I’ve never used White Labs American Farmhouse Blend before but it sounds interesting. The question is would using it for a dank IPA (CTZ, Simcoe, Chinook) be a great or terrible idea? I’ve enjoyed the Bret IPA’s I’ve had so far but I could also see the hops overwhelming it.
Sometimes those American hops can clash with sour and funk. I’ve had some 100% Brett IPA’s that were good and it looks like Am. Farmhouse blend is just a saison yeast and a brett strain. It could work, but you might want restrain the hops a little. If your worried you could split a batch of IPA for an experiment. Give it a try and report back with your results.
The primary strain is a saison Saccharomyces strain, so keep that in mind. If you like the saison yeast / American hops flavor profile, go for it!
Another thing to keep in mind is that a little bitterness goes a LONG way in an extremely dry beer. Make sure to keep your IBU’s way below that of an American IPA (25-30 is probably a good place to start).
Make sure you follow up if you try it out. We love to hear experiments/results!
The first pitch of that blend takes a while for the brett to become noticeable. Somewhere around 9-12months, in which case the american hop aroma will be subpar by the time you get that delicious funkiness out of the brett. I find that saison yeast to be a nice earthy spicy yeast, which may also clash with those american hops. Personally, I think with those hops that I would use the french saison strain 3711. I would still be interested in hearing what happens with that yeast in an AIPA. I think dannyjed is right about splitting the batch.
'tis only one way to find out if is good though!
Good advice from all. Personally,I would steer the hops away from a heavily dank/piney schedule and toward a more citrusy one for this beer - Amarillo, Centennial, even Nelson for a white grape character. And, as said, if your goal is to let the brett develop (which takes awhile), I would wait until it is at the level you like and then dry hop for a week and keg (or bottle) to have some fresh hop character. Sounds interesting !
I had the same experience, but I did not make a starter, so I’m not sure if that speeds the process along.
If you wanted to make a hoppy beer with this strain, you can omit the late boil hops, wait until the brett character is where you want it, then dry hop.
I made a starter, and it still took a long time.
I think you just sold me on the 3711 - it seems to enhance the hop character and add a bit of citrus?
My experience has been the same with regards to how long it takes for the brett to really develop with this strain. If you’re looking for something unique/fruity/interesting and you’re willing to consider brett, why not just ferment with WLP644? Make a BIG starter (or pitch 4 vials).
The thing with 3711 is that it gets a bit tart. It would work great with citrus hop flavor, but I’d be afraid of the bitterness clashing.
Having said that, I’ve been kicking around the idea of brewing a Saison IPA with 3711 myself. If you go that route definitely keep us posted on your results.
Another fine idea - does Brett B Trois take a long time to develop as well?
The thing to keep in mind with all of the White Labs Brett is that the vials are only something like 180k per mL if pitched directly. So to get to an appropriate amount of cells, you either need to pitch more vials or build a big starter. If you do that and get a reasonable fermentation that doesn’t take long, initially the result is a very fruity, not very funky beer. If you age it for 6+ months, more funk starts to develop. But if you underpitch initially, you will get a lot more funk initially too, you might get other issues, you might not hit terminal gravity, etc.
Here is a relevant internet wisdom: 100% Brett Trois IPA Recipe | The Mad Fermentationist - Homebrewing Blog