100% Brettanomyces Beer

[SG Brewing]

Hello! This is my first post here, i’ve been home brewing for about 2 years now and I’ve been doing a lot of research about brewing/styles etc.. (I have a science/engineering background).

I’m about to complete my first 100% brettanomyces fermented beer. There’s lots of information out there that states that 100% brettanomyces fermentation is a lot cleaner and less funky than Brett in secondary, so this brew I will be taking some scientific studies from Brett and make my own assumptions to try and draw out as much funk as I can.
I will be using the outcome of this brew to see how accurate my assumptions were and to then devise more experiments to discover how variables effect the 100%

Brettanomyces Fetmentaiton

Here’s my recipe:
Batch Size: 24L
Efficiency: 80%
OG: 1.057
Est. FG: 1.005 (Beersmith predicated, I’m expecting higher so i’ve increased the OG slightly)
Est. ABV: 6.9%
EBC: 8.2
IBU: 56
Boil time: 90 Minutes

Grist
Pilsner Malt: 3.6 Kg / 7.9 Lb (65%)
Pale Wheat Malt: 0.8 Kg / 1.8 Lb (15%)
Flaked Wheat Malt: 0.45 Kg / 1 Lb (8%)
Vienna Malt: 0.3 Kg / 0.7 Lb (5%)
Munich Malt: 0.2kg / 0.4 Lb (4%)
Flaked Oats: 0.17Kg / 0.35 Lb (3%)

Mash time: 75 Minutes
Mash Temperature: 64C
Mash Thinkness: 2.8L/Kg
Mash pH: 5.2
Sparge Temperature: 77C

Hops
20 Minutes – Fuggles (4.3%): 30g
20 Minutes – Centennial (8%): 15g
10 Minutes – Fuggles: 30g
10 Minutes – Nelson Sauvin (10.5%): 15g
5 Minutes – Centennial: 10g
5 Minutes – Nelson Sauvin: 15g
0 Minutes – Nelson Sauvin: 20g
0 Minutes – Citra (12.8%): 15g

5 Minutes – 1/3 Whirlflock tablet
5 Minutes – Yeast Nutrient

Water Chemistry (PPM)
Calcium: 88
Magnesium: 26
Sodium: 21
Sulphate: 145
Chloride: 143
Bicarbonate: 51
Fermentation Temperature: 19c
Yeast

 

[SG Brewing]

I really enjoy a beer that can remind myself and take me to a certain place. Living on the edge of Exmoor has given me plenty of enjoyable memories out in the countryside so I’m brewing this beer to have a character that reminds me of this. It will be called ‘Funkmoor’

Researcher have stated that 80% of what we taste comes from smell, in a process called retronasal olfaction odour molecules from what we are eating travel into the nasal cavity via the passage that connects it to the back of our throat.

Therefore I believe later hop additions (more aroma) will lead to the initial flavours tasted while earlier hop additions (more flavour) will lead to more mid taste after the initial flavours have started to fade.

I will be using a 20 minute hop addition of Centennial and Fuggles, these will give me earthy, floral and pine flavours to symbolise the trees/woods and earth with a hint of citrus to help blend into other hops

My whirlpool hops will be Nelson Sauvin and Citra to give a tropical fruitiness with a bit of citrus to give a summery feel to the beer.

The hop additions in between this two will have varying ratios of the 2 groups of hops to gradually shift from the earthy/piney flavour to the fruity/citrusy flavours.

For malts, I will be using pilsner and wheat malts, these should give high amounts of p-Coumaric Acid to Ferulic Acid to hopefully yield a good amount of funk. I will also be using 8% flaked wheat malt to add mouthfeel and head retention to the beer as Brettanomyces doesn’t produce any glycerol, I will also use 3% I’m using wheat over oats to retain some clarity to the beer.

As Brettanomyces can ferment sugars up to 9 chains long, mash temperature won’t make a difference in terms of mouthfeel or attenuation so I will be mashing low to decease the fermentation time. I’ll be employing a 75 minute mash to ensure complete conversion and a 90 minute boil as i’m using pilsner malt to ensure all the DMS has been boiled off.

