[a witty man]

I have 10 gallons of a saison that is pretty much done fermenting (sitting at 88* and 1.011 gravity for a couple days now). I'm going to keg half of it as is (it does taste good!), but was considering adding some Brett to the other half. I used the WL 565 Belgian Saison I for my primary ferment, and OG was 1.065.

I'd like to get a bit of a gentle fruitiness rather than the musty horsiness that some of the brett strains throw. I'm wondering if brett clausenni will give me these attributes? Also, at 1.011 is there enough left for the brett to work on? I'm willing to be really patient with this -- 6 months to a year if necessary.

Thanks for the thoughts.

[kylekohlmorgen]

Brett C does give fruity/pineapple flavors, but I think you'll still get a little "funk" with any brett strains you use.

With that in mind - I love the combo of brett and saison! I have one going now that's about to be kegged.

1.011 is plenty left for the brett to work on.

If I'm going for a slight funk and pitching brett after primary fermentation, I'll just keg all of it and pull a sample periodically. When the brett presence is to my liking, I'll put it on a tap. If you're using a wild yeast blend or just dumping dregs in, its a good way to keep O2 levels / acetobacter production low.

Let us know how it turns out!

[trentmark]

I have been working on developing an Orval clone for a couple of years and finally achieved what I wanted and I think what you are looking for. Here is what I did. For a 10 gallon batch: Using the grain bill of a dark saison and a yeast cultures from Orval and Moinette the beer reached 1.006 after the primary fermentation. After 3 weeks in a bright tank the beer was cold crashed at 32 degrees F (with gelatin) for a week. 3 days before bring the temp  up to 56 degrees F  a 1500 ml starter of Brett C (White Labs)was prepared. Transferring the beer to fresh, sterile, purged carboys, I pitched the Brett. After allowing the Brett work for 1 month at 56 degrees F, the gravity was down to just under 1.005 and I bottled using a fresh pitch of my Orval culture and bottle conditioned for 3 months at 56 degrees F. Six months after pitching the Brett, this was the best beer ever (my opinion). It is also my opinion that allowing the Brett to do it's work at cool temps creates the flavor profile you have described.

[joeysmokedporter]

No experience with Brett C but have done this with Brett B and good results. It has given me a tartness like sour cherries, similar to other saisons fermented with Brett. Over time, the funk character grows, although I wouldn't necessarily call it musty.

might make for an interesting experiment to do a side by side.

[Mark G]

Go for it! One of the best Saisons I've ever brewed was done with WLP565 in primary and Brett C in secondary for 4 months. The Brett gave the beer some wonderful pineapple undertones that complemented the spiciness of the 565 perfectly. There was a touch of funk, but not barnyard, more like the pineapple was just slightly overripe.