so I recently fermented my first 100% brett/xtra pa. I used the ECY24 brett nanus with an OG of 1.054 on July 5th and tonight July 30th I bottled with the FG @ 1.0o2. I fermented at ambient temps in the 70's. what im wondering is if anyone has honed in there brett strains that they have used as there 100% strains or there secondary strains and how it has reacted at different at different temperatures?
I'm not sure I understand your question. I've primary fermented various Brett strains at different temperatures with different results. As a secondary strain its always fermented at an ambient temperature for a long time so I can't really tell you what the difference would be since it usually goes through temperature changes as the seasons change.
Well what has been your favorite strain to do primary fermentations with and what has been the difference when fermenting at cooler or warmer temps?
Probably Brett Brux-Trois. Although the Cantillon strain that I'm using currently is very interesting. I would say the difference in temperatures would be the same with any yeast strain. At a higher temperature the yeast is more attenuative and produces more phenols, which with Brett can be good or bad. Whereas, a cooler the Brett was more restrained. I haven't brewed with a ton of Brett strains, only 3, so I can't comment for all strains. I think there is a lot of room for experimentation with 100% Brett fermentation, because there is not a lot known and there are not a lot of breweries using Brett as a primary strain.
Maybe this will help? http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2011/09/what-is-your-favorite-brettanomyces.html
Totally agree with this. Chad Yacobson talks about how one "strain" of brett (e.g., brux) is twice as genetically complex than saccharomyces (i.e., all the "normal" brewers yeast). That is, what we think about as one strain of brett can theoretically have more variation than all of the sacc brewer's yeasts that we know of. I think when you hear brewers like Vinnie talk about how brett is like a cat and does whatever it wants is because we don't recognize this complexity. I'm thinking (total speculation here) that if you get to know one strain of brett really well and continue working with it, then you'll be able to better predict how it will react in certain circumstances (e.g., wort composition, ferment temp). For the past 4-5 brett batches I've done I've been using one strain and I've gotten to know it a bit better. E.g., when I ferment hot (75) I get these ridiculous latex flavors (it's like when a dentist puts his hand in your mouth..fuggin nasty) that I don't get when ferment cooler (68), but it also won't ferment at all below 68. Anyway, I think that if you really want to know how a brett strain will react then the best way to learn is just pick a strain you like and keep using it.
I agree. I started working with Brett nanus and I'm looking forward to experimenting with it a lot and wanted to get others experience with nanus or other brett strains
I wish I had some nanus! Sounds pretty awesome. I was lucky enough to snag an ECY brett anomala so I'm gonna use that for a while.
Nanus from what I can tell (pre carbonation) performs like a saison strain. Within three weeks in a warm 70+ ambient temperature it got down to 1.002 with what seems to be fairly little phenols with a touch of acidity
