Need some help with my Saison!!

[zachattack698]

Looking to brew up a 100% brett saison. For secondary was going to transfer it onto some fruit of some sort. Question is will there be plenty of brett left in the beer to do anything with the fruit once i transfer? Or should i just add whichever fruit i decide to use into primary?

Heres the recipe

10 lbs Pilsner
2 lbs White Wheat
10 oz Caramunich
10 oz Flaked Oats

1 oz tettnang 45 min
1 oz styrian goldings 15 min

Brettanomyces Bruxxellensis Trois WLP644

I think im leaning towards an orange like fruit like tangerines, or clementines.

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[skibb]

I would drop the caramunich - crystal malts have no business being in saisons IMHO

Trois turns out some pretty fruity/tropical flavors - I think tangerines/clementines would be great to pair with it

 

[motorneuron]

I agree with dropping the caramunich, and I agree that brett trois is a good choice. As for the "secondary," I would do the following: ferment initially in a bucket or something else that is easily opened, and then when initial fermentation is done (say, a week or two), add the fruit. That way you are sure to have plenty of yeast, and it's easy to add in the fruit. If what you want is citrus aroma, though, you could just forget about adding whole fruit, and instead use peel. I say this not from personal experience, but I know that some people have reported not-so-great results from fermenting citrus juice or pulp directly (as opposed to using rind).

Other fruits that might work well with brett trois: tropical things like guava (tried it myself in a Belgian, though not brett) or mango; apricots.

Tettnang as a bittering hop is a little odd--it's pretty low in AA, and known primarily for aroma. If anything, you could switch those addition times. You could also use something straightforward and clean for bittering. A noble hop's spicy aroma could go well with the fruit and brett aromas, though it's hard for me to say (never tried).

 

[zachattack698]

So I dropped out the Caramunich Malt, its down to 4.1 srm anything I can add to get that a little darker? Also if I got rid of the tettnang and instead used 1 oz cascade for 60 mins instead would that work?

 

[motorneuron]

Yeah, I mean there's nothing wrong with using a low-alpha hop as your bittering hop; it's just a bit of a waste.

As a style, saison is "traditionally" very light in color. I say "traditionally" in quotes because it's not a very strict style, either. If you want to darken it a little, I'd avoid crystal, and use something Belgian--aromatic or biscuit, or a darker Munich. I would not range into chocolate or anything actually dark like that. Any particular reason you want to darken it? Seems to me like if you've got the fruit and the brett already playing prominent roles, a simple grain bill is probably best.

 

[Pastorken]

+1 to this ^^^ !

I'd keep it light and let the fruit and Brett shine through.

 

[skibb]

I would keep it light too but that's just my personal taste.
Ron Jefferies from jolly pumpkin has been known to use very very small percentages of black malt to get that golden/orange tinge to his beers (he uses .5% or so in bam bier)

 

[Calder]

Drop the Caramunich.

Maybe add some acid malt. Brett likes lower PH.

Ferment high (mid 70s, or higher).

You don't need the fruit. I think you will have a pretty good beer without it.