100% Brett IPA with southern hemisphere hops?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by adamholl, Feb 25, 2016.

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  1. adamholl

    adamholl Devotee (357) Sep 5, 2009 New York

    Hi all -

    I'd love some help with a recipe. Lately I've really been loving 100% brett beers, maybe a bit of funk but not too much, and some of those tropical pineapple notes that seem to come out. I think probably they have been primarily fermented with mainly Brett C. Thinking that the flavor profile would go nicely in an IPA with southern hemisphere hops (Nelson/Topaz/Galaxy/others?).

    So here's what I'm thinking, and very much appreciate any help - thanks in advance.

    For the grainbill -
    70% US pale malt
    22% German wheat malt
    4% CaraPils
    4% Acid malt

    For hopping, I am thinking about 90-100 IBUs, with both a 60 and 30 minute addition, a big addition at flameout, and then a big dry hop toward the end of fermenation. Maybe Motueka or Southern Cross for bittering, and then Nelson/Galaxy/Topaz for the flameout and dry hop.

    And then ferment with Brett C, or perhaps the not-really-Brett Trois.

    Any thoughts on the hop profile are very welcome - as always, the folks here are such a wealth of knowledge.

    All the best!
     
    #1 adamholl, Feb 25, 2016
  2. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    My one experience with Topaz wasn't great. It's very strong and has quite a bit of onion. I used 2oz at 5 mins and 2oz dry hop. Half as much probably would have been fine. YMMV.
     
    #2 Brew_Betty, Feb 25, 2016
  3. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    The thing about 100% Brett IPAs is, depending on the Brett strain, the descriptors given for hops can be a crap shoot. I have used hops known for more floral or dank or earthiness with low amounts of fruitiness get turned into fruit bombs. I have had fruit bomb hops with low level onion or dankness turn into heavy onion and dankness. Certain strains of Brett can rearrange the hop oils sometimes amazing and sometimes disgusting ways. Just because a blend of hops makes a great IPA doesn't ensure it will make a great Brett IPA.
     
    #3 jbakajust1, Feb 26, 2016
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  4. DavidlovesCBC

    DavidlovesCBC Initiate (0) Jan 25, 2014 Florida

    Galaxy works amazingly well with Brett. Don't over hop it, let the Brett show also. I wouldn't waste ur cash on bittering with expensive hops. Go with magnum
     
    #4 DavidlovesCBC, Mar 11, 2016
    Lukass, JackHorzempa and jbakajust1 like this.
  5. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    I don't have first hand experience, but I think you may need to strategize hopping in a Brett beer. The Brett may overwhelm or transform the hop aromas. And since Brett beers are typically aged for a while, it may be that dry hops should be delayed until you are close to packaging.
     
    #5 pweis909, Mar 11, 2016
  6. adamholl

    adamholl Devotee (357) Sep 5, 2009 New York

    Thanks for the thoughts! I am not thinking that I will age this beer for a while - from what I understand, for a 100% fermentation, it will behave in most ways like a sacch fermentation would, and fermentation should be complete in a relatively usual time frame (~2-3 weeks). I would do the dry hop for the last 5 or so days, I think, probably 1-1.5 oz/gallon.
     
    #6 adamholl, Mar 11, 2016
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  7. honkey

    honkey Maven (1,350) Aug 28, 2010 Arizona
    Trader

    I would recommend a Brett blend if you are going for pineapple. I just got done fermenting one at my brewery and to maximize the pineapple flavors, I used a blend of Brett Drie, Lambicus, and Clausenii. Brett C is very slow to ferment and on its own it tastes too clean and doesn't give much pineapple. When used with other strains, the pineapple comes out much more. I used Mandarina Bavaria and Amarillo in the boil and I'm dry hopping with Citra. It smells very pineapple-y right now.
     
    #7 honkey, Mar 14, 2016
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  8. Lukass

    Lukass Pooh-Bah (2,891) Dec 16, 2012 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah

    Is this your first 100% brett beer? Just did my first one about 2 months ago. I used Brett C and a brett blend from the Yeast Bay on a rye saison, and it is full-on pineapple. Late additions of Galaxy and Amarillo in the boil made for a very fruit forward beer. The brett is definitely there. You're right on the time frame though – mine went from 1.050 to 1.004 in 2 weeks, so I went ahead and bottled it up.

