10 replies to this topic

[strangebrewer]

Anybody ever brewed this style? Any experiences to share? I'm going to take a stab at it this weekend.Lots of choices for low attenuating english ale yeasts but I'd prefer one that doesn't throw too too many fruity esters. Any favorite strains of low attenuating english ale yeasts? Diacetyl is no problem since Brett will clean it up. I've got a pure culture of Brett. Lambicus that I plan to pitch towards the end of primary and then leaving it in primary until... well I feel like transferring it Grain bill will be along the lines of 30% pale, 30% amber malt, 30% darker malts. Probably Fuggle or EKG for the hop since I have a bit around.Thoughts? Opinions?

[Lagerdemain]

Anybody ever brewed this style? Any experiences to share? I'm going to take a stab at it this weekend.Lots of choices for low attenuating english ale yeasts but I'd prefer one that doesn't throw too too many fruity esters. Any favorite strains of low attenuating english ale yeasts? Diacetyl is no problem since Brett will clean it up. I've got a pure culture of Brett. Lambicus that I plan to pitch towards the end of primary and then leaving it in primary until... well I feel like transferring it Grain bill will be along the lines of 30% pale, 30% amber malt, 30% darker malts. Probably Fuggle or EKG for the hop since I have a bit around.Thoughts? Opinions?

I guess I'm curious why you believe brettanomyces is an essential element of a historic English porter. It certainly wouldn't have been used intentionally by any of the English porter breweries.

[strangebrewer]

I guess I'm curious why you believe brettanomyces is an essential element of a historic English porter. It certainly wouldn't have been used intentionally by any of the English porter breweries.

It's more of a personal twist, definitely not required. I have some lambicus around I'd been wanting to use and looking for a darker beer style to add it to. Historic porter seemed to fit the bill.

[MtnBrewer]

I guess I'm curious why you believe brettanomyces is an essential element of a historic English porter. It certainly wouldn't have been used intentionally by any of the English porter breweries.

Not intentionally, no. But Brett did originate in Britain (hence the name).

[Lagerdemain]

It's more of a personal twist, definitely not required. I have some lambicus around I'd been wanting to use and looking for a darker beer style to add it to. Historic porter seemed to fit the bill.

Understood. You might also consider an old ale or stock ale - I would consider those as more likely to have notable brett character than porter, which would be consumed rather rapidly after being brewed, and therefore wouldn't be as likely to have a secondary brett fermentation.

[BikeBrewer]

How would that work with an IPA? Would the larger hops additions restrict the Brett noticably, or would it still be fermented out by the Brett and then remain more stable?

[Jimmy James]

Understood. You might also consider an old ale or stock ale - I would consider those as more likely to have notable brett character than porter, which would be consumed rather rapidly after being brewed, and therefore wouldn't be as likely to have a secondary brett fermentation.

I would also consider lager's thoughts on old ale. Throw in some treacle to the wort and let it sit for as long as you can keep your hands off it.

[EWW]

WLP002 fermented at 62-65*F seems like the best answer for this when it comes to yeast. I've brewed a few historic porters but none with brett, but I don't think I would use brett L. I would personally go with brett C in secondary if you can get your hands on it since it was isolated from some British ales. If you go with the recipe %s you listed I think you will be good, but I would recommend you go 2:1 ratio of brown malt and black patent. No matter what you do please post some results as I'm curious how this one turns out.

[strangebrewer]

WLP002 fermented at 62-65*F seems like the best answer for this when it comes to yeast. I've brewed a few historic porters but none with brett, but I don't think I would use brett L. I would personally go with brett C in secondary if you can get your hands on it since it was isolated from some British ales. If you go with the recipe %s you listed I think you will be good, but I would recommend you go 2:1 ratio of brown malt and black patent. No matter what you do please post some results as I'm curious how this one turns out.

I'll see if I can round up WLP002 but chances are I'll end up with the WYeast equivilant 1968 London ESB. I brewed a pale ale and a brown ale in 3 gallon batches to experiment with Brett C and honestly I was very underwhelmed. They fermented out with very little of the brett character I was after. I've done an old ale and a scottish ale with Brett B. that came out great. I think I personally prefer the stronger strains of Brett. This will be my first time outside of a lambic using Brett L. It's supposed to be the strongest of the bunch so my thinking is to match it up against something strong.I've got a 1/2# of chocolate malt and 1/4# of black patent I was planning to add to the grain bill so I'm in line there. Either way results will be posted!

[ChefLamont]

Depending on how "historical" you want to make it and what time period you want to hit, I would add a bit of smoked malt as well. Porter, as a style was developed in the 1720s. Technology and practice didn't completely remove the smoke flavor from the malting process until around the 1820s. I don't think it would have necessarily been a real smoky beer, but a couple of handfuls of smoked malt in your grist would not be out of place.my $0.02