How to handle Brett?

Hi all,

I started my first all-grain batch this past weekend (50/50 pale malt and pilsner) for a sour ale. I'm looking at a two-week primary followed by a four to six-month secondary. I've never done a secondary fermentation with extract, so I'm not entirely sure how to proceed once the two weeks are up. I'm going to be using Brett b., but I'm not sure how I should prepare and pitch it. Should I culture a starter? Should I empty the fermenter and clean out the trub before pitching? Just pour the Brett right in out of the fridge? The OG was ~1.09 and I'm looking to get it down to around 1.005 final, about 1.012 after the primary.

Thanks very much for any help!

You should post this in the Lambic and Wild Brewing Forum, that will most likely yield some results from the proper folks.

Ah, okay. I wasn't quite sure where to post, I'll do that.

Thanks!

Tell him to stay retired.

joety said:

Tell him to stay retired.

Click to expand...

No Sh*t!


As to Brett, are you using it as a primary strain or secondary?

If primary, build a BIG starter, like on the lines of a lager, and then step it up again. I've had an all brett l start in 8 hours that way!

If you are using it just in the secondary, then you will probably be ok to use it out of the vile/pack. Just remember that these little buggers are slow, and do not, DO NOT bottle too soon. Risk of shrapnel will be very high if you do.

Good luck, let us know how it's turning out

I simply krausened my saison with some brett b foam for its secondary "treatment"... from a 100% brett b ale that smells like an old sock!!! HAHA!

I highly recommend a dedicated sour container, airlock, and autosiphon!!

The Brett will be the secondary. I'm using S-33 ale yeast for the primary. If the results are good with this batch, I'd definitely be interested in trying a primary using Brett in the future. I'm a big fan of both hoppy beers and sour ales, and this is sort of an attempt to combine the two. The flavor profile I'm looking for is something like Arrogant Bastard meets a sour ale Magic Hat made a couple summers ago. Being as it is my first all-grain batch, I'll definitely be interested to see how it turns out!

Do you have any tips on how to make sure the secondary is done before bottling, aside from just gravity readings? In your experience, does four to six months seems too short for a secondary with Brett?

Thanks again!