Space Monkey

Space Monkey was a long time coming.

We have often flirted with Brettanomyces, adding it to several beers in various capacities, but it wasn't until watching a video on Crooked Stave founder Chad Yakobson, that we felt inspired to dedicate a batch of beer strictly to Brett.

Brettanomyces (Brett) is different than typical brewer's yeast in many ways. It produces a more subtle flavor and creates a drier, less sweet beer. When tasting, Brett is often referred to as "funky." This term is more of a catch-all phrase in my opinion. Also, some people incorrectly assume Brett beers are always sour. Not true. In fact, Brettanomyces isn't responsible for souring beers at all, that would be lactic acid.

Space Monkey has a simple recipe: 2-row, wheat, and Belma hops. The complexity will come from the yeast and, if we feel particularly bold, pineapple added to the secondary. The particular strain of Brett we used is WLP644 from White Labs. The OG came in at 1.047.

This brew marks an important phase in our beer journey. We are pushing our boundaries and learning more about the process and about ourselves.

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." -Neale Donald Walsch



Update 4/1

On March 23, we added a little under 7 cups of pineapple to the secondary and racked on top of it.

The gravity was 1.015.

Since then the beer temperature has hung around 73°.





Update 5/4

They say good things come to those who wait.

They didn't say, "mindblowing, euphoria-laced satisfaction."



This beer has renewed my faith in brewing. This beer makes me re-evaluate my life.  This beer...


The FG is somewhat perplexing. I thought perhaps the slight carbonation could be throwing off the measurement, but then that would give a false reading suggesting more sugar — not less.

The temperature during the reading was at exactly 78°.

I'm reading this at 1.0001 or, if possible, less than zero.