What are you drinking tonight 2020.

[strange-steve]

I had been thinking about adding enough sugar for 2.5-2.7 vol and hoping Brett won't take it above 3.

That's exactly what I did, just give the brett plenty of time in the secondary before bottling (I gave it 10 weeks). You'll probably see the carbonation creep up a little with extended ageing but not a lot.

 

[samale]

That's exactly what I did, just give the brett plenty of time in the secondary before bottling (I gave it 10 weeks). You'll probably see the carbonation creep up a little with extended ageing but not a lot.

Is there any advantage with aging more than 3 month's. I would prefer to bottle mine after 3 but the recipe recommends 6 months. Will the beer continue to evolve in the bottles

 

[dad_of_jon]

Get your name on the board to judge mate, people sending you a load of free beer, what's not to like!

I'd give it a go but my descriptive powers are crap unlike yours :hat:

 

[strange-steve]

Is there any advantage with aging more than 3 month's. I would prefer to bottle mine after 3 but the recipe recommends 6 months. Will the beer continue to evolve in the bottles

If it's just brett (rather than brett and bacteria) then I wouldn't have thought so. My only reason for ageing it at all is to give me more control over the carbonation, but the flavours will absolutely develop in the bottle over several months. Orval add the brett only 2 weeks before bottling and if you taste a young bottle it has very little funk at all, it's like a hoppy Belgian pale ale.

 

[samale]

If it's just brett (rather than brett and bacteria) then I wouldn't have thought so. My only reason for ageing it at all is to give me more control over the carbonation, but the flavours will absolutely develop in the bottle over several months. Orval add the brett only 2 weeks before bottling and if you taste a young bottle it has very little funk at all, it's like a hoppy Belgian pale ale.

Mine is a blend, WLP 670 brett Saison. I will check the gravity at 3 months, it should give me some indication when to bottle

 

[strange-steve]

I'd give it a go but my descriptive powers are crap unlike yours :hat:

I don't have a particularly good palate, but I think it's something that can be learned with practice. One thing I find helpful is to try to break down the flavours of whatever you're drinking, be it tea, coffee, blue nun, or coke (actually coke is a surprisingly good one, if you can pick out the individual flavours in coke then you're doing well), even for just the first couple of sips. It makes for good palate training.

 

[strange-steve]

Mine is a blend, WLP 670 brett Saison. I will check the gravity at 3 months, it should give me some indication when to bottle

Ah yes, in that case then you will want to age it for longer. The bacteria takes its time.

 

[phildo79]

My omnipollo imp stout clone. Kegged it on 15/05/20 and it has improved a lot since then. Was a tad under carbed so I gave it a blast through the dip tube. Hence the massive head.

 

[samale]

Ah yes, in that case then you will want to age it for longer. The bacteria takes its time.

That leads to my last question, could I use this blend to make a hoppy Saison, bottle after 3 months drink young. I was looking at a more balanced Saison where the Brett plays in the background.
Sorry for all the questions

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

My omnipollo imp stout clone. Kegged it on 15/05/20 and it has improved a lot since then. Was a tad under carbed so I gave it a blast through the dip tube. Hence the massive head.
View attachment 29029

Buzz on the left looks like someone I know!

 

[phildo79]

That's Evil Buzz. He's a bad *******!

 

[MiAlBrew]

I'm drinking my last bottle of what was dubbed the Frankenbrau. Started life as a Wilko "hoppy copper" kit but modified with light DME, dextrose, shredded wheat, porridge oats and comet hops. Will happily share the recipe if anyone's interested.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

That's Evil Buzz. He's a bad *******!

Wife gone to bed while I’m cracked up at Evil Buzz. She doesn’t think it’s as funny as I do!

 

[strange-steve]

That leads to my last question, could I use this blend to make a hoppy Saison, bottle after 3 months drink young. I was looking at a more balanced Saison where the Brett plays in the background.
Sorry for all the questions

Honestly I don't really know. I suspect you probably could do that but it might be a waste of a lovely yeast blend. If you want a cleaner saison character then something like Wy3711 or M29 fermented relatively cool would do the job. I once made a hoppy saison (Amarillo and simcoe) with 3711 fermented at 23° and it was great.

 

[phildo79]

Buzz was due a makeover. Too clean cut for my liking. I was tempted to make him look like he was smoking a tab...for the authentic evil look.

 

[samale]

Honestly I don't really know. I suspect you probably could do that but it might be a waste of a lovely yeast blend. If you want a cleaner saison character then something like Wy3711 or M29 fermented relatively cool would do the job. I once made a hoppy saison (Amarillo and simcoe) with 3711 fermented at 23° and it was great.

I think the only way to know is to try. I have a Saison on using belle Saison. The only Brett beer I have had is your Belgian take on ovral, great beer by the way. It's full on Brett, I was just looking to know if Brett can be blended more allowing both hops and Brett to play a part.
I am going to try the same Saison recipe I have with wlp670 and see the difference. It's heavily hopped with sorachi ace hops.

 

[strange-steve]

It's full on Brett, I was just looking to know if Brett can be blended more allowing both hops and Brett to play a part.

This is an interesting point, and it is possible to some extent. Orval is actually fairly well hopped, including a dry hop, which really comes through in the young bottles. As the beer ages the hops fade and the brett comes through more. To replicate this type of thing as a homebrewer could be tricky though unless you're brave enough to add the brett just before bottling. Another option could be to use a more subtle brett strain like WLP645 which would work really well with fruity hops.

But keep us posted, I'm intrigued to see how yours turns out.

 

[dave_77]

That's exactly what I did, just give the brett plenty of time in the secondary before bottling (I gave it 10 weeks). You'll probably see the carbonation creep up a little with extended ageing but not a lot.

Ok great, thanks. Interesting ideas. I had been reading https://www.themadfermentationist.com/2012/08/bottle-conditioning-with-brett- belgian.html?m=1
Which I think is similar to the thoughts @samale had. My patience isnt the best so I think I will dose the bottles after making sure initial fermentation is completely done and try and give the carbonation some room to increase over time . I'm going to have to hide some bottles(nothing last 3 months usually) to give the Brett a chance to do its thing so probably less of a risk of over carbonation.

 

[dave_77]

American amber for me
View attachment 29025

Mmmmm, I do like American Amber. Hopefully going to keg my latest version this weekend

 

[dave_77]

Keep a saison for me Dave

Will do