Dmitri (of BKYeast) dropped off some Brettanomyces cultures at Brooklyn Homebrew a few months back. He had isolated three cultures from a bottle of 2008 Cantillion Iris (C1, C2, and C3) and one from a smack pack of Wyeast 3191 PC Berliner Weisse. I decided to brew an experimental 100% Brett Beer using the C2 and C3 cultures. I pitched both cultures into a singe 2-liter starter on a stir plate for ten days. I tasted the finished starter wort, and there was a distinct sourness along with some earthy, peach and apricot fruit aromas. I then brewed a simple recipe of 75% German Pilsner malt, 8% wheat, 8% munich, and per Chad Yakobson’s recommendation, 8% golden naked oats to boost the body and mouthfeel. Since the beer was experimental by nature, I decided to make it a single-hop beer as well and used all Meridian hops. I fermented the beer for four weeks and then dry-hopped for two weeks using a big dose (5 oz. in 5 gallons) of Meridian pellets in the fermenter. I then kegged and cold-crashed the beer for two weeks.
Appearance. Hazy golden amber with a dense rocky head. Despite two weeks of cold crashing at near-freezing temperatures, the low-flocculating nature of Brettanomyces left the beer cloudy even until the final pour from the keg.
Smell. When I first tapped the keg, the massive amount of dry hops gave the beer a huge aroma of grapefruit, citrus, and lemon. Towards the end of the keg, the citrus notes receded slightly and the telltale aroma of Brettanomyces — barnyard, pineapple, and mango — came strongly to the forefront. This is the most aromatic beer that I’ve ever brewed, which I think is due to the combination of Brettanomyces and big dry-hopping of the Meridian hops. The beer definitely had the wow factor upon the first sniffs of members of my homebrew club.
Taste and Mouthfeel. Because the beer finished at 1.003, the first thing I noticed about this beer is how dry it is. The citrus aromas carried into the taste, along with some strawberry-like flavors, which I think was the result of the Brettanomyces and naked oats. The addition of oats was important in this recipe because of the low finishing gravity. Brettanomyces is known to thin out beers because it is so attenuative, so the oats allowed for a fuller body to counteract the Brett.
Overall Impressions. One of the most refreshing, aromatic, and easy-drinking beers that I’ve brewed. About halfway through the glass every time, I would get the distinct impression that I was drinking a wit beer. Because of the risk of contaminating my other beers and long turnaround time, this 100% Brett beer probably will not make it into my regular rotation. But when I’m ready for more experimenting, I’d like to try this again with some of Dmitri’s other cultures and some of the commercial Brett cultures that are available.
Looks like a great experiment. I just made my first 100% Brett IPA (Brett Brux Trios) over the weekend. Though I’m familiar with the Brettanomyces Project, I must have overlooked the naked oats suggestion. Gotta try that next time. I’m considering using some Malto-dextrin at kegging depending on where it finishes, but I have to do research on how easily brett will cut through it. I’ll keep you posted.
Yeah dude! Let me know how it turns out (maybe we can arrange for a bottle exchange or something?). Did you use the White Labs Brett Trois? I think I remember reading about the naked oats in a BYO or Zymurgy article that Chad wrote. I think you would be okay dosing it with maltodextrin at kegging, if you keep it cold it would take forever for the brett to eat through it and I think even if you left it warm it would still take a long time to eat through it.
Sounds like a great beer! Would have loved to taste it. I’m glad you liked these cultures.
Thanks for the write up. How sour did this end up? I’ve been considering doing a Berliner Weiss type beer but with Brett instead of Sacc.
It actually wasn’t sour at all, but had tons of esters, fruity being the most prominent. I know that Brett will create acetobacter in the presence of oxygen (the stirred starter I made tasted sour to me, which makes sense). Maybe if you gave it an extra dose of O2 after fermentation starts it would get sour, but that’s not really the flavor most people look for (lactic) in a Berliner Weiss, but it could be interesting. It would also be cool to sour with lactobacillus (sour mash or in the fermentor) and then ferment with Brett. Either way, let me know how it turns out!
If I may… Brett cannot create Acetobacter because those two are different organisms. Brett is a yeast, Acetobacter is a bacterium. Same as a snake can’t give birth to a chipmunk.
In presence of oxygen and glucose, most Brettanomyces species produce acetic acid aka vinegar. I briefly touched on the subject here (http://bkyeast.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/size-matters/)
Dmitri, you are most definitely correct. Thanks for the correction.
[...] Impressions from other people: It was described as strawberries, bubblegum, green apple, pear, apricot, peach, wet sock/good cheese and slight vinegar. Strawberry, peach, apricot and pineapple were the most common descriptions. Finishes dry. Seems to be a good strain to use with fruity hops. Check out Kyler’s post about a beer he made with C2/C3 mix and Meridian Hops (http://haydtsbrewing.com/2013/02/13/100-brettanomyces-beer/) [...]
Hey!
I’m crashing starters right now and should be able to bring C1 slurry to Brooklyn Homebrew on Sunday. Let me know what’s the best way to pass you the yeast.