Brett Questions

[kevo]

Howdy,

Having a bit of an experiment with some Orval dregs at the moment....

Some questions...

Any beers, other than Orval, with funky dregs which can be used to pitch into batches?

Any decent lambics/lambic style available in Australia, SE Queensland preferably, which might have useful bacteria? I can get Belle-Vue, but from what I've read, seen and tasted it's; not a particularly good example of the style, like medicine and the sediment in the bottom didn't look as though it would be too interested in doing much, if anything.

Once Brett takes off and I'm happy with the character, will a cold fridge send Brett to sleep, or will the character just keep on developing until it consumes everything?

Any thoughts appreciated....

Cheers

Kev

 

[kevo]

Anyone?

Nothing??

Bueller?

Bueller?

Bueller?

 

[dig]

I'd be surprised if the yeast in a bottle of Orval is their primary yeast (or yeast blend). A lot of Belgian yeasts are top croppers and very flocculent, so it's common to re-pitch with a powdery strain that stays up in suspension. You may be going to a lot of trouble to make yourself some 34-70...

White Labs carry a range of brettanomyces strains... order one in.

 

[brendanos]

I've read some interviews with the brewers, and apparantly they bottle with Brett. So if you get it really fresh (within 3 months or so) you get a lot of dry hop character, and none of the Brett.

A lot of people (and Breweries) have brewed Bretty beers from Orval dregs!

No idea what you can get in SEQ... :S Do Buckley's make it up that way?

 

[dig]

Do Buckley's make it up that way?

Steady on

I found out just today that Buckley's are in Healesville. That's interesting.

 

[Stuster]

No, he's right, dig, Orval is definitely supposed to be given a dose of brett at bottling time. Glad they use nice thick bottles and know what they're doing. :huh:

I think that you're dead right about the Belle-Vue which is certainly a disgusting drop IMO. Personally, I think you might be best off getting a vial of something instead of trying to culture stuff up. The Roeselare blend is in the VSS program from Wyeast at the moment. That's (more or less) the blend Rodenbach use. I have no idea if you can get something to grow from any wild Belgian beers you can get or even what you can get there. There's nothing here that I know of at least. The main issue might be that you wouldn't know what was still alive in an old bottle and so what mixture of flavours you'd get if you did manage to culture it up.

On the other hand, you could just culture something up from any Buckley's beer you can find. h34r:

 

[kabooby]

On the other hand, you could just culture something up from any Buckley's beer you can find. h34r:

I have had Buckley's and I am not convinced it was beer :unsure:

 

[dr K]

I've read some interviews with the brewers, and apparantly they bottle with Brett. So if you get it really fresh (within 3 months or so) you get a lot of dry hop character, and none of the Brett.

Which is fine and I too note that in these higher turnover days that Brett is added at bottling, but given that the driving quality of Orval is a Brett character, and given that the Brett character takes some time to develop anyway, then why would Orval release a beer that had been brett tinctured at bottling straight way after bottling? The dry finish in Brett beer is due to the fact that brett is highly, and in the right mix super attenuative, on top of that my nose may be not the best but I struggle to find any (well certainly not lot of) hop charcter in Orval, perhaps I , as an old Hunter Valley boy, am more entranced by the sweaty saddle notes.

 

[kevo]

I never enjoyed Orval until I let it warm up a bit, always tried it too cold - I get much more bitterness once it has a bit of warmth.

 

[Hargie]

...if you want Brett or any other of those wild belgian bastards just go and lick Dr K's fridge...inside or out...


...Cougar...

 

[Hargie]

perhaps I , as an old Hunter Valley boy, am more entranced by the sweaty saddle notes.

...preferably female....

 

[Insight]

I am across to Perth pretty regularly and the IBS in Leederville is the only place in Australia I have found proper gueuze (leaving aside that horrible Timmermans blend with stale draught found in the Belgian Beer Cafe chain). They periodically have Boon and Cantillion which you will be able to steal some good cultures from. They ship Australia wide.

 

[neonmeate]

i agree with Dr K that the hop level in my last few bottles of Orval has been pretty low - in fresh bottles. i think a lot of bottles are getting oxidised/maltreated.

Orval can give you excellent Brett though. I have used it heaps of times with tasty results.


Other than that the only other commercial sources of funk outside IBS would be Buckleys or that new French brewery Vivat who have a tripel and a blond out here recently. they taste like they have some brett and maybe some other wild yeast going on too.

 

[Asher]

.... Or take a quick drive through 'Victoria Park, WA' past Randy Rob's & Trash Mash Al's places with an open fermenter hanging out the window :lol:

 

[kevo]

When using brett in a fermentation - does the brett produce a pellicle or is it the other bugs - lacto/paedeo etc?

When I achieve the brett character I want, can I put it to sleep or will it conitnue munching on regardless?

cheers

kev

 

[neonmeate]

When using brett in a fermentation - does the brett produce a pellicle or is it the other bugs - lacto/paedeo etc?

When I achieve the brett character I want, can I put it to sleep or will it conitnue munching on regardless?

cheers

kev

brett MAY produce a pellicle but won't always.


you can put it to sleep only by pasteurising or sodium met. otherwise it will keep munching. so when you add brett leave it at least a month (or three) and take hydrometer readings to be sure you have got as low as youre going to go.

a good strategy is to make a really fermentable wort so that you're already down to <1007 or so before the brett even gets added. that way you will limit the brett's portion. if you add brett to a barleywine that's stopped at 1025 the brett will most likely chew through 15-20 gravity points, and you will have trouble knowing when it's done, unless you leave it 6 months or something before bottling. bottle too early and yer in trouble.

the babblebelt site is the place to go for brett advice.

 

[Trent]

I agree with neonmate
The babblebelt is the place to head for all things brett (ww2.babblebelt.com) and go to the homebbbrew forum. I have a mate that made a massive starter from orval dregs and puts some of the starter into his bret beers at bottling, and they are sensational. As for Insight's comments that Cantillon Gueuze is available in Oz, I am off to find ISB on the net right now - cheers, insight!
Trent

 

[Darren]

Anyone?

Nothing??

Bueller?

Bueller?

Bueller?

Kevo,

Bret in your brewery will be very difficult to get rid of (if by chance you dont want it in all your beers)

Probably better off buying an Awful (Orval) when you need a Brett hit

cheers

Darren

 

[Stuster]

You think, Darren. But it's just a form of yeast. Do you think it is any more difficult to get rid of than any other yeast?

 

[Darren]

Hey Stuster,

Poppet valves, lines, yeah difficult to get rid of for sure. Plus it gives off flavours and produces acid. Could produce a real "house" flavour hidden away in taps/seals/grommets

cheers

Darren