Brett Saison

[alpine85]

Chime in and critique my recipe!
5.5 gal
OG 1.067

11# Belgian Pilsner
1# Munich
1.5# Pale wheat
mash at 150
2oz Opal toward end of boil

1.5L starter wlp565
Pitch at 65, ramp to upper 80s during high krausen, leave until primary complete. Or do I save some sugars to be eaten by the brett?

Pitch brett onto secondary... not sure how long.
First time with this stuff. WLP 650?

Any tips welcome!
I'll post updates.

 

[JKaranka]

Add some bittering hops: it takes a while for the Brett to show up and by then your hops will have mellowed out. For example (not being scientific here), if you like a Saison around 25 IBU, if you age for 6 months with Brett you might want to aim at 35 IBU instead. The Brett will change the character of your hops as well. You could consider leaving some dry hops there with the Brett for aging.

 

[jerbrew]

I've been reading a bit on doing bret beers, saisons specifically. Here's a few things i've taken away from it so far (I haven't done any of this yet but this is what i'm getting from my reading).

1) As JKaranka said, the brett is going to change the hop character of your beer including the flavor compounds present.

2) By mashing a bit higher than usual for a saison say 154 vs my usual 148 you can leave a few more "big" sugars for the brett to chew on and give some character once the sacc sputters out.

3)By pitching Brett with Sacc in primary you also give the brett a chance to eat some of those yummy glucose molecules which can lend a bit more brett character earlier and more pronounced.

4) adding bottle dregs of your favorite brett saisons (or any brett beer) in addition to your initial pitch can be a good way to round out the flavor and character since you'll have a a lot of little bugs working for.

5) adding brett just to secondary once there is very little to get it going can stress the brett and cause it to give off more of that funky character.

Those are a few things i'm considering as a plan for brett saison I hope it helps. I haven't tried any of this yet but i'll probably utilize the first 4 up there.

 

[specharka]

I would definitely recommend co-pitching both saison and Brett strains in primary, or better yet, just use a yeast blend (WY3031 and WLP670 are excellent). It will take around 3 months to attenuate, and at least another 3 months to develop some gnarly Brett character. As previously stated, I would plan to target at least 35 IBU to compensate for the gradual reduction in bittering over time. Brettanomyces is a very slow growing and attenuating yeast, and benefits from extended fermentation temperatures between 65-75F. I would not exceed those thresholds or you will risk some seriously off flavors.

 

[crusader1612]

I would definitely recommend co-pitching both saison and Brett strains in primary, or better yet, just use a yeast blend (WY3031 and WLP670 are excellent). It will take around 3 months to attenuate, and at least another 3 months to develop some gnarly Brett character. As previously stated, I would plan to target at least 35 IBU to compensate for the gradual reduction in bittering over time. Brettanomyces is a very slow growing and attenuating yeast, and benefits from extended fermentation temperatures between 65-75F. I would not exceed those thresholds or you will risk some seriously off flavors.

Love me some WLP670. It's my house yeast.

Primary for 3 months on this yeast, and your good to go.
alternatively, if your pitching brett, a belgian strain may be better, as the slightly lower attenuation will benefit the brett, buy giving it suagar to eat.
it'll still work with something as monstrous as 3711, but personal preference is lower attentuation means better brett character.

5) adding brett just to secondary once there is very little to get it going can stress the brett and cause it to give off more of that funky character.

Brett doesn't mind being stressed, as it is being aged longer term, and can take sometime to start anyway (although depending on temperature) i've never used a starter for bretty, and personally i dont think you need to...... unless you 100% brett, or co-pitching.
chuck the vial in and rack onto it. easy as.
(I've done a few brett beers.
currently have Brown porter with tart cherries, on Brett C
Belgian dubbel with Brett Brux.
On tap I have WLP670 Hoppy Nelson.

Nestup for brett (either a Belgian Blonde, or British golden stock ale) With Brett L.

 

[jerbrew]

Love me some WLP670. It's my house yeast.

Primary for 3 months on this yeast, and your good to go.
alternatively, if your pitching brett, a belgian strain may be better, as the slightly lower attenuation will benefit the brett, buy giving it suagar to eat.
it'll still work with something as monstrous as 3711, but personal preference is lower attentuation means better brett character.



Brett doesn't mind being stressed, as it is being aged longer term, and can take sometime to start anyway (although depending on temperature) i've never used a starter for bretty, and personally i dont think you need to...... unless you 100% brett, or co-pitching.
chuck the vial in and rack onto it. easy as.
(I've done a few brett beers.
currently have Brown porter with tart cherries, on Brett C
Belgian dubbel with Brett Brux.
On tap I have WLP670 Hoppy Nelson.

Nestup for brett (either a Belgian Blonde, or British golden stock ale) With Brett L.

Yea number 5 there was something I read where they were talking about a scarcity of food when pitching Brett, as in a 1.005 gravity beer, could create some stress for it. Which in this case was favorable for creating that "Brett character".

 

[crusader1612]

Yea number 5 there was something I read where they were talking about a scarcity of food when pitching Brett, as in a 1.005 gravity beer, could create some stress for it. Which in this case was favorable for creating that "Brett character".

Either way your fine.
High gravity will give Brett character due to available sugars.
Low gravity it eats the longer. Jain sugars and some of the primary yeast left in suspension.
And hop flavour gets eaten too. So the primary yeast flavour and hop flavour gets modified over time.

 

[rhys333]

I've yet to do a brett beer, but really want to as I love the character. Not so in love with the idea of 6 month minimum turn-around but I guess I can live with it. My plan was to do as suggested above: mash higher for lower attenuation, pitch a primary strain like 3724, wait for it to crap out (or stall in the case of 3724), then rack to secondary with brett and leave for 3 months. Bottle and wait another few.