I have read somewhere about beer that was made using 100% brett as the fermentation agent. I think this sounds
interesting to me and I am considering a trial of this type of fermentation. Does anyone here have any experience
with this and if so please share your knowledge.
Do’s and Don’ts
Duration Times of fermentation
Wort Gravity for O.G.
Things like this would be good to know.
End results and beer taste notes
Thanks in advance…
Russian River Sanctification is a great all Brett beer. Here is some info from Vinnie:
You could easily homebrew this beer at home as it is fermented in stainless steel and none of it goes into oak barrels. I don’t have an exact homebrew recipe though I think Brew Your Own has done some variations of the recipe though I don’t know which issue.
Here are some basics:
85% 2-row Malt
5% Vienna Malt
5% Wheat Malt
5% Acidulated Malt
OG: 1.058
TG: 1.006-1.010
ABV: 6.25%
BU’s: 25ish
Hops:
Styrian Golding 90 minute – beginning of boil
Sterling 15 minutes to go in boil
The yeast is a mix of Brettanomyces and bacteria’s.
50% Brett Brux.
10% Brett Claus.
10% Brett Lambicus
30% Russian River Brewing “Funky Bunch” house yeast culture
The RRBC house culture we call the “Funky Bunch” could be cultured from a bottle of Beatification
You’ll see a long lag phase at the start of fermentation and then a slowing of fermentation when it gets to 1.020, from there it has to sit for a couple of months before it gets down to the gravity listed above. Depending on if you bottle or not you will need to make a decision on the final gravity. If you do bottle it has to be bottled at 1.010 or so, but, not above that or the bottles will over carbonate and the bottles might explode.
Good luck,
Vinnie
Mash temp?
Just guessing, but I would say 150-151
And it’s much less important with a Brett fermentation. They’re going to eat damn near everything.
I did a 100% Bret (with lacto and pedio) beer with a 11.5 degree wheat beer. Added a can of Oregon Raspberry puree to 4.5 gallons. Not sure you have to do anything to special for Brett. As mentioned above, it’s going to tear through most of the sugar. Especially if you throw bacteria in there too.
As Vinnie’s comments mention, it’s pretty slow stuff. Be patient and let it finish the job.
Most of the all brett beers I have tasted (I don’t consider a beer fermented with brett and then funked up with bacteria “all brett”) have been surprisingly clean. Seems like the brett throws more “brett character” when it has to scavenge for those last remaining sugars.
Brett has a symbiotic relationship with Pedio that helps with the funk. All brett fermentations are very clean with a high level of acidity
Do you need to make a starter with a 100% brett beer?
Yep - most sources recommend lager pitching rates.
I’ve read (mostly on other posts in this forum) that Brett produces the most “funk” under stressful conditions. So if the purpose of all Brett beer is to really experience Brett’s full character, wouldn’t it be better to under pitch, at least slightly, to encourage ester production?
When Brett. is used as the primary fermenter, it behaves almost as a regular sacchromyces yeast would. Primary Brett. fermentation is remarkably clean with minimal funk. If you are looking for that Brett. “funk” it is more beneficial to use it as secondary fermenter after the bulk of fermentation is done. The flavor profile between a primary fermentation vs. a secondary fermentation with Brett. is very different. At least based on my palate.
I thought Brett processes esters, phenols, and higher alcohols to get its unique flavor. I haven’t tried it, but I’ve read that you’ll get more Brett character if used in tandem with a Belgian yeast (lots of esters/phenols/fusels) than if you used Brett with a cleaner yeast.
There is an article in one of the last 3 issues of Zymurgy about doing all brett beers, and there are 3 recipes. If you are posting on here, do you have a subscription? You can get the e-issues if so.
Interested in this thread as I’d like to do an all-brett farmhouse.
My copy of that issue is at work, so I can check it tomorrow, but I believe as one poster said, if it is ALL brett (no pedio/other bug), you will have more dryness/acidity, less barnyard.
I had a Surly Brewing Company BrettWagon IPA this last weekend. It was really dry and I NEVER would have considered an IPA for an all Brett beer.
There is a malt sweetness in their ‘normal’ version but the Brett version really dried out the malt and the hops popped.
If I were to try and dry out an IPA I might just try a nice healthy pitch of brett instead of adding sugar or other adjuncts to lighten the body.
The BN did an interview with Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project earlier this year. They specialize in all Brett fermentations. Chad Yakobson, the owner, wrote the article in Zymurgy I believe. There was a lot of good info during the interview.
If you want funk, just pitch brett in a mixed fermentation.
When used in primary fermentation, brett needs to be treated as you would sacch. or it won’t attenuate. Adequate pitching, aeration, temp. control.
Per C. Yakobson’s paper, increasing acidity of the wort will yield more flavor compounds from the brett, but it may not be the funky flavors you’re expecting - more along the lines of esters and phenols produced with belgian strains.
Huh, that’s interesting. I know ‘Wild Brews’ says that Brett is only “super-attenuative” in the presence of other yeasts/bacteria, but I figured that it would produce a similar character regardless. Good info.
I did a 10 gallon saison batch split between 3711 French Saison yeast and WL677 Brett Troix in two primary fermentors. The 3711 blasted through like usual and finish at 1.005. The WL677 is still in a carboy, but it seems to have stopped at about 1.011. The taste out of the carboy for the brett beer is not very funky, and some interesting fruity esters. It is ready to bottle/keg and I will report back once it is carbonated.
I beg to differ with the “aeration” portion of that statement. When I made my first all-brett beer, I had read that brett could produce sour notes in the presence of oxygen. I wanted a little funk, but no sour, so I pitched at an ale rate and introduced no oxygen. The brett (a dual pitch of White Labs’ brett brux and lambicus) achieved 85% attenuation in about 3 weeks. The beer turned out pretty good too. What a weird yeast!