What to expect from a 100% Brett Beer

If by "brett character" you mean funk, based upon my readings the answer is no.

From my readings the way to optimize funk is to brew using a combination of a Sacch yeast strain that has the POF (Phenolic Off Flavor) gene along with Brett.

Hopefully Michael Tonsmiere (@OldSock) will chime into this thread since he is very knowledgeable and experienced in brewing with Brett.

Cheers!

 

FWIW that would be my guess as well.

Hopefully Michael will post to your thread. His input is more valuable here.

Cheers!

 

You will get a tropical bomb with a very subtle hint of sassy tartness and a slight rustic juiciness that says Hi, I'm Brett. The funk will be non-existent. Funk really comes from aging after primary fermentation is complete and allowing the Brett to transform the esters and phenols already present in the beer.

 

Some of the 100% brett beers I've tried had mild funk. Most of them were quite fruity. Crooked Stave Surrette was like drinking a leather couch that a sweaty man slept on. So there's that...

How do you know the Femme Fatale beer is 100% brett C?

 

Justin, my apologies for not tagging you as well in my first post to this thread.

Not all of my synapses were firing properly.

Cheers!

 

That was my original position, although it seems that mechanism may not be as important as I supposed: http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Brettanomyces_secondary_fermentation_experiment

Upping the ferulic acid and/or polyphenols may also provide a boost.

 

Michael, I took note of: “At 3 weeks, conversion of 4-vinylguiacol (4-VG) to 4-ethylguiacol (4-EG) was observed in all samples dosed with Brettanomyces (Figure 1). This indicates that regardless of pitch rate, conversion of above-threshold amounts of 4-VG (clove) produced by Saccharomyces was metabolized to above-threshold levels of 4-EG (spicy, smoky).”

My read of the above is the Sacch yeast produced the phenol 4-vinylguiacol (4-VG) which subsequently converted to 4-ethylguiacol (4-EG) by the Brett.

Doesn’t this suggest that using a POF gene Sacch yeast along with Brett produces unique flavors?

Am I missing something here?

Cheers!

 

This will sound absurd, but bear with me on it... Crooked Stave beers aren't exactly the best example of a 100% Brett beer. Most of the beers from them, like Surrette, are primaried with a blend of Bretts, then aged with Bacteria and additional Brett strains. This causes the secondary Bretts or even the blend overtime to act much more like it does as a secondary yeast to Sacc. A fresh 100% Brett beer should have very minimal funk. An aged version of the same beer might be quite different. I've had an 18 month old Mo Betta Bretta that had very minimal funk as well.

 

Hey Michael,

Just wanted to say I love the book and just started my first Sour beer last weekend. Took your advice on using a commercial culture (The Yeast Bay Mélange) along with bottle dregs (Orval, Beatification, Bruery Rueze, Alamac Brettaville). Sacc fermentation is going strong right now.

Should I leave in primary for a while to get the other bugs built before secondary or just rack right after Sacc is complete?

Thanks.

 

I have a 100% Brett Blonde (L & C) that I'm bottling this weekend. I added peaches to it two weeks ago, when I opened it up to add the peaches it smelled pretty fruity, with a small bit of funk. I took a smell yesterday and it had very minimal funk and a nice vibrant fruity nose. I'm subbing to this thread, lot of good information.

 

I rack most sours once primary slows down. The bugs will grow just as well in secondary as they will "late stage" primary. The only question is how much exposure you want to autolysis. I like lambic-type in primary for the duration, most others I rack. Giving the Brett access to the fatty acids and sugars released by dying Sacch provides a more complex "rustic" for lack of a better word funk. Best of luck!

 

Essentially, what I suggested does happen (4VG from Sacch converted to 4EG by Brett), but Brett seems pretty quick at producing its own 4EG so the point is somewhat moot. It could be that other phenols at work and there is still reason to use a more characterful primary strain.

 

Mine are all fruit. I have a single strain that I use for most all my beers: IPA, Coffee Porter, Imperial Stout, APA. I have a blend that contains that same strain for my Farmhouse ales. I get a lot of pineapple, mango, and peach from the single strain. The blend has the same with some earthiness and a hint of tart cherry.

 

Sorry to chime in here, but in case Michael (Old Sock) does not . . . I'm unclear, did you start with Sach (only) in the primary, and then that (incredibly) mixed culture is going into the secondary? Or did you pitch Melange (sach, pedio, lacto), Orval (sach and brett), etc. all at once?
Michael seems to advocate putting 'em all in at once . . . and then the 2ndary in about 3 weeks will help get it off the sach yeast, and then comes the long aging so the pedio and lacto and brett can all chew on all the various byproducts.

 

Awesome, thanks Michael.

I'm going from a 7 gal glass primary into a 5 gal glass, looking to fill that to the neck to minimize headspace. That 7 gal will get another batch thrown on top right after racking with a different base beer so I have some blending options.

I guess if I want to carry over the dying Sacc into secondary for added character I could pitch a bit of slurry into secondary.

 

You're gonna get very different results from each unique Brett in each 100% fermentation. I've found Brett C amazingly tropical, and yes, clean. Brett Vrai, however, I've found to be disgustingly soapy and medicinal (still waiting it out -- its in an "IPA" that I'm hoping will heal itself over time!). Brett B will be clean too, but with that leathery/horsey touch. My fave used to be "Brett Trois", but then again, they've reclassified it to "wild Sach", so I guess it doesn't count anymore. A fun thing to play around with are the Brett-blends from Omega (Bring on da Funk was super complex). I have also cultured from dregs the unique "house strain of Brett" from Allagash (not available from commercial labs? Don't know) and it is wonderful, super clean, lightly tart with a slight lemoney-fruit.