100% Brettanomyces IPA

A couple of weeks ago, I listened to Chad Yakobson on the Brewing Network's Sunday Session.  Chad is the owner of Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project in Denver, a brewery that uses Brettanomyces almost exclusively.  Chad discussed Crooked Stave and his master's dissertation on Brett., The Brettanomyces Project. His interview was extremely informative and got me to read his dissertation in its entirety.  The Brettanomyces Project covers 100% Brett fermentation in great detail.  I knew immediately that I needed to brew all Brett beer ASAP.  Something that intrigued me was that early on in fermentation Brett does not exhibit any of the earthy or barnyard flavors that many associate with it.  And, in fact, some strains, especially a Brettanomyces Bruxellensis strain isolated from Drie Fonteinen (commercially available as WLP644 Brettanomyces Bruxellensis Trois), can produce massive pineapple and other tropical fruit flavors.  So, I had to do an IPA with this yeast and loads of tropical hops.  Since Brett ferments slower than Saccharomyces, I had to start my starter 8 days early and step it up after 4 days in order to get it to around ale yeast pitching rates.

Choosing the hops that would complement this strain of Brett was the next task.  Citra is an obvious choice due to the tropical flavors it imparts, therefore I wanted to use a lot of it.  I bought a pound of EXP 1210 for my summer wheat, so I thought that hop has some nice citrus and berry flavors that can fit in the tropical flavor profile the yeast and Citra hops will impart. I also chose Centennial, as a more "traditional" IPA hop to keep the beer from getting too tropical.  I also had a half an ounce of Simcoe lying around so I tossed that in the dry hop, I figured it can provide some pine and a subtle tropical flavor; however, I doubt the half ounce is really noticeable with all the other hops in the beer.  Also, this is the first beer that I used CO2 hop extract for bittering.  I anticipated this beer to finish dry (<1.010), so I didn't want to wreck anyone's pallette with bitterness.  Therefore, the smooth bitterness extract imparts seemed perfect for this beer.

I saw the grain bill just as a vessel to transport the yeast and hop flavors.  However, brewing an all Brett beer does require some additional considerations when deciding on the grist.  First, Brett does not produce as much glycerol, which provides a beer with mouthfeel, as Saccharomyces, so I added 8 oz. of oats for some body.  Furthermore, Chad Yakobson's dissertation also stated that some lactic acid can increase the production of ethyl caproate and ethyl caprylate, the esters that produce those tropical pineapple flavors.  So I added 8 oz. of acidulated malt.  I also enjoy a slight toasted malt flavor in my IPA so I added Carapils, Vienna, and Red Wheat to provide that without adding too much caramel sweetness.

This was also the first beer that I decided to try a different slightly different water profile for a hoppy beer. Generally, I follow the accepted hoppy beer water profile of medium hardness with some gypsum added to accentuate the hops.  For this beer, after having some beers by Hill Farmstead and Tired Hands, I noticed that they are remarkably delicate but still pack loads of flavor.  I also saw Shaun Hill say in a comment on the Mad Fermentationist Facebook page say that in his hoppy beers, he uses, in addition to gypsum, a decent amount of Calcium Chloride, which accentuates the malt profile.  Therefore, I thought I would try to use softer water than usual and go for a more even Chloride/Sulfate ratio.  The idea is to have nice malt flavor without being overly sweet, and still allow the hops to come through.

 

All Brett IPA

Batch size: 5 gallons

OG: 1.058

FG: 1.010

IBU: 60

SRM: 4.9

Boil time: 60 min.

Grain

7.25 lbs. Rahr 2-Row

2 lbs. Rahr Red Wheat

1 lb. Vienna Malt

8 oz. Carapils

8 oz. Whole Foods Quick Oats

8 oz. Weyermann Acidulated Malt

Hops

5ml Hop Shot CO2 hop extract @ 60 min.

1.50 oz. Citra @ 0 min. (Pellet, 14.1% AA)

1.00 oz. Centennial @ 0 min. (Pellet, 9.2% AA)

1.00 oz. EXP 1210 @ 0 min. (Pellet, 6.5% AA)

2.00 oz. Citra dry hop (Pellet, 14.1% AA)

1.50 oz. Centennial dry hop (Pellet, 9.2% AA)

0.40 oz. Simcoe dry hop (Pellet, 12.9% AA)

Yeast

WLP644 Brettanomyces Bruxellenus Trois, 500ml starter made 6/21/2013, stepped up to 1500ml on 6/25/2013

Misc.

