Bootleg Biology: Mad Fermentationist Brett Saison

[TravelingLight]

I pre-ordered this as well, pretty excited to see the funky saison I can create with this. Got the parfait one too, and Chardonnay.

I have seen some people question using a starter for a mixed pitch, due to throwing off the balance of the different yeasts maybe? I will probably make a starter for this one as well though, I don't use a stir plate, just shake as TravelingLight said above.

FWIW, I had the same concerns as (I think?) this was the first true mixed ferm I had done with brett. However, I haven't noticed any issues. I also overbuild all my starters to harvest off for a later use and haven't had issues with this one doing that either. And I know plenty of others who do the same. So you should be good to go! But, disclaimer, I only harvest from starters, i.e., pre-pitch, I do not harvest from the fermenter.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

FWIW, I had the same concerns as (I think?) this was the first true mixed ferm I had done with brett. However, I haven't noticed any issues. I also overbuild all my starters to harvest off for a later use and haven't had issues with this one doing that either. And I know plenty of others who do the same. So you should be good to go! But, disclaimer, I only harvest from starters, i.e., pre-pitch, I do not harvest from the fermenter.

That is good to know, I have not done a mixed ferm with brett yet but I use the same process, I overbuild the starter and harvest right from it instead of messing around with yeast once its in the FV. Good to know that the same process works for these, I would have tried anyway at 10$ a pitch I would be disappointed to not get 2-3 good pitches out of each pouch. It's good to know this has worked for others, cheers!

 

[jfolks]

As long as it’s fresh and your OG is reasonable (1.060 or less), no starter is necessary for the BB MF blend. Feel free to do a starter if it makes you feel better though. (Cell counts just aren’t as critical with funky/sour beers - a little stress can be a good thing in this style).

 

[NothingRhymesWithCurtiss]

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

Given the time of year, and that I ferment in my basement, temps are around 65° F. What impact will temps have on this strain?

 

[goodolarchie]

Pitched this and Sour Solera (another BLB blend) last night onto the same lambic 35/65 base wort, around 4 IBUs. The Solera absolutely TOOK OFF within 10 hours (or less, I slept), uff da! Michael's is following hot pursuit.
I also pitched Wyeast Roeselare and Lambic blend on the same wort (it was a big batch). It will be interesting to compare a pre-blended sour "yeast flight" in a couple months! Longer term, I'm looking to do more blending, I have a few fruited sours hanging around that need some acidity balance and brett depth.

 

[NothingRhymesWithCurtiss]

Has anybody else gotten any sulfur smells from this blend?.... Fermentation took off pretty quickly, and at first it was putting off amazing hoppy smells, but then about 2 days in I could smell a sulfur note.

The same thing happened to me. It does seem to be subsiding on day 3 of the sulfury smell, but it's definitely not smelling as great as it did the first couple days.

 

[DoctorBaconite]

Newbie brewer here. Last night I used the MF culture in my 4th all-grain batch based on the Siddhartha of Suburbia Saison grain-bill:

12 lb 2-row
0.5 lb carapils
2 lb Munich
1 lb white wheat

I wanted a tarter beer so I dropped it to 4 IBU's, but I wasn't thinking very clearly and aerated the wort and pitched at about 95F, remembering what I had read about hot side aeration afterwards.

I'm hoping the warmer wort gives the lacto a head start, but I'm not really sure what other effects the temperature will have. I know warmer temps can create fusel alcohols and off-flavors, but will the brett be able to help clean those up?

 

[brownni5]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. This is a Saison blend after all! Hot side aeration is also overblown at the homebrew scale (just ask Brulosophy), but I'm not even sure this qualifies.

 

[cmhaynes]

The same thing happened to me. It does seem to be subsiding on day 3 of the sulfury smell, but it's definitely not smelling as great as it did the first couple days.

The sulfur smell ended up going away completely for me. I've used this blend 4 times now, and there's been a bit of sulfur 3 of those times, but it's always dissipated. I think that smell tends to be absorbed by the plastic airlock, though, so I was worried the first time because that's how the airlock smelled right up until bottling. I will say that I had my fermenter in a warmer place than you, and I think that's one of the things that helps with the sulfur. But, you're probably fine. This is by far the most forgiving blend I've ever used.

