brett only saison ala crooked stave

[Brant]

I was thinking of doing a brett only saison after listening to the crooked stave show. I have the dregs of a peach lambic I made using wyeast roselare along with yeast from cantillon and de struisse bottles. I was thinking of pitching the yeast from that beer onto the following wort:

30% crisp maris otter
30% flaked rye
29% belgian pilsner
10% flaked oats
1% caramunich 60

mash: 148F for 90 minutes
boil: 30 minutes

hops
hallertau at 25 IBU's
1.5 oz at flame out

my thoughts are that the increased hopping at flame out will retard the growth of the bacterias from the pitch. Let me know what you all think.

[spiderwrangler]

If you are an AHA member, check your most recent Zymurgy. Chad wrote a cover story on all Brett. beers.

[brewinhard]

Recipe looks fine. Except why only the 30 min boil? You might want to bump that up with the use of pilsner malt to decrease the potential DMS from the more lightly kilned malt. The hopping rate will deter some of the lacto/pedio, but it should still make a noticeable mark on the finished product given time. Do you have enough of this blend to pitch into the wort to get a good fermentation going or do you have to augment with another strain?

[Brant]

I think my wife hid my most recent zymurgy. the 30 minute boil was just to save time since it's a low hopped beer and Im not trying to get much maillard reaction products. I actually have a bunch of yeast to use, probably about 500 ml of yeast. I'll probably throw the whole thing so the yeast isn't stressed. speaking of, anyone know if brett needs oxygen to multiply? Chad's dissertation mentioned they are facultative anerobes but I dont know to what extent compared to s. cereviseae.

[spiderwrangler]

Isn't it the alpha acids that limit bacteria growth more than the aromatic and flavor compounds?

[Brant]

I dont know if it's the AA, beta acids, or just the oils in general, so Im going for an all of the above approach.

[brewinhard]

I think my wife hid my most recent zymurgy. the 30 minute boil was just to save time since it's a low hopped beer and Im not trying to get much maillard reaction products. I actually have a bunch of yeast to use, probably about 500 ml of yeast. I'll probably throw the whole thing so the yeast isn't stressed. speaking of, anyone know if brett needs oxygen to multiply? Chad's dissertation mentioned they are facultative anerobes but I dont know to what extent compared to s. cereviseae.

Brett does enjoy oxygen just like regular saccharomyces. This will help your fermentation take off faster than if you didn't use any. Brett can also metabolize remaining sugars/starches with little micro-oxygenation (think oxygen absorbed into a barrel or through carboy hood) as well which makes them so successful in extended secondary aging.

Some have experienced that giving no oxygen with a primary brett only ferment can take longer for the beer to begin fermenting, but can also increase the brett presence in terms of flavor and aroma characteristics. While others say oxygenating the primary wort can result in faster brett growth which can sometimes lead to a cleaner brett fermentation. Both methods are up for scrutiny and each wild brett pitch will perform differently.

I have aerated my wort with an average sized brett pitch and have NOT aerated my wort with a larger pitch. Both fermented quite slowly to reach a standard FG. As far as comparing finished products, both were quite "bretty" showing the strains' characteristics that were used. With that being said, I did have a faster start (24 hrs) with the aerated version vs. 48-60 hrs with the non -aerated one.

[spiderwrangler]

In the article Chad talks about pitching Brett at ale rates, which will take longer to finish a starter than Sach yeast (about a week). He also recommends aerating initially, but being extra vigilant to keep out air during ferment (no buckets, well sealed carboy, etc). In the interview, he said not to put Brett in the fridge, not sure if that was only referring to long term storage, or if that also applied to dropping yeast in a stir-plated starter for decanting...