ECY34 "Dirty Dozen"--now what?

[TriggerFingers]

So I stopped by Princeton Homebrew today and Joe was loaded with ECY34; AKA "Dirty Dozen." Pretty much every Brett in the ECY catalog in one vial...I just did my brett trails, but this vial may deserve something special. Anyone want to help me craft a brew?

 

[testingapril]

I'm interested in peoples thoughts on what styles would be good with this blend as well. Pretty interesting stuff, maybe add with a sour mash for a fast pseudo lambic?

What sort of Brett beer would be appropriate, something golden lightly hopped or brett IPA style?

 

[Wernerherzog]

Hmm... Answered Joe's email too late today apparently? Sent an email 1 hr after and haven't heard back yet. Anyone want to send me a vial of this mix that I can prop up? I'm sure the resulting proportions would be off somewhat but I'd still be interested in trying it.

I can send some ECY Naardenensis, ECY Abbey, ECY Scottish Shilling, or ECY-03 in return!

 

[Coff]

An hour? Ive replied within 10 minutes and missed in the past, they go quick.

 

[TriggerFingers]

I cracked it open and brett primed a couple of batches I bottled last weekend. Saving the rest for an upcoming batch. Initial impression on the Dirty Dozen is its definitely showing the Brett Lambicus side....a little funk'n'leather with cherry.

I think it might go well with a darker beer....

 

[pilch217]

Are people using ECY 34 for both primary and secondary?

For primary - Anyone have any style/recipe ideas for ECY 34? How about a Flanders red base and lots of patience? Or do you think a saison/farmhouse beer would be better matched with this Brett blend? Would this need to be stepped up for a medium gravity 5G batch or is this good to go?

Thanks for any and all ideas/input.

 

[Gus_13]

I'm torn on what to do with the blend as well. I like the idea for a saison/farmhouse as that's my favorite type of beer to drink and brew. I'm thinking that it would be plenty for a 5-5.5 gallon batch as Al usually says his Brett cultures are packaged for that. I know he puts way more cells in there than others do. I may go for a Pilsner (2-Row), Raw Wheat and Spelt blend to give the Brett something to chomp on for a while. Something really rustic.

 

[Jumpman]

just got this in the mail last week. i did an all Brett tank 7 clone back in may and it came out incredible. so i plan on doing it again but with just the dirty dozen and thinking about aging it on apples.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

just got this in the mail last week. i did an all Brett tank 7 clone back in may and it came out incredible. so i plan on doing it again but with just the dirty dozen and thinking about aging it on apples.

1 week brett saison??

 

[lousbrews]

1 week brett saison??

Reread the post. Back in May.

 

[Gus_13]

I've got to get this going but still can't decide on a recipe. Maybe a Lambic style or something similar. I like the idea with Pilsner, Raw Wheat and Spelt but not positive... It says Lambic type complexity over time so maybe just set it beside my lambic and do a blend way down the road.


Santé!

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[allouez86]

I'm in sort of a sticky situation and looking for advice. I just purchased a vial of the dirty dozen, a vial of bug county, and a vial of saison brasserie. I live in WI and ordered through Love2Brew as I have done many times with no issues. When I opened the box with this order, all of the individual vials had appeared to leak a little bit into their individual bags.
I brewed a saison recipe a few days ago and as I opened the saison brasserie vial there was no pop or fizz that I usually get when I open an ECY vial. The yeast also smelt very sulfery (that may be a made up word). After about three days with warm temps there has been zero sign of fermentation. My fear is that my dirty dozen and bug county vials will be the same. Is it worth brewing up a batch and not having the yeast do it's thing properly or should I just dump the vials and move on. Tough decision since I've ordered through Love2Brew many times with no issues.

 

[metic]

I'm in sort of a sticky situation and looking for advice. I just purchased a vial of the dirty dozen, a vial of bug county, and a vial of saison brasserie. I live in WI and ordered through Love2Brew as I have done many times with no issues. When I opened the box with this order, all of the individual vials had appeared to leak a little bit into their individual bags.
I brewed a saison recipe a few days ago and as I opened the saison brasserie vial there was no pop or fizz that I usually get when I open an ECY vial. The yeast also smelt very sulfery (that may be a made up word). After about three days with warm temps there has been zero sign of fermentation. My fear is that my dirty dozen and bug county vials will be the same. Is it worth brewing up a batch and not having the yeast do it's thing properly or should I just dump the vials and move on. Tough decision since I've ordered through Love2Brew many times with no issues.