 

[cmhaynes]

Pitched this and Sour Solera (another BLB blend) last night onto the same lambic 35/65 base wort, around 4 IBUs. The Solera absolutely TOOK OFF within 10 hours (or less, I slept), uff da! Michael's is following hot pursuit.
I also pitched Wyeast Roeselare and Lambic blend on the same wort (it was a big batch). It will be interesting to compare a pre-blended sour "yeast flight" in a couple months! Longer term, I'm looking to do more blending, I have a few fruited sours hanging around that need some acidity balance and brett depth.

Interesting. I once pitched the Sour Solera into a batch, and I got so worried at how long it was taking to get started that I pitched the MF Saison blend in there. That will be a year ago in April, so I'll be bottling that in a couple of months.

 

[cmhaynes]

Newbie brewer here. Last night I used the MF culture in my 4th all-grain batch based on the Siddhartha of Suburbia Saison grain-bill:

12 lb 2-row
0.5 lb carapils
2 lb Munich
1 lb white wheat

I wanted a tarter beer so I dropped it to 4 IBU's, but I wasn't thinking very clearly and aerated the wort and pitched at about 95F, remembering what I had read about hot side aeration afterwards.

I'm hoping the warmer wort gives the lacto a head start, but I'm not really sure what other effects the temperature will have. I know warmer temps can create fusel alcohols and off-flavors, but will the brett be able to help clean those up?

I wouldn't worry about hot side aeration at all. I've recently been aerating and pitching TYB Voss Kveik at 100F. I would be worried about fusels, though. Did the wort cool on it's own before fermentation took off, or did it just escalate from there? I'm pretty sure brett can't clean up fusels, at least not completely. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[DoctorBaconite]

I just pulled a sample and took a pH reading. pH is at 4.04.

[Photo](https://i.imgur.com/BnxZpO0.jpg)

The aroma is quite citrusy. Flavor-wise, it's tasting very tart already. It almost tastes like it has lemon juice in it. I'm not tasting any solvent/permanent marker flavors, so hopefully fusels are minimal.

I'm not sure what temp it was at when fermentation started, but when I looked about 7 hours later, it was bubbling vigorously.

 

[cmhaynes]

I just pulled a sample and took a pH reading. pH is at 4.04.

[Photo](https://i.imgur.com/BnxZpO0.jpg)

The aroma is quite citrusy. Flavor-wise, it's tasting very tart already. It almost tastes like it has lemon juice in it. I'm not tasting any solvent/permanent marker flavors, so hopefully fusels are minimal.

I'm not sure what temp it was at when fermentation started, but when I looked about 7 hours later, it was bubbling vigorously.

That's great. I'm not surprised that it's fairly tart. The most recent time I brewed with it, I didn't add any hops at all in the kettle. I let it go a couple days, and then I dry-hopped with 2 ounces of fruity hops to stop the lacto. It ended up quite tart.

 

[NothingRhymesWithCurtiss]

I'm currently crashing my saison and plan on harvesting some slurry for a 3 way split test: Hopped Wort, Un-hopped Wort, and Lightly Hopped Wort with commercial dregs.

A question about the batch with commercial dregs: Assuming it turns out well, can I simply pull the slurry and reuse it? Or are batches that use dregs one and done?

 

[cmhaynes]

I'm currently crashing my saison and plan on harvesting some slurry for a 3 way split test: Hopped Wort, Un-hopped Wort, and Lightly Hopped Wort with commercial dregs.

A question about the batch with commercial dregs: Assuming it turns out well, can I simply pull the slurry and reuse it? Or are batches that use dregs one and done?

 

[brownni5]

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to reuse the slurry.

 

[isomerization]

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to reuse the slurry.

Won’t be able to use it for a clean beer, but it will make for great sour dregs!

