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100% Brettanomyces Fermentation

1,655 bytes added, 13:11, 5 February 2016
added Questining Conventional Wisdom section
American IPA or American Pale Ale recipes are a tried and true general approach to making wort that is favorable to 100% Brett fermentations. Fruitier hops such as citra, amarillo, galaxy, etc. tend to compliment the light fruity characteristics of a Brett primary fermentation. The addition of body-increasing malts such as oats, unmalted barley, rye, wheat, or carapils may assist with the lack of glycerol that is typical for Brett <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1177290552299157/?comment_id=1177304778964401&reply_comment_id=1177435872284625&total_comments=4&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R0%22%7D Conversation with Tom Belgrano on MTF. 11/12/2015.]</ref>, but isn't always necessary. Otherwise, wort production can remain the same as it is for an American IPA/Pale Ale recipe. Aeration of the wort before fermentation starts should be done. This will greatly increase cell growth (see the [[Brettanomyces Propagation Experiment]]). As far as we know, acetic acid is a byproduct of ethanol production by ''Brettanomyces'' and not the prior lag phase, so as long as ethanol is not already being produced then acetic acid production is not a concern <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1204641279564084/?comment_id=1204674032894142&reply_comment_id=1204765566218322&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D Conversation with Richard Preiss on MTF about oxygenating wort that will receive 100% Brett. 12/30/2015].</ref>. Examples of commercial 100% ''Brettanomyces'' beers that receive the same amount of initial aeration that would be typical of ales of their respective gravities are "Sanctification" from Russian River and "Mo’ Betta Bretta" from Lost Abbey <ref>[https://byo.com/hops/item/262-brettanomyces BYO Magazine. Brettanomyces. Steve Piatz. October 2005.]</ref>.
==Questioning Conventional Wisdom== ===About ''Trois''===
Up until April 9, 2015, "WLP644 Brettanomyces bruxellensis Trois" was thought to be a ''Brettanomyces'' species. Following the analysis of the genetics of ''Trois'' by Lance Shaner and several other members of MTF that showed this strain to be ''S. cerevisiae'', White Labs released a statement saying that DNA analysis showed that Trois was actually a ''Saccharomcyes'' species <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1100249870003226/ Archive of MTF discussions regarding Trois genetic analysis results.]</ref><ref>[http://www.whitelabs.com/blog/wlp644-research-results White Labs Blog article. April 9, 2015.]</ref>. Beer fermentations with the this strain (now labeled as "WLP644 - Saccharomyces brux-­like Trois") are no longer considered to be 100% ''Brettanomyces'' fermentations.
When using WLP644, it is recommended to make a 1 liter starter for 36-48 hours due to the extremely small cell count of the vials <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1204614559566756/?comment_id=1204678676227011&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D Conversation with Lance Shaner on MTF. 12/30/2015.]</ref>.
 
===Are 100% Brett Beers Really Cleaner?===
A lot of the conventional wisdom listed above regarding 100% ''Brettanomyces'' fermentations is anecdotal information in relation to Trois fermentations. As explained above, Trois is not actually ''Brettanomyces'', and so conventional wisdom regarding 100% ''Brettanomyces'' beers has been brought into question. One particular area of question is the conventional wisdom that ''Brettanomyces'' requires phenols from POF+ ''Saccharomyces'' strains in order to convert 4-vinyl phenols into 4-ethyl phenols. There is surprisingly little data to back this idea up outside of the anecdotal information gathered from brewers fermenting with 100% Trois, which was once thought to be ''Brettanomyces'' <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1226859710675574/?comment_id=1226864927341719&reply_comment_id=1226949030666642&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D Conversation with Lance Shaner on MTF. 02/05/2016.]</ref>. One controlled experiment by [[Brettanomyces_secondary_fermentation_experiment|Lance Shaner of Omega Yeast Labs and Richard Preiss of Escarpment labs]] showed that ''Brettanomyces'' the levels 4-ethyl guaiacol and 4-ethyl phenol did not depend on the amount of their 4-vinyl precursors, suggesting that ''Brettanomyces'' is capable of producing 4EP and 4EG ''de novo'' (without being dependent on ''Saccharomyces''). In addition to this, the fact that some yeast labs have ''Saccharomyces'' contamination issues in their products complicates the issue. This is only one data point, however, and more data needs to be researched.
==See Also==

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