brewinhard wrote:I can't give much advice on this one as I simply don't really enjoy the characteristics of brett alongside of roasted malts as in a porter or stout. Something with the way the brett clashes with the roast especially if it is acrid or burnt in character. But then again, I also don't really care for american hops with roasted dark malts either.
Maybe try to incorporate some carafa special malt(s) to give you a clean background for the brett to layer upon. You might want to approach this one along the lines of a Black or Cascadian IPA grain bill to achieve a clean malt profile and avoid any harsh overly roasted tones. That is at least how I would go about it based on the last 100% brett porter I tasted.
I was in that camp too.. until GABF a few years ago. 08 or 09 IIRC. New Glarus was pouring a sour porter. It was unbelievable.
The trick is that a porter shouldn't have roast in it, just the perception of roast. The darkest malt I use in mine is a light chocolate & even then in pretty sparse amounts... just enough to give it some color (& the character that goes along with it, of course). Absolutely no roasted malts though.
I'm with you on hops. Porters don't need a hop character that stands out. Northern Brewer is one of my favorites for a porter, but I still keep that earthy/woody profile way in the background. Just enough to balance & noticeable only if you hunt for it.
I think those are some basic keys to brewing a good brown porter & would carry over to a nice brett porter as well. I wouldn't take it all the way up to a robust porter. The flavors would be fighting with each other a bit too much.
I would start with
Marris/2-row blend
pale chocolate
special B or C80/120
maybe a touch (<0.3%) of finely ground dehusked carafe if you just can't get enough color without going heavy on the crystal. Sprinkle on top for mashout.
Magnum/Northern Brewer
maybe a touch of some EKG at the end (only EK, no Styrian or American subs)