I have some WLP Brett Brux and was thinking of doing an all Brett beer. Any suggestions on a recipe? I had the collaboration brew that was Russian River and Sierra Nevada called “Brux” and it sent me in this direction. I am not looking to clone Brux, rather to see what styles might be appropriate for the Brett strain going solo. Finally, any suggestions on doing a Brett starter?
You see a lot of brett pales and IPAs but you can do any style that doesn’t rely on a specific yeast character (like weizen). I guess there aren’t any brett lagers. Like Brux, you shouldn’t expect to get that huge brett character out of a brett primary but it will bring some of that funk. I think a pale or blonde makes a good base for exploring brett primary fermentations. You’ll also see around 5% acid malt added to all brett beers because brett likes a lower ph than sacc but you could just as easily add lactic acid instead of using the more expensive acid malt.
Big starter, like lager pitching rates. Add some acid to the starter to lower the ph there as well. No need to get fancy for the starter. If you don’t have lactic or phosphoric acid available you can use a little white vinegar. Brett can take longer to get moving in a starter so get your starter going earlier than normal (even by as much as a week.) If you do not use a stir plate you may or may not see a pellicle show up. Either way it doesn’t matter.
The all-brett beers I have made tend to have a saison-like yeast element. Usually on the fruity side. I like to use a Belgian pale ale or Englsh pale ale base recipe for a 100% brett beer. You could go with a more traditional saison recipe as well.
Those vials aren’t meant for brett pitch in secondary, so they aren’t “pitchable quantities”.
See this thread:
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=18068.0
Good point. I used a vial of Brett troix but built up a big starter, and then reused the yeast a couple of times. You should be looking for lager-size pitch rates.
i did an apricot pale ale that i still have three bottles of. it turned out really fantastic and i got rave reviews on it.
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=12440.0
That sounds great. I was thinking an Oud Bruin then adding tart cherry wine base after primary and blending with a batch of Flanders Red I have going…