
https://brewersvaultpr.com/product/fermentis-safbrew-br-8-dry-brett-5g/
Pack confirms that it's a Brett bruxellensis.

I was desperately looking for a shop that ships claussenii and @Colindo kindly suggested rolling-beers.fr for it's reasonable shipping costs (which at the end turned out to be almost as high as the swedish other shop btw.). Because I did not want to order only one pack of yeast for this amount of shipping money, I looked through all the other yeasts and there it was! I did expect Lallemand to be first tbh, as they are usually the inventiv ones, but fermentis is fine with me as well. Good thing is, a little goes a long way in a co fermentation, so this pack will be hopefully sufficient for many batches to come, if it proves to deliver a decent taste. I'll freeze it, once opened.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

WLP645 is usually reasonably easy to get - Malt Miller have it at the moment - but 5151 and OYL-201 availability is pretty patchy, the former at least is a PC strain.

 

[Miraculix]

WLP645 is usually reasonably easy to get - Malt Miller have it at the moment - but 5151 and OYL-201 availability is pretty patchy, the former at least is a PC strain.

Looks like us Germans are not as interested in brett as UK guys seem to be... The shops here that at least listed it were all out of stock.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Looks like us Germans are not as interested in brett as UK guys seem to be... The shops here that at least listed it were all out of stock.

Belgium would be the obvious place to look unless they're too busy harvesting from the local brews, maybe Brouwland?

 

[Miraculix]

Belgium would be the obvious place to look unless they're too busy harvesting from the local brews, maybe Brouwland?

Nope.... no claussenii there.

 

[Shenanigans]

Just found this thread now, looking for anyone's experience with BR-8.
Looks like it might be a bit early.

In regards to Brett strains from EU zone shops Pinta.it have quite a big range.
I just did a search now and they have about 10 different types on stock.
Some even reduced to 4€ as they are a few weeks out of date.

Their shipping is however expensive but their bulk hops are very cheap.
Depending on what you order you order could end up cheaper in total that ordering in German.
Plus you will have access to a few rare strains.
Better to wait until the colder months before ordering some liquid yeast though; it's over 40oC in some parts of Italy at the moment

 

[Jeroen79]

yeah shipping seems insane, 19€

 

[Protos]

Better to wait until the colder months before ordering

There's a hope also, that BR-8 will be more easily available later in the year. It seems it gives more interesting results when fermented cold anyway.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Just found this thread now, looking for anyone's experience with BR-8.

There is this thread: Fermentis BR-8 dry Brettanomyces Experiences

 

[Miraculix]

There's a hope also, that BR-8 will be more easily available later in the year. It seems it gives more interesting results when fermented cold anyway.

I think I missed something. What's the difference when fermented cold?

 

[Protos]

I read from those who have tried it that BR-8 when used as the primary strain produced more phenolic ("horsey", leathery etc.) flavours when fermented cold and more estery fruity flavours at warmer temperatures, which is pretty consistent with how many other POF+ yeasts behave.
We have already plenty of fruity yeasts, so I think the unique phenolic expression is the most interesting part in BR-8.

 

[Miraculix]

I read from those who have tried it that BR-8 when used as the primary strain produced more phenolic ("horsey", leathery etc.) flavours when fermented cold and more estery fruity flavours at warmer temperatures, which is pretty consistent with how many other POF+ yeasts behave.
We have already plenty of fruity yeasts, so I think the unique phenolic expression is the most interesting part in BR-8.

In co Fermentation, temperature doesn't seem to matter much. I got plenty of weird blankety flavours from just adding some br8 directly to the bottle, together with the priming sugar. Room temperature afterwards, about 21c.

 

[Protos]

Sounds promising!
Looking for getting me some BR-8. Will try both in primary and in secondary fermentations.
To date, I've only tried a single Brett strain: Imperial Suburban W15. Still have a couple of bottles 2 years old, the flavour is unbelievable after such a long maturation, however the flavour is a fruity one exclusively (cherry stone), not even a hint on any funk.

 

[Shenanigans]

There is this thread: Fermentis BR-8 dry Brettanomyces Experiences

A lot to read in there alright, something for the wet weekend