Brettanomyces

[Reviled]

Does Brett hang out in oak chips? Could I introduce Brett into a beer simply by racking it onto unsanitised oak chips?? Or does it need to be introduced in some other way?

[JoKing]

If it is virgin Oak chips - I doubt it. Bourbon Chips - nope. Ex wine barrel chips... it's possible. Id have to say though... a bit o brett in a barleywine might be very nice - but virtually impossible to get. The bacteria cannot handle high alcs and low ph, so if you do get some brett - it would be very very subtle...could be worth putting some in there to add to the complexity!

[Reviled]

Yeh - So bored at work, brains working overtime on beer recipes, ive only had 3 calls today :o(

Was thinking about Old ales, aged in oak generally with some Brett character.. Was thinking of doing a 1070ish beer but mashing high to get the FG at around 1020, then bretting it up a tad with some oaks :o) Sounds yum in my head at least..

Would also go well in a BW I reckon, whats the highest alc Brett can handle?

[JoKing]

No Idea.

Porter Noir is at 6.5% and the brett character is quite strong... but nothing compared to Rodenbach Grand Cru... that stuff is 6% - so I guess you'd want to be targeting that. maybe a 1.055 start gravity. Down to 1.020 with primary then 1.004 with secondary (brett) fermentation. I think you'd need to culture some brett from a bottle of Orval, or buy some... or score some from someone else...

[Reviled]

Im sure I could get some from Porter Noir.. Hmm, interesting..

lol, pretty sure ive got my next 6 months worth of brews sorted :oP

[denimglen]

I've heard dried oak chips are quite sanitary because of the way the wood fibres and channels act as mini-dehydrators or some shit like that which kills the cells. Don't take my word for it though.

The other problem is there could be all sorts of shit hanging out on the chips if the above isn't true.

Stop being a cheap shit and buy some brett from WY/WL :-P

One of the above companies has a seasonal 'old ale' blend out at the moment that includes brett.

[Reviled]

Yeah youre not gonna stop me being cheap mate :oP Ill ask you about opening your wallet when you have a child :o) haha

Specially forking cash out on something that I only want to use as an experiment.. I just cant justify it ya know? At least if I got a bottle of Porter Noir I get to try a tasty beer :o)

[denimglen]

"Ill ask you about opening your wallet when you have a child :o) haha"

Hence, no plans for kids any time soon :-P

Fair enough though mate.

Lacto that shit with some grain? Grain is covered in all sorts of weird shit, including lacto, but I dunno if lacto character is desired in an Old?

You should have hit me up like a week ago, I had some weird shit growing on my raspberry porter, dunno if it was brett but it was starting to sour I think haha.

Or yeah, just porter noir that shit is probably the easiest. Gives you a good reason to get a couple bottles too :-P

[Reviled]

"Hence, no plans for kids any time soon :-P"

Haha, yeh watch that one, that didnt seem to stop me :o) bahaha

Dont really know if im after a full "sour" beer, which is what lacto would give yeh?

And fully keen for some Porter Noir, ive got a cube which I never use as well which I could age it in.. Maybe outside in the depths of the backyard lol

[denimglen]

"Dont really know if im after a full "sour" beer, which is what lacto would give yeh?"

No idea sorry, just regurgitating info I've picked up :-P.

I did a sour mash once and they do work. But I didn't like the beer and didn't have anything to compare to.

How about a small sour mash, like 4L or so, pasturize it, ferment it along side the old ale, blend as needed? I still dunno if that would give the character you're after being lacto and all.

On a similar note I have been tempted to make a no-boil berline weiss.

[Reviled]

Ive got quite good patience when it comes to leaving beers for ages without touching them, sorta half the reason I want to make a heap of big beers - So I have a constantly turning over cellar, that would be awesome! Im sure Mike would have quite the collection if he didnt drink it all :oP lol

Whats a sour mash? You just mash and leave the wort to go rancid??

[denimglen]

Geez you make a sour mash sound disgusting haha.

Basically - mash as usual, let cool to 50Cish, through in a couple handfuls of fresh malt, mix, cover closely with foil, leave overnight, carry on with boil as usual.

[Reviled]

lowl, the 'rancid' word has stuck in my head from wikipedia'ing brett, it was one of the flavour descriptors :oP bahaha

Ahh, ive allways wondered about a sour mash, so the theory is that you wont get rid of the 'sourness' by boiling? Even tho youd be killing all the lacto?