Brett lambicus fermentation schedule

I brewed a stout and used lambicus as the primary yeast after reading the article in zymurgy about brewing with Brett. My question is how long should I leave it on the yeast cake and how long should I leave it in the secondary? There isn't a pellicle on the beer at the moment. Should I expect one to develop? Anyone have experience with this as a primary yeast?

Might end up being a tasty beer, but I think Brett is way too fruity for a stout.

I do a lot of beers with Brett yeast as the primary yeast, and like them a lot.

I have found a lot of variation in how the beers progress. Generally they take about 10 weeks with no pellicle. My latest decided to form a pellicle after 8 weeks, so I'm letting it go for a while to see what I get. I think it is at 4 months now.

I usually rack off the cake at 3 weeks and save some of the slurry for the next beer.

So are you saying to secondary now and it may form a pellicle in the future? I was going for a cherry pie stout type of flavor with the Brett. We'll see how it goes. I have no expectations so I really don't care what happens. Its a learning experience.

Its a crap shoot if you get a pellicle. I've done about 10 all-brett beers, and this is the first that I have gotten a decent pellicle on. Using Brett as a secondary yeast seems to always form a pellicle.

For any extended aging, you should take the beer off the yeast.

I think the cherry pie flavor is more from using Brett as a secondary yeast. It has a completely different flavor when used as the primary yeast.

I have never used Brett-L.

Interesting. It smells awesome. Slightly more fruity than 001 or 007 which I usually use but it doesn't smell overly funky like most Brett beers I've had.

BigJay13 said:

Interesting. It smells awesome. Slightly more fruity than 001 or 007 which I usually use but it doesn't smell overly funky like most Brett beers I've had.

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100% brett won't be overly funky, alot of that comes from converting esters n such from the primary strain.

i've only had one 100% brett beer pellicle and thats cuz i accidentally had the cover not sealed for a few weeks. all a pellicle means is theres oxygen in the vessel. my brett beers are generally ready in 5 weeks

Just recently finished a 10 gallon batch of Brett primaried pale beer (95%belgian pils, 5% wheat malt) using a 5 day, 2L starter of Brett lambicus and Brett bruxellensis combined. They flavor is awsome so far. I let the entire 10 gallons (split into two 6 gallon carboys) primary for 21 days.

After 21 days of primary, into one carboy I simply racked 5 gallons and will be letting it secondary for 21 more days.

Into another carboy, I racked the other 5 gallons onto 3.75 lbs of fresh raspberries just picked up from a farmers market outside of Santa Cruz (frozen and then thawed), and added Pedio from Wyeast strait from the package. This one will likely sit for another 3-6 month in secondary, depending upon how fast the flavors develop.

Personally, for just Brett, I think 3 week primary and 3 week secondary is more than sufficient if you have a healthy population of yeast to start with and are within the temperature range for the yeast. That has certainly been my experience.

Hope this turns out well for you! Good luck!

Nice! I was thinking I would have to let this sit for months. Good to know I can be drinking in a few weeks to a months. I think I will put it in a keg and carbonate with sugar sometime this week.

BigJay13 said:

Nice! I was thinking I would have to let this sit for months. Good to know I can be drinking in a few weeks to a months. I think I will put it in a keg and carbonate with sugar sometime this week.

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Remember though, this is just a roadmap. Gravity readings will be the only true way to determine if the beer has fermented to the point you want it to. Don't be afraid to cut the time short in either primary or secondary if you're hitting your numbers early. Likewise, don't hesitate to let it go longer in either primary or secondary if you aren't hitting your numbers.

Just a follow up. I tasted it for the first time today and the Brett flavor is overwhelming. No off favors just really strong Brett flavor. I'm thinking about pitching lacto, pedio, with a pound of cherries and letting it sit for a while. Thoughts? I'm assuming the Brett flavor will subside some over time. Is this correct?

I know this is an old thread, but I'm hoping to get some feedback from it. I kettle soured a Flanders Red and used Brett Lambicus as my primary yeast.

I built up the starter in two steps, first in 1/2 L of starter wort, then up to 1.25 L of starter wort. It smelled great in the starter and looked ready come brew day.

After pitching my starter of WLP653 and holding around 80 F, the fermentation took off like a rocket. I used a blow off tube and the foam quickly blew over on the first night of fermentation. After four days, the fermentation calmed down and seems to have halted out (no more bubbling through blow-off or visible floc). I pulled a sample to test the flavor and gravity. The beer tastes and smells great, not really showing any signs of the cherry-pie aroma or flavor the starter had, but it still has a good balance of funk. The only problem is the gravity is only reading 1040. The OG was 1060 and I wanted to get this one down between 1010 and 1020.

Will the yeast continue to work? It seems like everything is dormant, even when I rock the fermenter once or twice a day to re-suspend the yeast. Am I being too impatient, or has this pitch of yeast done all it will do? I have a pack of US-04 dry yeast on deck in case I need to finish off the beer. I will give it another week or so and take another gravity reading. Judging by the bubbling, it doesn't seem like this beer is going to move anymore. This is my first attempt at a quick kettle sour, so I'm not too sure what to expect.