I had the same problem with my recent order (ECY01 and 02): leaking vials and very long lag times (2 days). Everything took off eventually, but I don't know which organisms ended up dominant in the primary fermentation. Not worried about the beer I did with ECY01, since lambics have a long lag time anyway; but I wanted a clean and quick primary ferment for my Flanders with ECY02, and I'm worried that didn't happen.

Since your two remaining vials are blends, I'd give them a shot at least. You could pitch some saccharomyces along with them if you're worried---it seems to be less hardy than the bugs and brett, so its the most likely to have died off (which might explain your problems with your saison yeast, and the long lag times I got with ECY02).

 

[Love2BrewCrew]

Hey guys,

We appreciate you taking the chance with the yeast. On the occasions where there is slight leaking in the packaging we usually recommend customers pitch them anyway as we have yet to have anyone let us know that it has not worked.

If you do pitch it and you are not satisfied with the process or results please give us a call at 1.888.654.5511 and we will refund you the cost of the yeast. Your satisfaction is our priority.

Thanks for choosing love2brew!

 

[allouez86]

Hey guys,

We appreciate you taking the chance with the yeast. On the occasions where there is slight leaking in the packaging we usually recommend customers pitch them anyway as we have yet to have anyone let us know that it has not worked.

If you do pitch it and you are not satisfied with the process or results please give us a call at 1.888.654.5511 and we will refund you the cost of the yeast. Your satisfaction is our priority.

Thanks for choosing love2brew!

Thanks for the response. Love2Brew has always been awesome and this is the first time I've had any issues. The saison yeast started up later that evening, just haven't had a chance to update the thread. Tastes just like it should up to this point. Haven't used the other vials yet, will do so in the next few days and report back.

 

[allouez86]

Built somewhat of a saison recipe, 70% Belgian Pils, 20% Malted Spelt, 10% Flaked Wheat, approx 20 IBU of Czech Saaz, 1.050 OG. The Dirty Dozen vial that looked like it had leaked during shipment started a nice and vigorous fermentation less than 24 hours after pitch at approx 72 degrees. Didn't pitch any other yeast, excited to see what happens.

 

[Schumed]

I'm thinking of doing my dark saison recipe...has a little dark candi syrup

Also considering doing a stout

Tank 7 recipe is always a winner with ECY blends ...did one with big country ...scored a 46 in a big comp ...been saving those bottles ever since ..it's an incredible beer

I also had the same issue with leaky vials recently ...Love2brew took care of me quickly




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[Jumpman]

I am brewing a farmhouse today going to use

10# 2row
1# flaked wheat
.5# flaxed maize
and 1 # of clove honey at the end of the boil.

1.25 oz magnum 60 min
1.00 oz simcoe 20 min
1.00 oz armarillo 10 min

going to 100% ferment with the dirty dozen for about 6-8 weeks in primary then transfer to secondary on top of apples. or peaches or nectarines.(haven't decided yet. plenty of time to decide.) going to be serving this on new years eve. hope the the dirty dozen works well with this.

 

[allouez86]

Mine has been fermenting for two weeks, used it as the primary strain, fermenting at around 75 degrees. Took the beer down from 1.052 to 1.010 in that time frame. Tasted great, citrus, pear, little bit of apple, very excited to see where this one goes.

Question: Al's website says it may display gueuze like qualities in complexity, and there should be some acidity. Do you think he means that you'll get those characteristics when used as the primary strain or when you use the dirty dozen as a secondary strain? Not sure how long I'll plan on letting this beer sit. Will probably check on it every month or two until it's to my liking.

 

[allouez86]

Update:
Just pulled a sample a month into fermentation. Definitely starting to get a little bit of tartness to it. More so than I've gotten when just using brett as the secondary strain and more so than when I've used a single strain as the primary strain. Excited to see where it's going. Have no idea how long I plan on letting it go but I would imagine that I wouldn't bottle it before spring. Just seems like there's some more complex flavors that are beginning to develop.

Curious to see how others are progressing.

 

[Dirty25]

Brewed up a turbid mashed lambic recipe last weekend and pitched this. I'll probably use this for blending with my 6 other Lambics i have going, only time will tell

 

[testingapril]

Anybody with this yeast willing to trade me some? I have ECY-03 Saison Brett, The Yeast Bay Vermont, ECY brux, ECY Kolsch, and Bug Farm from last year (which is Bug County ECY20). I also have some Brett Trois and maybe some other stuff. I'm willing to Buy one of the brett blends from Yeast Bay and build that up and send some of that too if interested.

