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kmlavoy · 09-11-2008, 07:36 PM

I'm planning out a Flanders Red for next weekend, and it will mark the first time I've used Brett.

As I understand it, most of the time, you pitch a regular Sacch yeast, then the Brett after the primary has begun. But then I also see that Wyeast has a blend that contains Sacch as well. In the interest of not buying two yeasts for one batch, doesn anyone have experience with that stuff? Is there a hard and fast rule as to what you'd want your regular yeast to have done before you throw a pure Brett culture in? And then would you just rack after the normal period? I've heard of some brewers transferring two times and basically aging it in a third carboy.

Is there any tricks I should know about, aside from being even more vigilant than usual about sanitization?

Tonedef131 · 09-11-2008, 07:40 PM

I am curious about this too as I plan to inoculate a batch of porter with Brett. I see that Wyeast has two different options for it but I don't know which one would be appropriate.

Willie3 · 09-11-2008, 07:40 PM

Brett is strong and will stay forever if you do not sanitize and be careful. Good luck!!

- WW

Ryan_PA · 09-11-2008, 08:35 PM

From everything I have heard/read, once you have a brett beer touch any equipment, you are best off dedicating that to funky beers only.

Brewsmith · 09-11-2008, 09:04 PM

For the Flanders Red, there's not just Brett in there. It's a sour beer, so there's some Lacto in there. If you are planning on making it, look into the Wyeast Roselaire Blend or the White Labs Sour Blend. It's got ale yeast, brett, lacto and a few other things in there.

You can still pitch regular ale yeast first, or you can go straight with the bugs. The ale yeast first will result is a less sour beer. I just kegged my Flanders Red using that method. It sat for about 8 months in secondary with the bugs and it has a nice sourness to it that's not overwhelming.

Brewsmith · 09-11-2008, 09:05 PM

As far as sanitation, glass cleans fine. Anything plactic that it touches, I'd get a second set of just for sour beers.

CBBaron · 09-11-2008, 09:34 PM

I did a Flanders Red last spring and just pitched the Wyeast Roselare blend. The Beer fermented rapidly like you would expect a Sacch yeast, then after a while it formed a nice pellicle. I'm about 4 months in and stlll have the nice pellicle. Plan is to wait for the pellicle to fall then bottle.

From what I read, if you want something similar to a Rodenbach Grand Cru then pitching the blend initially is the best idea. For a little less sour beer you start out with an American Ale yeast then at the blend after primary has died down. Either way I think you will get something funky!

I used a 6 gal Better bottle for the primary. I intend to use my racking cane and bottling bucket when the time comes then immediately sanitize everything using a bleach wash. I will let you know if this causes any problems in the future. I'm guessing the bleach will knock out any problems, given that the bottling bucket and racking cane wont have much chance for the organism to embed themselves and the BB is pretty smooth and impenetrable

Craig
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PseudoChef · 09-11-2008, 10:17 PM

People, people. Brett is just like any other yeast - it dies when heated and dies from sanitation. Everyone is way too freakin' paranoid.

As for the OP's question, Brewsmith and CBBaron answered that very well - pitching Cal-Ale (or similar) first then the blend will result in a less sour beer while pitching first will result in more sour. Remember, however, that if you are doing a starter, these organisms do not have the same growth rate, so you are better off pitching the package as is to ensure the blend as the yeast manufacturer has intended.

The Wyeast lambic blend has the same bugs in it (lactobacillus, pedioccocus, 2 strains of Brett, some sherry yeast I think) as the Roselare, just in different proportions. Brian Perkey from Wyeast has verified this.

Again - don't live in fear, if you have good sanitation practices, then you will not have a problem.

kmlavoy · 09-12-2008, 03:15 PM

Yeah, PseudoChef, I'm probably going to just go for it. The main thing from what I've heard is that Brett can really get into soft or porous items. Like tubes and gaskets. But my setup is pretty simple, there isn't much I would have to get rid of if I messed it up. Probably no more than $10 worth of crap. If I was a commercial brewer, I'd probably be more careful about it, but we'll see. I'm pretty religious about my sanitation techniques, so I should be fine.

Thanks everyone for the input. I'm going to do this, and post my results at a later date.

Evan! · 09-12-2008, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kmlavoy

Yeah, PseudoChef, I'm probably going to just go for it. The main thing from what I've heard is that Brett can really get into soft or porous items. Like tubes and gaskets. But my setup is pretty simple, there isn't much I would have to get rid of if I messed it up. Probably no more than $10 worth of crap. If I was a commercial brewer, I'd probably be more careful about it, but we'll see. I'm pretty religious about my sanitation techniques, so I should be fine.

Thanks everyone for the input. I'm going to do this, and post my results at a later date.

If you think that those buggers can survive extended soak in 150F PBW or OxyClean solution followed by a good starsan soak, even on tubes and gaskets, etc, I'd say you're just being paranoid. The bugs are floating around in the air all the time...you know when a ray of sun shines through your window and you see all the little particles floating around in the air? Many of those are dead pieces of skin...and they all have tons of bacteria all over them.