    I don't have a lot of experience with fermentation temps on 100% brett beers, but I held my ferment at 76-78 the entire 2 weeks and it's tasting great. Just my 2 cents
     
    #8 Lukass, Mar 22, 2016
  9. InVinoVeritas

    InVinoVeritas Initiate (0) Apr 16, 2012 Wisconsin

    Do you have combination that have worked, those that didn't and the flavor output?
     
    #9 InVinoVeritas, Mar 22, 2016
  10. frothy_80

    frothy_80 Initiate (0) May 19, 2013 Missouri

    Here is a combination that I used with pretty good success.
    OG was 1.048
    FG was 1.000

    Bravo @ 30min 10.3 IBU
    Cascade @ 15min 6.1 IBU
    Citra and Galaxy @ 5min both 10.6 IBU
    Chinook 1.5oz Dry Hop for 10 days.
    Yeast strain was Brett Brux

    It was fruit forward, but the piney quality of Chinook helped fill in the gaps. The brett funk was there without being overwhelming.
     
    #10 frothy_80, Mar 23, 2016
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  11. jbakajust1

    jbakajust1 Pooh-Bah (2,552) Aug 25, 2009 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    With the strains I use Noble hops tend to remain unaltered. Chinook, Meridian, Columbus, and especially Nugget do really well with juicy fruits and subtle dankness. Citra and Mosaic together made for green bell pepper flesh, old coffee, garlic, and a super subtle fruitiness. Amarillo and Simcoe had some dankness and pine with fruity flavors, but also tossed some onion into the mix.
     
    #11 jbakajust1, Mar 23, 2016
    InVinoVeritas likes this.
  12. jamescain

    jamescain Initiate (0) Jul 14, 2009 Texas

    That seems like a lot of dry hops to me.
     
    #12 jamescain, Mar 23, 2016
  13. adamholl

    adamholl Devotee (357) Sep 5, 2009 New York

    Thanks for all the thoughts - as always, extremely helpful and informative.
    I've been building up a starter from dregs of crooked stave hop savant, and am likely going to brew/pitch in another week or so. Question - with the brett starter, decant or no? I have seen some folks say no, since the brett is significantly less flocculent than sacch would be; I have seen some say yes, especially if I don't want to introduce the acetic acid that's been produced into the beer. Thoughts?

    Frothy 80's hop bill and schedule seem like a nice combo - a few questions on the beer/recipe- how long did it take to fully attenuate? What did the grain bill look like? Did you dry hop after fermentation was done, or while the yeast were more active? (And also, thinking ahead a bit, did you keg or bottle?)
     
    #13 adamholl, Mar 23, 2016
  14. Lukass

    Lukass Pooh-Bah (2,891) Dec 16, 2012 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah

    I've been building up dregs from CS's Surette. Judging by the sour smells and krausen activity there are some righteous bugs in there! - already seeing lots of activity. Anyways, I've done both with brett starters. I have noticed though that if you leave a brett starter in the fridge long enough (5-7 days) it will all floc to the bottom and you can decant off. At least for my starter it did. IMO, decanting off as much as you can would be best.
     
    #14 Lukass, Mar 23, 2016
  15. Davl22

    Davl22 Maven (1,341) Sep 27, 2011 New Hampshire
    Trader

    One of my favorite beers to brew is a rotating dry hopped brett grisette. I ferment with a mix of Brett C and White Labs Farmhouse. Last time I fermented for 2 weeks using about 3:1 brett C and WL, dry hopped for 5 days with Galaxy and Nelson, then packaged. The Brett C overpowered the hops within 2-3 weeks. Next time I plan on doing the opposite ratio to have a complimentary brett character. Definitely ramp the Brett C up into the 80's, all the pineapple esters come out.
     
    #15 Davl22, Mar 23, 2016
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