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Finally getting around to using this yeast for the first time:

Dark Saison 2019 AKA Dark Dickon Cherries

8lb Pilsner malt
3lb munich
3lb white wheat
.5lb special B

Mash-in at 131 for 15 min, raise to 148 and hold for an hour.

Boil, 60 minutes
1oz low AA hop @ 60
1 tsp Superfood nute @15
Spice Blend @ 15 (4g Coriander Seed + 2g Sweet Orange Peel + 2g Grains of Paradise + 1/4 tsp Sea Salt)
1oz low AA hop @ Flameout (about 170F)
1lb table sugar @flameout
1lb D180 Candi Syrup @flameout

Cool and pitch Mad Fermentationist blend

Add 5lb dried cherries in 2-3 weeks, then ferment another 2-3 weeks.

Excited for my first rip on this yeast blend.

 

[jready]

Finally getting around to using this yeast for the first time:

Dark Saison 2019 AKA Dark Dickon Cherries

8lb Pilsner malt
3lb munich
3lb white wheat
.5lb special B

Mash-in at 131 for 15 min, raise to 148 and hold for an hour.

Boil, 60 minutes
1oz low AA hop @ 60
1 tsp Superfood nute @15
Spice Blend @ 15 (4g Coriander Seed + 2g Sweet Orange Peel + 2g Grains of Paradise + 1/4 tsp Sea Salt)
1oz low AA hop @ Flameout (about 170F)
1lb table sugar @flameout
1lb D180 Candi Syrup @flameout

Cool and pitch Mad Fermentationist blend

Add 5lb dried cherries in 2-3 weeks, then ferment another 2-3 weeks.

Excited for my first rip on this yeast blend.

This is quickly becoming my house Saison blend. Very versatile and I love the Brett funk it adds

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Once I test it on this big saison I will take a rip at one that is more traiditional, a summer glugger not a 10% sipper.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Pitched into the FV at 530 and saved some starter for next beer. Three hours later had strong airlock activity. If it ferments this 1.076 to 1.006 or under I’m in love.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Just ordered 4lb of dried tart cherries for the dark Saison currently fermenting with the Mad Ferm blend.

The plan is to toss the cherries in with TYB 207 and maybe some rum-soaked oak cubes and let it rip for another month.

I am harvesting both the standard Mad Ferm blend, the TYB 207, and I will harvest the blend of both from the FV once it is racked.

Gotta get my Brett library up.

 

[jready]

Just keged a funky farmhouse with the mad fermentationist blend. Perfect blend of Belgian and funk!

 

[cmhaynes]

Just keged a funky farmhouse with the mad fermentationist blend. Perfect blend of Belgian and funk!

Would you mind sharing your recipe.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Damn the airlock is heavenly after the TYB207 and cherries went in yesterday. Had a blow-off situation but not too bad.

I'll be airlock sniffing tonight boys.

 

[jready]

So the basic malt recipe has pretty much stayed the same I have changed the hops up using more traditional Saison hops but this version had more of a new world hop mix.

10 Gallon batch
RO water treated to match Antwerp water profile
Mash 90 mins @148

22 pounds Belgian Pilsner
4 pounds Munich (Weyermann)
3 pounds Wheat Malt (Weyermann)
2 pounds flaked barley
1 oz Warrior at 60 min
1 oz Galaxy 30 min whirlpool
1 oz Citra 30 min whirlpool
2 oz Citra Dry hop 5 days before keging
Mad Fermentationist yeast 4l starter decanted start fermentation in the high 60s then run it up to mid 80s over several days leave it there for a monthish.

 

[cmhaynes]

Has anyone on here ever made a saison using this blend with noble hops?

 

[jready]

Has anyone on here ever made a saison using this blend with noble hops?

I have done the same recipe above but with noble hops. I just usually drop the dry hop and do a 10 min and flame out addition no whirlpool

 

[cmhaynes]

I have done the same recipe above but with noble hops. I just usually drop the dry hop and do a 10 min and flame out addition no whirlpool

How did you like it? It seems that because the description of this blend mentions how well it works with American hops, people mostly use it that way. In your experience, did the noble hops work well with the yeast?

 

[jready]

It was really good. More funk then fruit