Well after posting on some forums and reading up on some brett I'm ready to do a 100% brett fermentation with no fruit additions in secondary. I'm posting this to clarify stuff for myself mostly, but would appreciate feedback or first hand accounts of this. I'm looking for the more hay/barnyard profile than fruit/pineapple that can finish quickly, like 2 weeks. The lacto will be boiled alive so the brett will be alone. Looks like my options are: WLP644 Brett Brux Trois - says used for 100% but has pineapple. Might have to go with this due to short time. WLP650 Brett Brux - Classically used in secondary, lambics, supposedly takes a long time to get going as well even as 100% primary. Sounds like it has the profile i'm looking for though. WLP653 Brett Lambicus - This is the flavor profile I'm looking for but reading some comments seems like it takes up to 6 weeks even as a 100%. Also dude is talking about a lot of pineapple which is not what I want. This one is out of the running. Wyeast 5526 Brett Lambic - Says works well with lactic, takes 3-6 months to develop. Cherry pie...mmm sounds awesome. Maybe should just give this a whirl... Wyeast 5112 Brett Brux - Sweaty horse blanket, sounds like the funk i'm looking for if it's a bit cliche. Another long term aging one, but I think this is the winner. ECY03 - Fruit and funky, not looking for fruit... ECY03-B - Short time noted, this could be perfect. Instant funk it says, acidicty increasing over time. Acidity isn't an issue since sour mash will provide more than enough, I'm after that funk and this might be it, but the fact that it's 03 leads me to believe it will be on the fruiter side. This is really the only one I've found saying it's quick. ECY04 - Moderate funk and acidic tones, acetic acid, not looking for any acetic notes so this one's out. ECY05 - Brux again, notoriously slow I'm coming to find. Barnyard notes (yay) and fruit (ok... might be inevitable to get some fruit character I should embrace it. I just hate pineapples) ECY30 - Ripe fruit real quick, aging into strawberry like esters. Nahhh ECY34 - Eh not out yet but high barnyard/funk. Huge blend of brett, not a likely candidate since it's not even out yet. I'm really leaning towards ECY03-B at this point...well if I can even find it... Looks to be out of stock. I'll probably end up going with Wyeast 5112. Seems like most people use Trois from White Labs though, I know the dude at my LHBS is doing one.
For the most part the funky/barnyard character is going to come with age as a secondary strain. Most of the references you are using for flavor descriptors, especially form WLP or WY are going to be the secondary characters, not the primary, so WY 5112 is only going to give that character with longer aging after primary with another strain. Most any Brett used as a 100% Primary strain will be huge fruit. Some with throw some funk early on, but it will either be beside lots of fruit, or next to other phenols which might not play well with the sourness (spicy or smoky with sour). Seeing as you appear to be making a new one of these each week, I would do a regular one and age it on some Orval dregs (build up a small starter first), then do one on 100% Brett for lots of fruit. You will be able to drink the 100% Brett one while you wait for the funk on the secondary one. Also, when you see "acid" as a descriptor for Brett, it is talking about acetic acid, so if you don't want that character (which your post said you don't) then avoid those strains.
If not the ECY, then why not combine Trois primary + Brux 5112? You should get a fast ferment with this and also with some age some of the funk from 5112.
Damn...yeah that's exactly why I started building a pipeline though so I could just forget about one and throw some brett in it. I'll have to get another carboy to leave in the corner, aging brett in bottles seems dangerous since I can never get an FG lower than 1.014 with these for whatever reason. I'm going to rehydrate my yeast on this next batch and see if I can hit a lower FG. I mash at 145F for 45minutes and always hit an OG of 1.040. Sounds like primary brett won't give me the funk I'm looking for though. I'd imagine due to it creating much different byproduct due to the sugars it eats that would normally be already eaten by the sacc. So clean yeast fementation plus a long term secondary with brett will give me that barnyard funk vs a fruity ass result from a 100% brett primary. Good to know. Still want to try a primary 100% with 5112.
Try lowering your OG to 1.030, that might help get your FG down a bit too, and be more in range for the style.
Hmm, my grain bill is already only 6lbs. I wonder if my hydrometer is off... I'll test it tonight with some water.
Should be hitting 1.038 with 85% efficiency...I wonder if the fact that I sour the entire mash for 5 days increases the efficiency...I do BIAB, mash with about 4.2 gallons. Then when I collect wort I top it off as close as possible to the top, probably around 4.7 gallons. Then I will top it off again to hit the 5 gallon mark on my carboy. Hit 1.040 every time with 3lbs of wheat and 3lbs of pilsen.
I'd drop it down closer to the 1.030 mark. Also, I realize you tend to use dry yeast, but get a fresh pitch of WY1007 German Ale yeast, it is highly tolerant to the low pH of your Berliners and will probably drop the FG more. The yeasts you are using are clearly (from other threads) being negatively affected by the low pH of your BWs, and probably part of the reason they crap out around 65% App Att. Remember that the pH doesn't stay at the 3.whatever you are at after souring during fermentation, the yeast lowers the pH even more, so although it may be struggling at first, by the time it gets past 55% App Att it is crashing and then stops around 65%. The German Ale will do much better at getting those numbers down farther. And with as often as you are doing them now, you should only have to buy the yeast once, then just repitch some (you won't need the whole cake for a beer this small).
Thanks for the tip! That's one of the reasons I was looking into brett, I'll try this yeast out. Wonder if my LHBS has it.
If they don't have the WY1007 German Ale, try to get WLP036 Düsseldorf Alt Yeast, supposed to be the same strain.
