Kontra Brews

Here's a beer that I finally got round to brewing after having the idea knocking around in my head for a fair few months. The basic premise is very simple and not hugely original, to augment the spicy flavours produced by a saison yeast (Wyeast 3711 in this case) with the earthy, fruity funk from some brettanomyces. The Brettanomyces clausenii I used should produce a slightly less aggressive funkiness than lambicus or bruxellensis and so hopefully will not overwhelm the spicy aromatics of the saison yeast. The superattenuative properties of the brett should also help dry out the beer nicely.

For hops I used Magnum for some clean bittering early in the boil, followed by a few late additions of Saaz for aroma. I don't really want this to be a very hoppy beer, rather the hops should provide a backdrop against which the aromatics from the yeasts are able to shine. The mild, herbal and spicy flavour of Saaz should work well for this.

The grist is a fairly straightforward thing, a pilsner base with some Munich, some caramel malt and finally a bit of flaked oats to improve the mouthfeel since the attenuation will be quite high.

I did a straightforward stepped mash, starting at 63°C for 1 hour followed by 30 minutes each at 65°C and 68°C before mashoing out and sparging. The long mash should have the effect of creating an extremely fermentable wort and as a result the beer should ferment our very dry. My plan is to start fermentation out at around 20-22°C for the first one to two weeks before moving it to the basement and (hopefully) cooler temperatures. This should allow the yeast to develop some of the great peppery flavours that I particularly like in saisons. This being a mixed fermentation with Brett, I will probably give it longer than usual in the primary, perhaps a couple of months, to ensure that the Brett has fermented out too before bottling.

Vital Details

Batch size: 22l
Expected OG: 1.058
Expected FG: 1.012
Expected ABV: 6.1%
Colour (SRM): 6.4
IBU: 34

Grist:
72.7% (4.00 kg) Pilsner Malt
9.1% (0.50 kg) Munich Malt
9.1% (0.50 kg) Flaked Oats
4.6% (0.25 kg) CaraBelge
4.6% (0.25 kg) CaraAmber

Hops:
Magnum (20g / 29 IBU) @ 60 min
Saaz (20g / 3 IBU) @ 10 min
Saaz (30g / 2 IBU) @ 5 min
Saaz (50g / 0 IBU) @ flame out

Yeast:
Wyeast 3711 French Saison
Wyeast 5151-PC Brettanomyces clausenii