All Brett beer fermentation start.

derekm · 06-12-2009, 10:32 AM

I brewed the sans le chat receipe from wild brews last sunday and pitched two brett strains from wyeast. I had no visible activity until thursday afternoon, and now it is chugging along just fine. Is this long lag time normal for brett? Thanks Derek

ryane · 06-13-2009, 04:18 PM

Did you build up a starter?

Those brett packs from wyeast are not meant for direct innoculation of a wort, they are much lower cell counts in them than the normal sacch strains

To do an all brett beer you should build it up to lager levels prior to pitching, if you do this youll see normal fermentation just like sacch

what brett is in the sans le chat, brett L and C? or B?

derekm · 06-14-2009, 12:27 AM

It calls for 3112 brux and or 3526 lambicus. I pitched both. Do you think the long lag time will ruin this batch? I made this because I stewarded in two comps where I did speciality beers and got to taste it. It took a second and a first three months later. I tracked down the brewer and he told me the receipe was from wild brews. He didn't use a starter but he couldn't remember how the fermentation went. Would you suggest racking at two weeks and pitching a new batch on the cake? Thanks Derek

ryane · 06-14-2009, 05:50 AM

Brett as a primary yeast acts more like sacch, it really needs the pedio, aceto etc to help break down those long dextrins to have the extreme attenuation seen in lambics etc, so you dont usually have to worry about bottle bombs, than being said, I would leave it sit awhile, on my all brett beers I generally go ~2mos before I do much of anything, although for my "clean" batches I dont touch them for ~1-1.5month, if you add oak etc expect a pellicle to develop and additiona attenuation to occur

I will say this though, dont expect to get too similar a beer to the one you tasted, even with the same malt bill and yeast, a wild beer will taste very different from one brewer to the next, heck even two batches from the same brewer will be very different

DO, temp, time, pitchrate etc etc can swing things one way or the other

What did the beer taste like? Id assume that the lambicus would dominate the brux, and it would be slightly tart and cherry like? My experiences with L are that its very fruity as a primary yeast, and a very quick/strange brett fermentation, Brux is more normal, and toned down and reminds me of fruity pebbles

derekm · 06-17-2009, 10:29 AM

I have a hard time with taste description especially when you put it side by side with 15 other specialty beers. It was very subtle mildly tart and effervescient. It seemed a little more funky in the first comp and mellowed nicely in the second. It was not really malty or hoppy but quite delicious and seemed to have a lot of suble flavors going on. All I can say is the couple of ounces I tasted really left me wanting more. Both judges loved it too, and at the end of the flight we all enjoyed finishing this bottle. Derek

jgln · 07-20-2009, 04:32 PM

I just did an all grain 50/50 2 row/wheat brew using Brettanomyces Bruxellensis Activator Wyeast 5112 and the directions said I can use it with a starter yeast or alone. I decided to go with the Brett alone and as I have read here it can take some time for fermentation to begin. I guess I am still confused as this is my first time using such strains and what is the difference to using or not using another yeast? I did a search and after some reading I wound up here and still a bt confused.

jgln · 07-20-2009, 04:33 PM

...and my next brew will be with Brettanomyces Lambicus Activator 5526.

dreadnatty08 · 07-21-2009, 01:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgln

I just did an all grain 50/50 2 row/wheat brew using Brettanomyces Bruxellensis Activator Wyeast 5112 and the directions said I can use it with a starter yeast or alone. I decided to go with the Brett alone and as I have read here it can take some time for fermentation to begin. I guess I am still confused as this is my first time using such strains and what is the difference to using or not using another yeast? I did a search and after some reading I wound up here and still a bt confused.

Like Ryan said, 100% Brett beers really need bulky starters (think lager size) for a primary ferment. When I do 1.060ish 100% Brett beers, I generally start with about a 1L starter and build that up to 4L for the proper pitch amount. I get fermentation going in about 12-24hrs like normal sacc. ferments. One thing you don't (should you choose) have to worry about is oxygenation. The three Brett beers I've done got no pure O2 outside of the moderate splashing during racking from the kettle. It's still undecided what exactly happens differently with a anaerobic vs aerobic fermentation, but I've had consistent results with the former. Good luck, and get ready for some great funky results.

jgln · 07-21-2009, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreadnatty08

Like Ryan said, 100% Brett beers really need bulky starters (think lager size) for a primary ferment. When I do 1.060ish 100% Brett beers, I generally start with about a 1L starter and build that up to 4L for the proper pitch amount. I get fermentation going in about 12-24hrs like normal sacc. ferments. One thing you don't (should you choose) have to worry about is oxygenation. The three Brett beers I've done got no pure O2 outside of the moderate splashing during racking from the kettle. It's still undecided what exactly happens differently with a anaerobic vs aerobic fermentation, but I've had consistent results with the former. Good luck, and get ready for some great funky results.

I pitched the Brett early Saturday evening and when I came home last night it was covered with "foam" on top and the airlock bubbling about once every 2 seconds, cool!
Any advice on how to use the Lambic? I think I am going to do that next. I will probably do the 50/50 and I am thinking of adding berries, maybe blackberries.

The smell coming out of the airlock is heavenly, to me anyway.

Tonedef131 · 07-21-2009, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreadnatty08

Like Ryan said, 100% Brett beers really need bulky starters (think lager size) for a primary ferment. When I do 1.060ish 100% Brett beers, I generally start with about a 1L starter and build that up to 4L for the proper pitch amount. I get fermentation going in about 12-24hrs like normal sacc. ferments. One thing you don't (should you choose) have to worry about is oxygenation. The three Brett beers I've done got no pure O2 outside of the moderate splashing during racking from the kettle. It's still undecided what exactly happens differently with a anaerobic vs aerobic fermentation, but I've had consistent results with the former. Good luck, and get ready for some great funky results.

I am planning to do a 100% Brett beer next friday, how long do you typically give the brett starter to finish out? I am wondering if I should get it in a 1L starter now so I can decant that and put it into the 4L on in time to have it finish out. Also do you use a stirplate for Brett starters?