Ideas for adjusting a disappointing 100% Brett Hefe

[pvault98]

I brewed a 100% Brett Hefe a week and a half ago and I think the combination of using a healthy repitch of Brett from an adequate starter and the "lower" mash temp (153 degrees) caused it to attenuate rather well. I was shooting for around 1.012 and instead it finished at 1.007. The recipe was just 50% wheat and 50% two-row and 27 IBU's, however the resulting beer is obviously thin, somewhat flavorless, and rather bitter because it is so dry.

Any suggestions on ways to try and add a little body back to this beer, mellow out the bitterness and impart some flavor? I just transferred an RIS out of a new oak barrel so I was considering moving it to the barrel to impart some oak and hopefully mellow out the bitterness some. I don't really care for what style this turns out as since it was part of a bigger batch and meant to be experimental to begin with. Hit me up some ideas no matter how crazy they might be.....thanks!

 

[kaconga]

Dry hop it and call it a brett wheat ipa.

Blend it with another beer that is too malty and balance them out.

Hand it out as MGD substitute

 

[pvault98]

Ironically I already have a Brett Wheat IPA on tap. I could blend it with some of the regular Hefe I made with Kolsch yeast. I could never hand out a beer I made as an MGD substitute...that is just too painful and embarrassing.

I am thinking I will add maybe 4oz of Maltodextrine to help boost the body and then add it to the oak barrel for a month or so and see how it progresses. Based on where it is at I can blend it with either the other Hefe or some of my house saison that I have about 10 gallons of.

 

[pvault98]

Moved the beer to my 5 gal oak barrel. It was brand new and has been used once to age an RIS for a couple of weeks so it should have plenty of oak left to give. I opted to pick up some lactose to add back a small amount of sweetness as this seems more important than adding in body. I m gonna wait to see the impact of the oak and then add the lactose if needed when I keg.

The beer is drinkable and tastes like a thin pale ale so it definitely isn't bad, just pretty lame. Hopefully the oak builds in a little complexity and the bitterness fades a little.

I'll update in a few weeks if anything interesting develops.

 

[kaconga]

Moved the beer to my 5 gal oak barrel. It was brand new and has been used once to age an RIS for a couple of weeks so it should have plenty of oak left to give. I opted to pick up some lactose to add back a small amount of sweetness as this seems more important than adding in body. I m gonna wait to see the impact of the oak and then add the lactose if needed when I keg.

The beer is drinkable and tastes like a thin pale ale so it definitely isn't bad, just pretty lame. Hopefully the oak builds in a little complexity and the bitterness fades a little.

I'll update in a few weeks if anything interesting develops.

I could be wrong but I thought the Brett could eat the maltodextrin to some extent and give off a more Brett like character doing so.