It has been stated that 100% Brettanomyces fermentations result in a few with less perceived bitterness so for this beer i’ll be bittering to 50 IBU’S.

I’ll be adjusting the water profile to have 150ppm sulphate and chloride levels. As brettanomyces can produce acetic acid I don’t want too much sulphates resulting in a harsh finish. A 150ppm chloride level should help to further increase the mouthfeel.

 

[Ajhutch]

Nice write up and good luck with it. I’ve got a beer on the go at the moment fermented entirely with WLP648, it’s early days for it though.

I’m interested in this quote:

As Brettanomyces can ferment sugars up to 9 chains long, mash temperature won’t make a difference in terms of mouthfeel or attenuation so I will be mashing low to decease the fermentation time.

I have done zero research on this but I assume that the byproducts (which are ultimately what flavours the beer) would be different when Brett chews on a long chain sugar to when it quickly digests maltose.

How long are you expecting fermentation to take?

 

[SG Brewing]

Nice write up and good luck with it. I’ve got a beer on the go at the moment fermented entirely with WLP648, it’s early days for it though.

I’m interested in this quote:



I have done zero research on this but I assume that the byproducts (which are ultimately what flavours the beer) would be different when Brett chews on a long chain sugar to when it quickly digests maltose.

How long are you expecting fermentation to take?

To be honest I can't find solid information anywhere about mash temperature and byproducts, I think I remember someone saying they made the recipe twice but with different mash temperatures and they tasted no difference. This will definitely be my first experiment after this brew, I'll make 2 identical small batches with the only variable being the mash temperature to see the effects.
As 100% brett fermentations are relatively new there isn't much information out there, I find this exciting as brett seems such an interesting yeast.

As for fermentation time, it differs per strain, but I think it should be done between 2-3 weeks.

Hows your WLP648 batch going? What sort of recipe did you go for?

 

[stz]

I obtained berliner brett via MTF which was supposed to be a brett. a isolate. The speed and activity which it propagated with made me very suspicious that it was an isolate, but hey ho. I brewed two sour kvieks and an all brett IPA with it. Fermentation was relatively normal? Both in time and appearance. I recall slightly hot/solvent/burnt plastic notes from the propagation, but the IPA was very clean, touch of pineapple, pear, peach, 'higher' fruit character. It was however not completely distinguishable from the hops and I was quite underwhelmed. It also fermented out relatively normally, finishing around 8 or so. The mixed culture brews never really developed anything bretty? I kegged at three months and have stored the kegs for another two. One is on the bar now.

After this my next brews were TYB saison blend II and TYB amalgamation 2018. One used quite a lot of rye malt, lemon verbena and black pepper. Other more normal, wheat and pilsner with black limes. Yet to keg either, they have been in primary for almost three months now. Samples taste as if something bretty is going on, but again, it is still very subtle. The saison blend was very good. Upfront it was like what you want in a good wit yeast and that character dominated early on (it also didn't dry out) but it continued after rousing to dry out over about two weeks and became more like a saison. You could almost figure out what the yeasts were doing, clearly the belgian strain got going quicker and crapped out leaving the saison strain to slowly attenuate what remained.

In the fridge I have omega all the bretts and TYB amalgamation 2019 to play with, so I've not given up yet. I think that I'm not giving things enough time, but I was hoping that brett. a would show something at 6 months and I've expectation that the amalgamation blends should as well. I might of course be over pitching it. I tend to build 2-3L starters for 50-60L.

 

[SG Brewing]

I obtained berliner brett via MTF which was supposed to be a brett. a isolate. The speed and activity which it propagated with made me very suspicious that it was an isolate, but hey ho. I brewed two sour kvieks and an all brett IPA with it. Fermentation was relatively normal? Both in time and appearance. I recall slightly hot/solvent/burnt plastic notes from the propagation, but the IPA was very clean, touch of pineapple, pear, peach, 'higher' fruit character. It was however not completely distinguishable from the hops and I was quite underwhelmed. It also fermented out relatively normally, finishing around 8 or so. The mixed culture brews never really developed anything bretty? I kegged at three months and have stored the kegs for another two. One is on the bar now.

