Averagely Perfect Saison - Poll #1 - Yeast Genera

So, it's not based solely on the fact that I'm asking you to vote yes?

 

I had the '14 Saison-Brett (bottle) a few months back, and thought it lacked pretty much any Brett character. I wonder how they change the recipe for draft, since it was my understanding that that beer was bottle conditioned with Brett.

 

From the Boulevard website:

“Saison-Brett, based on our very popular Tank 7, is assertively dry hopped, then bottle conditioned with various yeasts, including Brettanomyces, a wild strain that imparts a distinctive earthy quality. Though this farmhouse ale was given three months of bottle age prior to release, further cellaring will continue to enhance the “Brett” character, if that's what you're after.”

It would appear that the '14 Saison-Brett (bottle) would benefit from some extra time in the bottle?

I can only speculate on how Boulevard Saison-Brett was brewed wrt the draft product.

Cheers!

 

Right, and what I was saying was that there really wasn't any Brett character...aging it for a few months might have given it some Brett character, but for something labeled "Saison-Brett" I was just expecting a bit more.

Just surprised that the Brett was perceptible on draft to an extent that you didn't enjoy the beer, when nearly non-existent in the bottle.

 

saison brett over a year old in the bottle is fantastic. very dry, with some nice brux funk to it, but nothing over powering.

 

So lets, say.. majority want Brett, some are worried about dosing their equipment with Brett, which is understandable.

Dosing at bottling would be a nice way to trial you batch into a half and half, perhaps! Obviously different approach, but could be fun and would learn too.

Lets get this thing on the road.

 

I typically add my Brett @ bottling for Saisons anyways. I add to the bottling bucket but dosing the bottles themselves works too.

 

There is no difference between bottle and draft Saison-Brett. The brettanomyces is added at packaging and stored in the bottle conditioning area of our warehouse at 75 F. We taste the beer starting at about a month into bottle/keg conditioning and continue to taste the beer until we feel it has a noticeable brett character. This is typically right around the 3 month mark. We're also using a gas chromatograph to confirm the presence of 4-EG. Obviously we all taste things differently, but I've never tasted a bottle of newly released Saison-Brett that didn't have noticeable brett character.

 

Well . . . you've just made Vikeman's job more difficult. Now we probably need a poll to determine our desired 4-EG/4-EP ratio! You and your chromatograph . . . sheesh .

 

We're fancy, man.

 

Thanks for the info! The bottle I had did not have the character I typically associate with Brett, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

 

Late to the discussion, though I did vote for a clean yeast strain early on. While I enjoy Brettanomyces and use it in most of my beers, I think adding it would be a slippery slope: why stop at Brett? Why not add bacteria as well?

Many of the top-tier American saisons are tart and this character may be surpassing the peppery phenolic previously associated with the Dupont strain. Hill Farmstead, Jester King, SARA, Side Project, de Garde, Logsdon: all have at least a subtle tartness as a major flavor component which compliments a saison's dryness, adding to the refreshing character. If thinking historically, getting away from the "American" part for a bit, all saison were probably sour to some degree.

I understand true mixed fermentations are beyond the scope of many homebrewers due to sanitation concerns.

Better for our purposes would be a combo strain of Sacc as mentioned above.