 

[masonsjax]

I have a vial of Dirty Dozen in the fridge, just need some time to brew. I'm wondering how this blend works as primary. Does it ferment quick and clean as a single brett strain can, or does it act more like sacc with brett, taking a long time to develop? I was thinking I'd do a simple pale recipe and drink it as soon as it attenuates enough, then get another batch going on it that I'll age longer. Maybe even do a third batch fermented with sacc and add some DD to secondary.

 

[Pole]

I have a vial of Dirty Dozen in the fridge, just need some time to brew. I'm wondering how this blend works as primary. Does it ferment quick and clean as a single brett strain can, or does it act more like sacc with brett, taking a long time to develop? I was thinking I'd do a simple pale recipe and drink it as soon as it attenuates enough, then get another batch going on it that I'll age longer. Maybe even do a third batch fermented with sacc and add some DD to secondary.

I can't answer your questions, but wanted to give you a heads up. I pitched Dirty Dozen as the sole blend in primary for a 1.074 wort. It took off within 12 hrs. I did 72 degrees for 24 hrs, then lowered to 68. It needed a blowoff tube at the 24 hr mark.

 

[TrickyDick]

Anybody with this yeast willing to trade me some? I have ECY-03 Saison Brett, The Yeast Bay Vermont, ECY brux, ECY Kolsch, and Bug Farm from last year (which is Bug County ECY20). I also have some Brett Trois and maybe some other stuff. I'm willing to Buy one of the brett blends from Yeast Bay and build that up and send some of that too if interested.

Are you saying that last years 2013 bug farm is this years 2014 bug county? Confused...

In a related question, does bug county the current blend have all the Brett that the dirty dozen has, plus sacch, and lacto/pedio as well?

 

[masonsjax]

Both those blends change each year, but last year's Bug Farm and Bug County were the same.

Here's the description of the current Bug County blend:

"A mixed culture of wild yeast and lactic bacteria to emulate sour or wild beers such as lambic-style ales. Over time displays a citrus sourness and barnyard funk profile. Contains yeast (Saccharomyces, Brettanomyces) and lactic bacteria (Lactobacillus, Pediococcus). The Brett population is typically >50% of the culture pitch. The blend of strains change every calendar year for those who like to blend or have solera projects. The 2014 version contains a wild Saccharomyces yeast, four brett strains, various lactobacilli and Pediococcus."

So it doesn't look like it has all the brett from Dirty Dozen, only 4 strains.

That's good to know you needed a blowoff for Dirty Dozen as primary, thanks for that info. Sounds like it will ferment out oretty quick like any other brett used as primary. I'll do some brewing and report back.

 

[TrickyDick]

Thanks! I have a couple things going now, I may tip a few bugs into from the dirty dozen for some extra fun.

TD

 

[sweetcell]

I'm wondering how this blend works as primary. Does it ferment quick and clean as a single brett strain can, or does it act more like sacc with brett, taking a long time to develop?

+1 on DD being a vigorous fermenter in primary. my story is similar to Pole's: my lag was about 18 hours, and i also needed a blowoff. one of the more active and krausen'y fermentations i've experienced in a while (could have been my wort, tho, had rye and flaked wheat). left so much gunk stuck to the inside of the fermenter that i could barely see inside it once fermentation was done.

I was thinking I'd do a simple pale recipe and drink it as soon as it attenuates enough, then get another batch going on it that I'll age longer.

that sounds like a cool idea. i just racked my DD batch to secondary for long-term aging. i had a little sample, tasted really interesting. per ECY's description, some interesting flavors should appear with time so i'll be patient:

"ECY34 Dirty Dozen Brett Blend : Twelve (12) different isolates of Brettanomyces exhibiting high production of barnyard "funk" and esters. Dryness, ripe fruit, and acidity will be encountered over a period of months and over time (>1 yr), may display gueuze-like qualities in complexity. Contains various isolates from lambic-producers, B. bruxellensis, B. anomala, B. lambicus, and B. naardenensis. For those who want the most from Brett yeast, whether a 100% Brett fermentation is desired or adding to secondary aging projects. Suggested fermentation temperature: 60-74 F. Attenuation high."

i'm also about to add some DD to a saison at bottling. no idea what that will yield. can't wait to find out.

 

[TrickyDick]

I wonder what this would add to a young 2-3month old sour (bug farm plus dregs) still on the second use fruit?