1 tablet Whirlfloc @ 15 min.

1/2 tsp. yeast nutrient @ 15 min.

Water

Carbon filtered DC tap water cut with 6 gallons distilled split evenly between the mash and sparge, with 5g of CaCl and gypsum added to the mash.

Final water profile (in ppm):

Ca: 86

Mg: 2

Na: 7

Cl: 81

SO4: 98

(bi)carbonate: 64

Mash

Sacch. rest @ 153F for 60 min.

Notes

Brewed 30 June 2013, by myself

Collected 6 gallons of 1.048 runnings (70% efficiency)

Tap water was 80F, so cooled to 85F and put in fridge to get down to 65F

After 6 hours it was at 65F, gave it 60 sec pure O2 and pitched the decanted starter.

Left at 65F to ferment, 18 hours later solid fermentation.

7/8/2013 - Down to 1.013, nice delicate bitterness and tropical flavors, set to 75F ambient to finish out

7/12/2013 - 1.010, added 1 oz. Citra, .4 oz. Simcoe, and .5 oz. Centennial to the fermenter

7/16/2013 - Added 1 oz. Citra and 1 oz. Centennial to the fermenter

7/18/2013 - Cold crashed to 34F

7/22/2013 - Kegged

8/12/2013 - Tasting Notes:

Appearance: Beautiful golden with a nice white head that lingers. There's a slight cloudiness, but the brett dropped out pretty well and left a beer that is not more cloudy than a typical unfiltered IPA.  While lighter than your average IPA, it is exactly what I'd like to see in an IPA.

Smell: Tropical pineapple dominates with a subtle resin and sweet bread in the background.

Taste:  Tropical fruit, mostly pineapple; not sure if it's the Citra hops or the brett. There's also a little bit of bitter grapefruit in the background.  This all leads into a delicate bitterness balanced by a sweet cracker backbone.  Very soft flavors, nothing overpowering, but still perfectly balanced.

Mouthfeel:  Medium mouthfeel with medium carbonation.  The oats and Carapils provided just enough body to support the hops without it feeling too thin or heavy.

Notes: This is the best beer I've brewed.  It is perfectly balanced with an awesome pineapple flavor.  The bitterness could probably be a little more assertive.  Next time I'd definitely use some Warrior or CTZ hops in addition to the extract to provide a little more bitterness.  However, the fact that this is a fairly dry beer at 1.010 means that there isn't a lingering sweetness that makes it feel overly sweet.  

Citrus Hibiscus Saison

Having just brewed a hoppy wheat beer with citrus flavors, I thought it would be fitting to brew a sessionable wheat saison with big citrus flavors as well.  This showcases how similar flavor themes can be executed to produce different results in various styles of beer.  In my summer wheat, the hops impart the majority of the citrus flavors, where in this beer, the yeast and citrus zest added directly to the beer will do the majority of the flavoring.  Therefore, the yeast and the citrus chosen to be zested, the amount added, and when it is added in the process are very import.

Yeast selection was fairly easy for this beer.  Near the end of 2012, Danstar released Belle Saison; a dry yeast that seems to be getting rave reviews on the internet forums. I know everybody has different flavor descriptors for different yeasts, but from the information I gathered, Belle Saison seems to be very similar to Wyeast 3711 French Saison.  Both in flavor, more on the fruity citrus side with restrained spice, and in its crazy ability to attenuated fast and to a high degree (90%+).  Therefore, I figured this beer would be a good one to try it out.  Unlike most dry yeast, Danstar recommends using two packets in a beer with an original gravity over 1.050.  While I only planned on this beer to be around 1.040, to play it safe I made a starter from the dry yeast two days before the brewday.  The plan is to save half of the starter and pitch the other half.

Citrus zest was the next ingredient to choose.  I wanted depth of citrus flavor so I knew I wanted multiple types of zest to be added. Orange is an obvious choice, and for the depth I wanted to add some tangerine as well, thinking it would provide a little more of candied type flavor.  However, I was unable to find tangerine at my local Whole Foods, so I went with clementines.  When selecting fruits, I wanted the find the ones with the deepest colored zest, thinking they would provide the most flavor without any added bitterness or astringency.  I narrowed down when to add the zest to two times.  At the end of the boil and post fermentation, in the fermenter, like a dry hop.  When added at flame out, the citrus flavor will be subtle but become more integrated into the overall flavor profile of the beer.  Whereas, when added in the fermenter the citrus flavor will "pop" but fade over time.  In the end I decided to add the zest at the end of the boil, and then based on taste post fermentation, add more if needed.  The idea is you can always add more, but you can't remove any.  I'm hoping to achieve a nice balance between bright citrus flavor and saison yeast character. 

