goodolarchie
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2018
- Messages
- 213
- Reaction score
- 138
- Recipe Type
- All Grain
- Yeast
- 3724, Brett, LAB
I brew hundreds of gallons of this every year. I've tried it with just sacch, it makes a great saison. The
OG: 1.046
FG: ~1.002
IBU: Optional
GRIST
63% Pilsner
25% Malted Spelt (BestMalz)
8% Vienna
4% Flaked Oats
Mash at 154 for 60 minutes
BOIL
@75 mins 10g / gallon of 3+ Year aged/lambic hops (e.g. for 6 gallon batch, add 2oz aged hops)
Willamette, Saaz, and other low AA% Noble varieties work well.
@15 mins 2g/gal Cz Saaz (e.g. 6 gallon batch = 12 grams)
@15 mins 2g/gal Styrian Golding, Savinjski
Note: This should produce around 5-6 IBUs, feel free to skip the aroma additions if you want more acidity
@10 mins (Optional) Whirlfloc
@10 mins 2g/5gal Yeast Nutrient
PRIMARY FERMENTATION
Day 1 @ 68F
Pitch an active Dupont starter, i.e. WY3724, or WLP565. Oxygenate if possible. Hold under 70 the first 12 hours
Note: For more acidity, co-pitch with your favorite hop-tolerant strain of Lactobacillus
Day 2 @ 70-75
Allow the yeast to free rise now. It will approach or reach it's dreaded 1.035 stall, which is our friend here.
Day 3 @ 75
Pitch your brett, lacto and pedio strains here. There should be lots of glorious phenols, esters to metabolize, and fermentable sugars left.
Assertive brett strains will see a lot of expression here, and mild strains will still have the runway to show up. If you want less brett character, delay pitching until secondary/bottling.
Note: For more acidity, consider increasing temp to 80-85. It won't hurt the yeast.
Day 4-30
The beer can safely stay in primary, but I would expect to see a serious reduction in activity by day 30. This is a good time to cool the beer into the mid/low-60's and set it up for long-term aging. Transfer to a barrel, a carboy, etc. and try to leave the lees behind. Take a gravity and pH / TA reading and keep tasting notes.
I don't recommend adding fruit or oak at this time.
Day 30-180
By now, the LAB has done most of it's work, any "sickness" from the pedio will have been cleaned up, and you're starting to see an interesting mixed ferm beer show up.
You could let it continue to age in secondary, or bottle recondition with sugar.
Some brett strains are great while young, and produce fast results. Good examples of blends that fit this bill are the Amalgamation I/II series from The Yeast Bay.
You could rack onto fruit, or add oak at this time. You could also blend it back into older beer, if you have a solera barrel etc.
Day 180+
I try to sample the beer against my notes every 30-45 days. This is what having a sour program is all about - always something to do, something to sample. I'm looking for whether the beer is improving nor not... it will tell you when it's "done" because the gravity and pH are stable, and you aren't seeing any more nuanced flavors/aromas emerge. Some young brett strains shift from stone / citrus / tropical fruit esters into more nuanced funky, leathery, musty gueuzey character, and it takes 12 months or more.
Other helpful tips:
OG: 1.046
FG: ~1.002
IBU: Optional
GRIST
63% Pilsner
25% Malted Spelt (BestMalz)
8% Vienna
4% Flaked Oats
Mash at 154 for 60 minutes
BOIL
@75 mins 10g / gallon of 3+ Year aged/lambic hops (e.g. for 6 gallon batch, add 2oz aged hops)
Willamette, Saaz, and other low AA% Noble varieties work well.
@15 mins 2g/gal Cz Saaz (e.g. 6 gallon batch = 12 grams)
@15 mins 2g/gal Styrian Golding, Savinjski
Note: This should produce around 5-6 IBUs, feel free to skip the aroma additions if you want more acidity
@10 mins (Optional) Whirlfloc
@10 mins 2g/5gal Yeast Nutrient
PRIMARY FERMENTATION
Day 1 @ 68F
Pitch an active Dupont starter, i.e. WY3724, or WLP565. Oxygenate if possible. Hold under 70 the first 12 hours
Note: For more acidity, co-pitch with your favorite hop-tolerant strain of Lactobacillus
Day 2 @ 70-75
Allow the yeast to free rise now. It will approach or reach it's dreaded 1.035 stall, which is our friend here.
Day 3 @ 75
Pitch your brett, lacto and pedio strains here. There should be lots of glorious phenols, esters to metabolize, and fermentable sugars left.
Assertive brett strains will see a lot of expression here, and mild strains will still have the runway to show up. If you want less brett character, delay pitching until secondary/bottling.
Note: For more acidity, consider increasing temp to 80-85. It won't hurt the yeast.
Day 4-30
The beer can safely stay in primary, but I would expect to see a serious reduction in activity by day 30. This is a good time to cool the beer into the mid/low-60's and set it up for long-term aging. Transfer to a barrel, a carboy, etc. and try to leave the lees behind. Take a gravity and pH / TA reading and keep tasting notes.
I don't recommend adding fruit or oak at this time.
Day 30-180
By now, the LAB has done most of it's work, any "sickness" from the pedio will have been cleaned up, and you're starting to see an interesting mixed ferm beer show up.
You could let it continue to age in secondary, or bottle recondition with sugar.
Some brett strains are great while young, and produce fast results. Good examples of blends that fit this bill are the Amalgamation I/II series from The Yeast Bay.
You could rack onto fruit, or add oak at this time. You could also blend it back into older beer, if you have a solera barrel etc.
Day 180+
I try to sample the beer against my notes every 30-45 days. This is what having a sour program is all about - always something to do, something to sample. I'm looking for whether the beer is improving nor not... it will tell you when it's "done" because the gravity and pH are stable, and you aren't seeing any more nuanced flavors/aromas emerge. Some young brett strains shift from stone / citrus / tropical fruit esters into more nuanced funky, leathery, musty gueuzey character, and it takes 12 months or more.
Other helpful tips:
- The aged hops really emphasize the funk from the brett. If you want a cleaner final product, sub for a tiny addition of EKG or Styrian Goldings.
- You have a few levers to control acidity after pitching: temperature (lower = slower), hops (a small dry hop addition will slow/stop it), and blending in higher-IBU beer to stabilize
- Oxygen is not your friend... if you have to sample from a carboy or a barrel bung, consider feeding a small amount of fresh wort. Spigots and vinny nails are best!
- After 3 months of no activity, your yeast is fairly dormant and not in the greatest shape to kick back up for bottling, tertiary fermentation. Pitching a fast-acting brett strain is a great idea for bottling. I've improved my long-term bottle conditioning success doing this alone.
- You really don't have control as to where the beer will go after a certain amount of time. Blending becomes your lever at this point, which is why I make hundreds of gallons of this wort each year.