I screwed up an oktoberfest beer I did a while back. Thinking it was 44 IBU. I mashed too high. I hit the strike temp and mashed in and forgot to adjust the temp controller so I think I mashed at like 162.. It came out just awful. Think I'm going to rack it into a fermenter once space frees up and pitch some of the dirty dozen into the game, and maybe some of the bug county (I filled the empty un rinsed jar with fresh wort) after I pitched it.

Also have a saison a few months old kegged that I hit with Brett b and c after primary, plus crooked stave dregs. I'm not sure if the DD will add much to that at this point.

I'm probably only going to add a little bit of the vial into the sour and the ofest project and save the rest for either a belgian or saison secondary.

 

[masonsjax]

I brewed a red ale the other day and pitched Dirt Dozen. Today I had a whiff of the batch and it smells strongly like strawberries. This should be an interesting blend to play with.

 

[secondbase]

About to start a 100% dirty dozen pale ale and I'm still wondering about fermentation timeline for this blend. Am I looking at a month or six months? What is everyone's experience using in primary?

 

[sweetcell]

About to start a 100% dirty dozen pale ale and I'm still wondering about fermentation timeline for this blend. Am I looking at a month or six months? What is everyone's experience using in primary?

http://www.eastcoastyeast.com/wild-stuff.html desribes ECY034 as:

ECY34 Dirty Dozen Brett Blend : Twelve (12) different isolates of Brettanomyces exhibiting high production of barnyard "funk" and esters. Dryness, ripe fruit, and acidity will be encountered over a period of months and over time (>1 yr), may display gueuze-like qualities in complexity. Contains various isolates from lambic-producers, B. bruxellensis, B. anomala, B. lambicus, and B. naardenensis. For those who want the most from Brett yeast, whether a 100% Brett fermentation is desired or adding to secondary aging projects. Suggested fermentation temperature: 60-74 F. Attenuation high.

i'm 4 months into my DD primary beer and will be letting it ride for at least another 8 months. a sample taken at 1.5 months when i racked it to secondary was amazing, but i'm going to sit on my hands for now.

 

[Jumpman]

i brewed my dirty dozen back in october and i just kegged mine last week. ibrewed my farmhouse saison recipe. i did 4 gallons of that fermented it for a month then racked it onto a gallon of spiced apple cider. let it sit for 2.5 months then added 4 pounds of fresh peaces to it. it sat for 5.5 months and it taste beautiful. its fruity still hoppy and got a pleasent funk smell. i will be brewing again with this yeast soon.

 

[masonsjax]

I tasted my 2 month old batch when I racked it to a keg and although it tasted pretty great, I decided to let it sit in the keg for a while. I have a few other kegs on deck so waiting is no problem. Something tells me this will only get better with time.

 

[allouez86]

Just sampled the beer that I have going with the Dirty Dozen as the sole strain. Brewed back in September and it's tasting fantastic. Simple saison recipe. Real nice tropical fruit notes with a little hint of acidity and a hint of tartness, but not much. Going to let it go a while longer yet.

 

[bovineblitz]

I did a couple berliners with 100% ECY34, they came out really clean and highlight the hell out of the fruit I added (gooseberry/redcurrant and key lime/ancho). In a 8.5% 'farmhouse belgian strong' with Schelde as the main yeast, I get an almost pineapple juice-like flavor at it finished around 1.010. Tastes sweeter than the gravity would tell you, it's definitely interesting.

I pulled it off the tap and am letting it age a bit more to see what happens.

 

[inflictor-of-grimness]

So I have a container of this brett blend in my fridge, not sure what to do with it just yet. I also have a dark sour that seems to have kind of stalled out (sitting at 1.011 from 1.047 OG after a year) and was thinking about just tossing in a small amount (maybe a quarter of the container) of this blend to help funk it up and dry it out. After all, there are about 350 billion cells according to east coast yeast.

Any thoughts?

 

[sweetcell]

i'm also about to add some DD to a saison at bottling. no idea what that will yield. can't wait to find out.

i had a bottle of my ECY34-at-bottling saison this weekend, and it was fantastic. most prominent flavor that i got was lemon.

i wasn't paying a ton of attention to the beer, i poured the glass then got busy with other things. i'll be having some more tonight. looking forward to it. will try to pay more attention

 

[Dirty25]

I pitched a vial in a turbid mashed lambic wort back in sep/October I tried it the outer day and it's pretty good. I'll probably blend it in with some of the other lambics that lack brett funk.

 

[Matteo57]

Anyone have any oak cubes/chips that were used in a dirty dozen batch or anyone willing to inoculate some wood and send it over to me since I doubt I will be able to get anymore of this strain for awhile?
If so, please PM me. Thanks!!