Brett brux blonde: as 1ry or 2dary?

I say skip the acid and wheat, and go 60/40 pils/rye, and yes use brux as the primary strain, hop it to ~30IBU

 

I've only used Brett a couple times and claim no expertise, but am also curious about ryane's recommendations. The grains remind me of the grists in Chad "Crooked Stave" Yakobson's Zymurgy article on Brett brewing, several issues back. Chewy adjuncts and a bit of acid malt.

 

So I suggested it for a couple reasons

1 - (KISS) I like simplicity, I feel that the unmalted wheat would mask the rye flavor somewhat in this beer, rye alone lets that spicy calvados-like flavor come through more. That said I do love unmalted wheat in these beers, but I feel its best to pick one unmalted grain and let it shine

2 - Im up and down on acid malt, I dont think its 100% necessary to make a good beer with brett (Im wondering if Orval uses acid malt?), I used to use it all the time (it was what you were supposed to do), Ive since stopped and still had great results, but you may need to do that experiment yourself (this suggestion also goes along with #1)

#2 isnt to say that acidity doesnt help brett flavors pop, it does. But adding acid malt IMHO never really does add much acidity. Some beers can benefit from a tiny bit of acid to make the flavors brighter; some wines have very flabby boring flavors, but a pinch of acid and the fruit flavors really pop, it works the same way with beer, but you never know until its finished fermenting. I like to ferment out sans acid malt, and taste the beer alone and then with an infinitesimal pinch of acid (not enough for sourness) and see how the flavor is. Sometimes its amazing alone, sometimes its better with acid.

I'll add a couple more suggestions

1 - mash around 152F - Ive found this to be a sweet spot in my brett beers for the mouthfeel that I like YMMV
2 - 30IBU's with a decent amount of late/aroma additions - Ive not used ECY Brux, but with WY brux earthy/floral/herbal-like hops seemed to be the best (Ive liked serebrianka, strisselspalt, or fuggles)
3 - Dont be afraid to dry hop, in fact DO dry hop

Ive not seen the zymurgy article, any links?

 

If your water is alkaline like mine keep the acid malt. If you want the beer to take a long time pitch the brett in secondary. If you want it to be quicker and not a Belgian blonde pitch it as the primary. You're going to get two very different beers.

 

Another option: why not use both yeast strains in primary, at the same time? I've had good results with this also.

 

Are you using WLP510? If so, may I ask were you found some? Been looking but haven't seen it anywhere.

 

I thought you were debating using ECY strain of Brett B, or a Bastogne yeast instead?

 

I know acid malt doesnt add much sourness, in fact I always fight that idea when its brought up. As far as post-ferment, Im not talkinga bout making this sour, Im talking about <1g of malic or citric acid. A extremely small amt of acid post-ferment (not enough to measure or taste) can make flavors pop. This is common in flabby wines, a tiny bit of acid and suddenly they taste amazingly good. My comments on acid malt were two pronged, one you probably wont see much of a drop in mash pH (even if you need one), and two Im not convinced the small amt of acid it will add is necessary to make a good brett beer. The followup about flabby wines and making flavors pop is a covering my butt kinda thing, as sometimes it can really help.

My experience with WY brux is that it isnt that horsey as a primary strain, but I cant comment on the ECY version

WY tends to be more rotten banana muffin

 

It's the May-June 2012 Issue, available to AHA members on ezymurgy:
http://digital.ipcprintservices.com/publication/frame.php?i=107084&p=&pn=&ver=flex
My guess is this link only works for members that are logged in.

A sample grist for a farmhouse ale from the article
6lb 2row, 2.25lb munich, 12 oz rye malt, 12 oz wheat malt, 8 oz golden naked oats, 8 oz spelt.
Recipe also called for spices, 3 hop additions, and brett yeast of your choosing. I
Not a KISS recipe.

I never had his beers, but the article was interesting. He also did an excellent brewing network interview, probably in 2011. It inspired me to play with brett some, but I haven't done much yet.

 

Yes, and Bastogne = WLP510 - which is why I was asking about where you procured some.