After this my next brews were TYB saison blend II and TYB amalgamation 2018. One used quite a lot of rye malt, lemon verbena and black pepper. Other more normal, wheat and pilsner with black limes. Yet to keg either, they have been in primary for almost three months now. Samples taste as if something bretty is going on, but again, it is still very subtle. The saison blend was very good. Upfront it was like what you want in a good wit yeast and that character dominated early on (it also didn't dry out) but it continued after rousing to dry out over about two weeks and became more like a saison. You could almost figure out what the yeasts were doing, clearly the belgian strain got going quicker and crapped out leaving the saison strain to slowly attenuate what remained.

In the fridge I have omega all the bretts and TYB amalgamation 2019 to play with, so I've not given up yet. I think that I'm not giving things enough time, but I was hoping that brett. a would show something at 6 months and I've expectation that the amalgamation blends should as well. I might of course be over pitching it. I tend to build 2-3L starters for 50-60L.

Yea I have read that 100% Brettanomyces fermentations perform quite similarly to Sacch fermentations.

What temperature have you been fermenting at?

I've also read that Brett breaks down those fruity esters over time, so this could lead to the funkiness being a bit more prevalent. It has been said that the increased esters could be masking the funk, so trying to decrease the ester production could actually increase perceived funk.

Have you tried adding in a ferulic acid rest into your mashing schedule? This can increase the acids that brett will convert into phenols, wheat and pilsner malt contain the highest concentrations from what I have read.

As for pitching rate, that depends on the strain, some strains increase ester production with increasing pitch rate while others decrease. Have a look at Chad's research here:
http://brettanomycesproject.com/dissertation/pure-culture-fermentation/impact-of-pitching-rate/

I've read a lot about brett not being very funk with 100% fermentations, but I've heard of a few examples that are funky. That has lead me to this brew, trying everything I can to draw out the funk.

 

[strange-steve]

Mash Temperature: 54C

Is this correct, I know you mention mash temperature won't make a difference but you're just about within beta-amylase range there.

 

[SG Brewing]

Is this correct, I know you mention mash temperature won't make a difference but you're just about within beta-amylase range there.

Well spotted thanks! It was meant to be 64.

 

[strange-steve]

Well spotted thanks! It was meant to be 64.

I wasn't sure if it was a typo or if you were pushing the boundaries of low temp mashing

 

[Ajhutch]

To be honest I can't find solid information anywhere about mash temperature and byproducts, I think I remember someone saying they made the recipe twice but with different mash temperatures and they tasted no difference. This will definitely be my first experiment after this brew, I'll make 2 identical small batches with the only variable being the mash temperature to see the effects.
As 100% brett fermentations are relatively new there isn't much information out there, I find this exciting as brett seems such an interesting yeast.

As for fermentation time, it differs per strain, but I think it should be done between 2-3 weeks.

Hows your WLP648 batch going? What sort of recipe did you go for?

I wrote up my recipe here. I used a lot of wheat and some maltodextrin so I’m expecting a longer fermentation time. Having said that, after a week and a half it’s over 50% attenuation already. But that’s probably the easier maltose.

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/the-mixed-fermentation-thread.80526/page-7

So far it is a pretty fruity flavour and aroma, with some definite tartness moreso than funk as I would describe it. Early days though and as I say I’m expecting it to need a while longer to ferment yet.

I used a Bramling Cross flameout hop addition as I tend to get quite a tart sort of gooseberry flavour from it which I thought would go well. But I don’t think that will be the dominant flavour so I have a fairly blank slate to dryhop/fruit as I choose.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

SG has messaged me to point out a typo in the OP which he now cannot edit the mash temp should have read 64c not 54c. (now edited)

Mash time: 75 Minutes
Mash Temperature: 64C
Mash Thinkness: 2.8L/Kg
Mash pH: 5.2
Sparge Temperature: 77C