The last "atypical" brewing ingredient I added was somewhat unexpected.  When I tasted the final beer, it was not as complex as I anticipated.  I thought it needed something.  Having just had the beautifully awesome Sunbather at Tired Hands Brewing in Ardmore, PA; an IPA brewed with Hibiscus.  I thought it would be interesting to see how the tart and fruity flavor of Hibiscus would work in this beer.  In order to determine the amount of Hibiscus to add to the beer, I made a tea with 3/4 cup near boiling water and 1 oz. of dried Hibiscus flowers.  I let it steep for 5 minutes and then compressed the flowers with a spoon.  Using an empty hop shot syringe, I drew out .5 ml samples and added it to 8 oz. of beer until the color and flavor was right.  At the end of the day, 5 oz. of Hibiscus steeped in 2.75 cups of water seemed to work well.  

On a side note, my efficiency went through the roof, close to 90% when I normally average in the 70-75% range...so much for "sessionable".

Hibiscus Citrus Saison 

Brewed 7 June 2013, by myself

Batch size: 5.5 gallons

OG: 1.049

FG: 1.003

IBU: 15

SRM: 3.7 (except this beer is red)

Boil time: 100 min

Grain

4 lbs. Belgian Pils

4 lbs. Rahr White Wheat Malt

8 oz. Whole Foods Quick Oats

Hops

0.30 oz. Warrior @ 60 min. (Pellet, 16% AA)

1.00 oz. Ahtanum @ 0 min. (Pellet, 4.6% AA)

1.00 oz. Citra @ 0 min. (Pellet, 14.1% AA)

Yeast

Belle Saison, 1L starter made 6/5/2013 saved 500ml, pitched 500ml

Mash

Sacch. rest 60 min @ 152 F

Water

Carbon Filtered DC water with 1.5g gypsum added to both the mash and sparge

Misc.

1 tablet Whirlfloc @ 15 min.

1/2 tsp. yeast nutrient @15 min.

Zest of 2 Naval Oranges @ flame out

Zest of 3 Clementines @ flame out

Zest of 2 Navel Orange dry hop 5 days

4 oz. Hibiscus steeped in 2 2/3 cup water added to keg

Notes

Brewed 7 June 2013, by myself

Collected 6.5 gallons of 1.045 wort (86% efficiency!!)

Extended boil time by 10 min to concentrate (why, I don't know).

Tap water was at 80F so chilled to 85F then put in fridge for 6 hours

Once down to 70F, took a gravity reading. 1.051 so I added 1/2 gal of spring water to bring the gravity to 1.049.  Efficiency + prolonged boil made this is a little more than a table saison.

~12 hours later solid fermentation, no blow off

6/16/2013 - Down to 1.004, nice flavor, not as much citrus as anticipated.

6/17/2013 - Added zest from 2 Naval Oranges

6/23/2013 - 1.003, bright citrus, would have liked more yeast character, crashed to 34F

6/28/2013 - Kegged with 4.5 oz. table sugar

7/13/2013 - Added the hibiscus tea to the tea and put it on tap.

8/12/2013 - Tasting notes:

Appearance: Nice light red color, translucent with a subtle pink head that forms quickly but dissipates quicker than expected, probably from the added hibiscus tea

Smell: Generic fruity with a subtle bread and tart aroma.  Maybe slightly phenolic

Taste: Very dry. Hibiscus fruitiness is first detected which leads into a slight tart and yeast spice/phenolic maybe some citrus in the background. The phenolics are not necessarily what I would associate with a standard saison, but they're not unpleasent. Pretty much not residual sweetness, and the hibiscus fruit/tart stays in the mouth.

Mouthfeel:  Dry, crisp, tart, and refreshing.  Maybe a little more body would be nice, nonetheless it's a great summer beer.

Notes: Overall, I would have liked a little more yeast character.  Perhaps some earthiness.  Definitely a beer I think brett would go well with.  If I were to brew this again I would cut back on the hibiscus by an ounce, it seems to dominate the majority of the flavors.  The citrus zest is only faintly detectable.  A solid saison, however, much like WY3711, I feel Belle Saison does not pack the yeasty punch I'm looking for.

