Beer Forum

I brewed a Rye Saison and pitched a Brett/Saison Yeast combo, repitched from a previous Saison with Brett. I mashed at 145F. On another board I posted about the large globs of toxic waste in the boil, that were identified as glutamines and long chain proteins...I was planning on steeping a pound of oats in 1.5 gallon and adding that for something for the Brett to chew on longer term and mouthfeel (see Flat Tail Brewing Session episode), but Im wondering if there is enough of that already with the Rye? My first time using Rye, the same podcast speaks of Rye giving some of the same qualities. But did my low mash temp undo that? My initial recipe called for a pound of sugar, which I always add later in fermentation, but then I started thinking about the oats. My brain is going crazy remembering bits and pieces of what I heard over here, and over there...any ideas? Thanks.

You could always add back some maltodextrin. 4-8oz.

crashlann wrote:I brewed a Rye Saison and pitched a Brett/Saison Yeast combo, repitched from a previous Saison with Brett. I mashed at 145F. On another board I posted about the large globs of toxic waste in the boil, that were identified as glutamines and long chain proteins...

Just for clarification, you mean Proteins (made of amino acids) and Beta-Glucans (polysaccharides) as opposed to a glutamine which is an amino acid.

crashlann wrote:I was planning on steeping a pound of oats in 1.5 gallon and adding that for something for the Brett to chew on longer term and mouthfeel (see Flat Tail Brewing Session episode), but Im wondering if there is enough of that already with the Rye?

You kinda have the right idea but the reason Brett beers inevitably taste thin is because they don't create glycerol during fermentation like saccharomyces cerevisiae does and they have the ability to slowly metabolize large chain sugars that add mouthfeel. Now since you had Saison yeast in the mix too, you should have created some glycerol during fermentation if the Brett didn't overwhelm the yeast blend. If you used enough Rye and Saison yeast you should be fine for mouthfeel.

At this point my question is why do you want to have something for Brett to chew on long term when you mashed so low and created an environment with easy to metabolize sugar? It seems like if you wanted to extend the length of fermentation you could've mashed at 160. Brett fermentations can take long enough with just malt sugars so I wouldn't want to extend the process if it wasn't needed. Don't over think the process just because of using Brett. During the fermentation phase Brett essentially behaves like standard brewer's yeast; the major difference is it ferments drier and it rearranges esters, phenols and other organic compounds to other flavors. So my advice is not to over complicate the process and recipe, let the brett do what it wants and taste it first and change it next time if needed.

Afterlab wrote:

crashlann wrote:I brewed a Rye Saison and pitched a Brett/Saison Yeast combo, repitched from a previous Saison with Brett. I mashed at 145F. On another board I posted about the large globs of toxic waste in the boil, that were identified as glutamines and long chain proteins...

Just for clarification, you mean Proteins (made of amino acids) and Beta-Glucans (polysaccharides) as opposed to a glutamine which is an amino acid.

crashlann wrote:I was planning on steeping a pound of oats in 1.5 gallon and adding that for something for the Brett to chew on longer term and mouthfeel (see Flat Tail Brewing Session episode), but Im wondering if there is enough of that already with the Rye?

You kinda have the right idea but the reason Brett beers inevitably taste thin is because they don't create glycerol during fermentation like saccharomyces cerevisiae does and they have the ability to slowly metabolize large chain sugars that add mouthfeel. Now since you had Saison yeast in the mix too, you should have created some glycerol during fermentation if the Brett didn't overwhelm the yeast blend. If you used enough Rye and Saison yeast you should be fine for mouthfeel.

At this point my question is why do you want to have something for Brett to chew on long term when you mashed so low and created an environment with easy to metabolize sugar? It seems like if you wanted to extend the length of fermentation you could've mashed at 160. Brett fermentations can take long enough with just malt sugars so I wouldn't want to extend the process if it wasn't needed. Don't over think the process just because of using Brett. During the fermentation phase Brett essentially behaves like standard brewer's yeast; the major difference is it ferments drier and it rearranges esters, phenols and other organic compounds to other flavors. So my advice is not to over complicate the process and recipe, let the brett do what it wants and taste it first and change it next time if needed.

Thank you. I think I am overthinking it. I was under the impression that I needed to add something like the oats for Brett flavor complexities to continue long term, I want to be able to drink it now and appreciate changes as time goes on...Thanks for all of the great info. I cant keep all this biochem crap straight, I think I need to make flashcards!