Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Homebrew Tasting: 100% Brett Drie - 100% Nelson Hops

I really built this 100% Brett Drie/ 100% Nelson Hopped beer up in my head and I think it lived up to the hype. I was so excited about it that I gave it to several people to try, plus I poured it for a QUAFF meeting to all the members. It got very mixed reviews, but I think mostly because people were expecting tradition Brett flavors from the beer. I tried to explain how this was a primary fermented Brett beer and the yeast performs differently than when used in secondary. It was the last beer poured at the meeting so attention spans were limited. I am going to have another group of homebrew friends over on June 9th to get their opinions (if you read this and want to come email me, I'll be sharing a lot of beers written about from the last 2 years).







Throughout fermentation this beer was giving off great smelling tropical fruit flavors. My initial comment about smelling like POG (Passion Orange Guava) was dead on. And once I dry-hopped the keg with Nelson hops the flavors were even more intensified.  I just kept venting the keg so I could smell it. The one issue I had with this beer was clarity. The Brett did not want to flocculate out of suspension. I cold crashed the primary keg and transferred to another keg. At that point I added some gelatin to help get better clarity and after the 4 or 5 beers then it started looking very nice (as shown in the pic above). I also think it helped to sharpen the flavors and got rid of a bit of hop astringency. See me detailed review below.



I will definitely be making more of these beers throughout the year and try new hop flavors and malt grists with my house Brett Drie strain.

4 comments:

  1. Jeff, What was your total fermentation time? I still have mine sitting and the fermentation is going, but going very slow. I'm excited to give this beer a try

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    1. The bulk of it was done in 7 days. I checked it at 2 weeks and it was at 1.007. I dry-hopped for 2 weeks after that and kegged it. I haven't checked the gravity again. I'll do that and let you know if it has changed.

      I took it off draft at my house to save some for the 9th. I'm carbing up my third pull from my sour solera.

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  2. Hi Jeff,

    I am doing a similar IPA now and was also curious about fermentation time as mine has been in primary for 6 days. I see that yours got down to 1.007 at 2 weeks but I was wondering what your OG was?

    Your review sounds great, I wish I could have tried some. Thanks.

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    Replies
    1. Here is a link to the recipe post: http://jeffreycrane.blogspot.com/2012/05/brett-series-extra-special-bretter.html

      The OG was 1.048 and most of the fermentation was done in 1 week. And it dropped a point or 2 during the 2 week dry-hop.

      I'm still drinking the beer on draft right now. And I'm surprised how well the hops are staying with the beer, but there is now a subtle funk coming at the end of the aroma and taste. Almost like very ripe fruit and still no real noticeable tartness.

      I'm thinking a big Brett Only beer swap may need to be organized like they did 6+ years ago on Babblebelt.

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