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.