Your Fav "Brett-centric" brews

Seriously all Anchorage brews especially Bitter Monk

 

So you are saying the brett comes out more with age? I just had some fresh tap Sophie and didn't find it "bretty" at all. For me, Matilda had a ton more brett flavor to it, I would have suggested that one for a brett fix.

 

I have had Sofie solely on draft. Sometimes I think I detect a bit of Brett character and other times it just tastes like a ‘regular’ Saison to me.

I would also be interested in the answer to: “So you are saying the brett comes out more with age?”

Below is the description that Goose Island provides for Sofie on their website. I am assuming that wild yeasts = Brett. I am also assuming that this beer is fermented with a combination of yeasts; a ‘regular’ Saison yeast plus Brett (added later in the fermentation cycle or at packaging?).

“Sofie

Brewer's Notes:

Fermented with wild yeasts and aged in wine barrels with orange peel, Sofie is a tart, dry, sparkling ale. A subtle, spicy white pepper note, a hint of citrus from the orange peel and a creamy vanilla finish make Sofie an intriguing choice for Champagne drinkers and beer drinkers who are fond of Belgian Saisons.”

 

IIRC Orval is only bottle conditioned with Brett. It's fermented with a different yeast.

 

Rayon Vert - I love this stuff
I really liked Sanctification but unfortunately I rarely get my hands on it.

 

Orval
Sanctification
Sofie
Rayon Vert
Saison - Brett
Seizoen Bretta

Super Friends was absolutely amazing. I wish they'd make it again. All the Anchorage stuff, particularly the Galaxy and Bitter Monk, are quite nice as well.

 

Orval, Ommegang Biere de Mars (rt.), Rayon Vert and Tide and Its Takers are my faves off the top of my head, I'm sure I'm forgetting several equally good ones

 

Santification and Seizeon Bretta have been my favs so far.

 

I guess I haven't done enough cellar experiments with brett beers to be really know so I wonder what the consensus is on brett flavors fresh vs. aged. Just had a 2012 Saison Brett last night and while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I did not find it to be as yeasty or funky as many other saisons I've had. Sophie on the other hand I notice the brett much more but don't recall how fresh or aged I've had it.

 

I'm not the brett expert, but I will tell you without a doubt when Victory was making Wild Devil if you let it sit in your basement for 6 months to a year it lost some hops but gained a ton of brett flavors. Same with Orval. I assumed this was the same with most bretted beers.

 

Quite true. Brett works slowly, especially when it's used in secondary. 100% Brett beers, or at least those with Brett in primary, take on a different Brett character from the start, depending on what's used. Brett C, for example, won't give too much funk, and instead provides pineapple, lemon, and hay/straw characteristics. Brett B and L are a bit more funky and earthy from the start.

 

So is it only the 100% Brett fermented beers that you don't like, or are you saying that any Sach fermented beer with Brett in it must have bacteria too or you won't like it? If the former then I can understand where you're coming from.

 

Midnight Sun's 3767 was really good but, unfortunately, I guess they don't sell it anymore....

 

Midnight Sun Open Container also has really, really nice Brett notes at this point, though that's also not too easy to come by.

 

Former.

 

Keith,

I am not Brett expert either but I think that increasing funkiness with aging is strongly influenced on how the Brett is used.

I homebrewed a Belgian Ale in which a combination of ‘regular’ and Brett was added in the primary fermenter. That beer did not have increasing funkiness with aging; I have some of those beers with over a year of age and they are just as funky as when they were fresh.

Orval adds Brett during bottling (after the beer has completed fermentation with ‘regular’ yeast). Orval requires aging for the Brett character to be noticeable. I have had Orval with a little over 6 months of aging; there is a subtle but noticeable Brett character with this amount of aging.

I have no idea when Goose Island adds Brett to Sofie. I suspect that it is later in the beer making process (during bottling for the bottled beers?). The draft Sofie beers that I have consumed have had no to little Brett character. Maybe they added Brett during kegging? A very fresh keg of Sofie will have no Brett character while a keg which is 1-2 months old has a little bit of Brett?

Cheers!

 

Just to name a few...RR Sanctification, Anchorage Tide and it's Takers, Orval.

 

I really wish Russian River made Sanctification year round. I would buy the shit out of that

 

stillwater table beer