Yeast Bay updates

Thanks, it's my first true pellicle!

The pellicle has now settled down. I dry hopped this beer the other day, expecting to bottle a few days after.. but the brett took off again (maybe from O2 being introduced?) Airlock's been bubbling at a slow but steady rate for the past few weeks. I'm anxious to bottle it, but I better play it safe and let it ride another month or so

 

Possibly off gassing from the introduction of nucleation points?

 

Update for Roselare and Melange blends. Racked over to secondary/aging yesterday after 4 months in the primary containers. The Melange formed a pretty decent pellicle compared to the Roselare blend (probably due to oxygen leaking in). The Melange blend has more character over Roselare at this point.

 

I actually got some tropical fruit characters from the Melange blend along with a pronounced cherry aroma. The Roselare blend was just minimal cherry. They both have a noticeable amount of sour/tart to them, however the Melange blend is greater. As of right now the Melange blend has more character over the Roselare.

 

I forgot about this thread but since I have so many YB things going AND I had such a good experience today with TYB, it reminded me to add my $0.02 to this thread as a data point.

Nick Impellitteri, "founder/chief yeast wrangler" of The Yeast Bay, just called me to tell me personally (he sounds exactly like he does on The Sour Hour) that they are out of NE Abbey. (I'm adding another keg that would have been primaried with NE Abbey and secondaried with Amalgamation II) He asked me what I wanted to sub it for. I told him that since I've been so happy with their stuff I would yield to his expertise. Without hesitation he excitedly said "Saison blend...it will give some great stuff for it to work with". What a great company to do business with.

Brewing Notes
These were both primary pitches into Rare Barrel blonde base and were aged a year.
-2016 Melange notes: clean sourness and light unsweetened fruit cocktail, no off flavors at all.
-2016 Amalgamation: no tartness, great brett derived fruitiness, aroma was low for the flavors.
*As a primary pitch, they were a little uninteresting. Subsequent batches below had a turbid mash component and were secondary pitched and have been MUCH more aromatic and complex in samples.

Currently Aging
Keg 1
F: transferred 3711 primary onto 2016 Melange keg dregs
Kegged: 1-28-17
Sampled: 4-19-17
Aroma: unmalted grain, much less tart aroma, very very light phenolic at the end
Taste: cloudy (probably sediment), blonde, clean lactic, light fruit in back, unsweetened pineapple, very very light funk, little Brett expression
Notes: taste again in 6 months, melange took a year

Keg 2
F: transferred 1318 primary onto 2016 Amalgamation keg dregs
K: 1-28-17
S: 4-19-17
A: HUGE!, big juicy fruit and light Brett funk (more complex + less funk), light spiciness at end, same aroma that was in Aprés Ski
T: clear/straw gold, Brett beginning to express strongly, clean, smooth, no tartness at all, amalgamation fruitiness beginning to show/still detectable in the finish, 1318 fruitiness barely detectable, Pilsner malt still detectable, hop fruitiness/bitterness in finish from dryhop
Notes: taste again in 3 months, if stable, bottle some straight, and try blending some

Keg 3
F: 3522 primary then pitched Yeast Bay House Sour
K: 2-4-17
S: 4-19-17
A: more traditional brett funk (funky pineapple), unmalted malt at the end, very light THP
T: tart but not fully sour, more lemony than pineapple, dif but similar to Melange (more complex), clean lactic, very smooth and rounded flavors, but still not complex yet
Notes: taste again in 6 months, could def be used now to add tartness

Keg 4
F: 3942 primary then pitched Yeast Bay Lochristi
K: 2-10-17
S: 4-19-17
A: big fruity brett aromatics already, unsweetened fruit cocktail with light clean brett funk, almost melon, very very light clove/cinnamon at the end, very light hop grassiness
T: light cloudiness, light fruitiness, very low funk, just vaguely tart in finish, Belgian esters, light hop bitterness from dryhop
Notes: taste again in 3 months, could possibly be a stand alone beer

Keg 5
F: 1318 primary then pitched Yeast Bay TYB261
K: 6-11-17
S:
A:
T:
Notes:

 

I'm about to pull the trigger on ordering the TYB261. Sounds like it'll go well with an American style saison that I'm about to brew up. Could play well with the tropical hops.

Do you remember what the gravity was on keg 5 before you pitched the 261? I'm thinking of pitching a saison blend, then after a few days of fermentation pitching TYB261 straight from the vial. I'm just afraid that my primary yeast will get the gravity too low before the 261 has time to start eating. Ester transformation will be great though I'm sure. Let me know any updates to this keg as I'd love to hear your opinions!

 

1.010 when I transferred to keg and pitched. I also did the oats in a separate steep and used that as a turbid addition to kettle once boiling. I haven't sampled it yet. I actually brewed another one today. Straight forward Saison with additional 3/4# of c120, GNO, rolled oats, and malted oats. Primary Pitch was TYB Saison Blend and some dregs from the Conan/644 hybrid from a few months ago.

 

Thanks! TYB Saison Blend is actually the primary yeast I'll be using for this batch. I also have harvested Amalgamation which I'm debating using instead of the 261. It's free, and I've used it on 3 batches so far with great results. I'm guessing the turbid addition with the oats will give the brett something to chew on in secondary? I may consider that as well for this batch

 

That's the plan. I need to take a sample. It's been around 2 months in secondary. I normally shoot for 5-6% for my mixed stuff. I was afraid it wouldn't have enough once the yeast did its thing. I've had tremendous aroma using 1318 in primary Amalgamation in secondary and 1318 and house Blend in secondary. You need way less oats than you thing. Otherwise you get an oat ball with no water to separate out.