Last weekend I met the guys at Leidel's orchard for a final taste and to bottle the ciders. I'm glad we tasted these again as there are some big differences on a few batches. We purposefully didn't look up our old tasting notes and only compared after we had re-tasted them all and made new notes. Here are our notes from this session:
- Brett drie (BSI)
- some tartness, light, crisp, refreshing, although a bit thin. - Brett custersianus
- sweet, tropical, pineapple/mango, nice body. - Brett nanus
- barnyard and pineapple aroma, tastes strongly of pineapple juice. great flavor, but kind of intense. - Brett lambicus (wyeast)
- not flavorful, watery. slightly cheesy and tart. - Brett bruxellensis (wyeast)
- very flavorful. pear, melon, citrus and a bit of alcohol. - Brett claussenii (WL)
- pungent aroma, citrus, floral, and dry. saison-like. - Brett fantome
- pretty good mouthfeel. complex, tart apple, a very soft blue-cheese like funk (good), nice funky aroma. - Saccharomyces paradoxus
- watery, slight funk and citrus. - Brett blend
- got a lot going on, but not very flavorful as a whole. funky, fruity, citrus. - Brett blend and oenococcus
- muted flavor as compared to #9. The acidity was mellowed, and so I see there may be potential value in this addition, but likely only as a secondary fermentation, or partial blend. - Brett blend with maltodextrin addition
- As compared to #9, a bit drier of a finish, thicker body, more robust flavor. a bit more alcohol.
We decided only Drie, Custer, Nanus, Brux, Claussenii, and Fantome were worth bottling. The plan is to open these bottles over the summer and get a good understanding of each strain and how they may develop now that they are off the traub. For larger production this fall, we will be making a couple blends from the strains we like best.
Some interesting information comes in comparing our notes from the sampling we did a month ago. The biggest changes were in Nanus and Claussenii. A month ago Nanus tasted of rotting fruit and cheese. It wasn't even drinkable, but now it was one of our favorites and had a huge pineapple flavor. Claussenii was very stale in flavor, but now has a beautiful floral/citrus flavor.
If you are looking to brew a brett cider, it is important to note that brettanomyces continues working even after fermentation has completed and it may take a couple months to develop the desired flavor. For those homebrewers who don't want to wait more than a month, I would recommend Wyeast's B. bruxellensis (note: this is different than White Lab's) as it had a great flavor profile in both tasting sessions and is an easy strain to obtain.
On a side note, I also bottled up my Cider Keeve and Foraged Farmhouse the previous weekend. More on that coming soon...
On a side note, I also bottled up my Cider Keeve and Foraged Farmhouse the previous weekend. More on that coming soon...
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| Bottled Cider Keeve. |