Summer Wheat

As the DC weather gets warmer and (extremely) humid, the need for a light, refreshing beer increases as well.  The Craft Brewer's Conference was in DC this past March, and one of the events I attended was a talk on IPA by Stone Brewmaster Mitch Steele.  During the talk, someone asked Mitch what he thought the popular hop this year may be.  He had two answers.  The first was Mosaic, which I already featured in my red ale, the second was EXP 1210, an experiment varietal from Hop Steiner.  A couple days later, I was browsing Farmhouse Brewing Supply and noticed that they had some in stock in 4 oz. and 1 lb. bags. Farmhouse listed the following flavor descriptors for this hop: "Blackberry, 'Super Cascade', Grapefruit, Orange, 'Amarillo Like', Lemon, and Pine."  That was good enough for me so I bought a pound of them. 

Knowing that I wanted to brew a light, refreshing wheat beer, and having a pound of this new exciting hop in my freezer, I thought it would be fitting to feature this hop heavily.  I wanted to have a light body, with just enough bread flavor from the wheat to support the generous hopping.  Therefore, I decided to use slightly more flavorful Red Wheat, as compared to White Wheat Malt.  I also wanted this to be on more of the citrus side of the flavor profile, so deciding which hop(s) to pair with the 1210 was important. I decided that the citrusy Ahtanum will hopefully bring out some of the lemon and grapefruit flavors of the EXP 1210 without trumping its more unique berry notes.  I also had 1 oz. of Motueka left over from the saison I brewed, so I tossed that in too for a little more depth.

Summer Wheat

5.25 gallons
OG: 1.045
FG: 1.007
SRM: 5.3
IBU: 45

Grain
5 lbs. Rahr Red Wheat Malt
4 lbs. Rahr 2-row
6 oz. Carapils
4 oz. Crystal 40

Hops
0.75 oz. Warrior @ 60 min. (Pellet, 16.0% AA)
1.00 oz. Ahtanum @ 0 min. (Pellet, 4.6% AA)
1.00 oz. Motueka @ 0 min. (Pellet, 7.5% AA)
2.00 oz. EXP 1210 @ 0 min. (Pellet, 6.4% AA)
4.00 oz. EXP 1210 Dry hop (Pellet, 6.4% AA)

Yeast
Wyeast 1056, 1000mL stir-plate starter made 5/8/2013

Misc.
1 tablet Whirfloc @ 15 min.
1/2 tsp. yeast nutriend @ 15 min.

Water
Carbon filtered DC cut with 5 gallons distilled with 8g gypsum and 4g CaCl split evenly between the mash and sparge.

Mash
Sacch. Rest 60 min @ 153F

Notes
Brewed 10 May 2013, by myself
Collected 6 gallons of 1.040 runnings-poor efficiency (~64%)
Extended boil by 10 minutes (70 min total) to concentrate wort a little more.
Cooled to 78F, put in fridge for it to cool down some more.
6 hours later, down to 65F, gave it 45 seconds O2, and pitched decanted starter, left at 65F ambient to ferment.
Fermentation within 12 hours, blowing off within 24 hours.

5/17/2013 - Down to 1.008, a little drier than I would have liked, but my efficiency was pretty low, which means I mashed a little lower than I would have for a 1.045 beer (I expected to OG to be around 1.050).

5/21/2013 - Ambient temp set to 50F to drop some yeast out of suspension prior to dry hopping.

5/23/2013 - Dry hopped with 2 oz. of EXP 1210, down to 1.007 (~4.9% ABV)

6/5/2013 - Kegged with the other 2 oz. of EXP 1210 bagged and weighed

7/1/2013 - Tasting notes:

Appearance: Golden with a slight haze, big white head lingers around.

Smell: Grapefruit and subtle blackberry. Nice dough like aroma from the wheat. Seems the Ahtanum and 1210 played really nice together.  I don't think there was enough Motueka to really make much of difference, especially with the all 1210 dry hop, I would probably leave that out next time.


Taste: Grapefruit and lemon, perhaps a little too bitter when first kegged, but now after a month the bitterness is about right, unfortunately the big hop nose fell off.  Nice bread malt in the background, probably could be a little sweeter.  The low finishing gravity coupled with the heavy hopping makes it taste slightly astringent.

Mouthfeel: Medium thin, perfect for a summer drinking beer. Carbonation medium high, nice dry finish.

Notes: Definitely could use a tad more sweetness, but still a great refreshing summer beer. EXP 1210 is definitely a hop worth seeking and I look forward to using again. Nice lemon/grapefruit notes with subtle blackberry undertones.