Soapy bitter taste from all Brett fermentation

[oli-aus]

I brewed an all Brett pale ale about 2 and a half months ago which has a kind of soapy off taste too it. I've also tasted this in a local breweries all Brett beer too.

I pitched a wyeast pack of Brett brux straight into a 3 gallon batch of about 1.055 wort and then 2 weeks later put another 3 gallons of wort on top of that.

Is this a normal off flavour with Pure Brett fermentations which is normally covered up in Brett iPas by the hops?
Also do you think this flavour will age out? It's about 6 weeks in the bottle ATM.

Thanks in advance,

OliView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1477700805.190803.jpg

 

[Aristotelian]

I don't have a ton of experience, but I recently tasted a commercial 100% brett farmhouse ale and thought it tasted kind of the way you describe. I love Orval and similar beers with a hint of brett, but the 100% brett was too much funk for me. Which was weird because I had read that 100% brett is supposed to ferment clean.

 

[apeet]

Some Brett beers can get that soapy flavor/aroma. I'm not sure if it's the strain or the conditions, but I know the flavor you're talking about. I've tasted it many times. Give it more time, it may age out.

 

[oli-aus]

Thanks guys. It's strange there is zero info on the web I can find about this issue.
Il try and forget about the bottles.

 

[oli-aus]

I haven't tried the straight version of this beer again but the 3 gallons of it which I put on blackberries with a bit of sour beer and fantome dregs has no sign of this off flavour any more.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1478927862.808723.jpg

 

[divrack]

by soapy do you mean taste or mouthfeel? my 100% brett has a pretty noticable kind of soapy buttery mouthfeel but i dont think id say the taste was soapy. goot to hear it cleaned up, sounds nice by the way.

 

[oli-aus]

Umm It does have the mouth feel you describe (which I'm not opposed to) but the off flavour was a taste.
It was almost like a different kind of bitterness to that of hops.

 

[TAK]

Soapy sounds like it could be phenolic. When I hear Brett and phenolic off flavor, my first thought goes to water and chlorophenols. So, I have to ask, do you treat your water with campden, or if not, do you know for sure your water doesn't have chlorine or chloramine?

 

[oli-aus]

Thanks for the response.
The max level of chloride in Melbourne tap water is 22ppm apparently.
I didn't treat the water with Camden or anything else for this batch.

 

[TAK]

Chloride or Chlorine? I was talking about chlorine (or chloramine, which is bound chlorine). I know just a few ppm of chlorine can potentially result in chlorophenol transformations by Brett. Not sure, but similar may be true of chloride.

 

[crane]

Chloride or Chlorine? I was talking about chlorine (or chloramine, which is bound chlorine). I know just a few ppm of chlorine can potentially result in chlorophenol transformations by Brett. Not sure, but similar may be true of chloride.

Chloride is not harmful to beer. You pretty much always want at least 50ppm of chloride in your brew water.

 

[TAK]

Chloride is not harmful to beer. You pretty much always want at least 50ppm of chloride in your brew water.

Thanks. I wasn't sure about chloride and Brett. Like I said, the concern I'd have is chlorine.

 

[oli-aus]

Ah yep my bad. The online water report doesn't mention chlorine or chloramine.
http://www.melbournewater.com.au/wa...qualitydata/pages/drinking-water-quality.aspx
So that should mean it's not a chlorine problem?

 

[crane]

Ah yep my bad. The online water report doesn't mention chlorine or chloramine.
http://www.melbournewater.com.au/wa...qualitydata/pages/drinking-water-quality.aspx
So that should mean it's not a chlorine problem?

Nope. Click on the water treatment tab on the right.

"Disinfection
Chlorine, chloramine (chlorine and ammonia) or ultraviolet light are used to destroy any disease-causing bacteria.

The amount of chlorine added varies, but is typically less than one milligram per litre (0.0001%), or one sugar grain in a cup of water"

 

[oli-aus]

Thanks for the taking the time.

Correct me if I'm wrong but that shouldn't make a difference at those levels.

Either way if I do another 100% Brett ferment in the future I will use the same Brett b culture but just use bottled spring water and then report back if the off taste disappears.

 

[oli-aus]

Tasted the all Brett version again and the off taste is gone.

So that was after a month for fermentation and then 2 months in bottle.

Hope that helps a future reader.