Planning a "Big Brut" OG 1.114

I am brewing one of Northern Brewers Limited Edition kits, the Northern #1, which is a cross between a barley wine and an old ale with Wyest 9097 which is made just for stuff like this. It is made both to be drank young and also laid down for a very very long time. With extended aging the Brett comes though.

My questions are about getting the yeast ready to pitch into such a monster. NB just says you need a "big yeast starter". I am figuring you want to build up to where you are pitching from a gallon. Would I start in a 2 liter flask and then pitch the slurry into a gallon jug I have never used for wine? Does this sound reasonable? Also I have heard of High gravity beers stalling. Do you think on brew day it would be wise to hold back a little of the gallon slurry and pitch that into a fresh 2 Liter and start the process over again in case it was to stall and I have to re-pitch? The reason I ask is before this hits FG the yeast will be off the market and I won't be able to get anymore. One last thing. After cold crashing how long are yeast starters good to go in the fridge? I have to be ready to brew on a moments notice with the weather this time of year.

If anyone has any tips for brewing such a monster by all means give them.

I would check Mr malt, but off hand I would step up the original starter at least two times. I have read here that people have kept starters for a week in the fridge.

When you say two times could I just go from one liter to two? That would be much more covenant.

OOOOOHHH. Mr. Malty says I need 9+ lIters of starter slurry. I missunderstood what you meant. I can't pitch that much. No way. Better hope it makes it with four.

Pure oxygen, yeast nutrient, and a stir plate for sure. Having to do a step up makes it tricky for you given your weather situation. For a step up I would do a 2 liter, let it ferment out, cold crash, decant, add 2 more liters of wort to the slurry and let that go to completion before again cold crashing and decanting. With this big of a beer you want absolute maximum yeast health so you don't want to be in a position to have to let the starter sit in the fridge for a week before pitching.

WARNING ASSUMPTION AWAITS BELOW

I haven't had to hold a big starter for brewing session as I know exactly what day I can brew so I can plan accordingly. If it were me though, I would try pulling the stepped up starter from the fridge the night before brew day and get it woken by adding maybe one liter of wort and toss it on the stir plate then dump the entire starter in the beer at high krausen without decanting. Again, keep babying it with little hits of nutrients, not too much, but enough to give them the goodies they need to rock and roll for you.

Your best bet is to make smaller batch of beer, and pitch that bad boy on the yeast cake. Warning though, you will need a blow off.

Did you end up brewing the No. 1? I did this a month ago and did a 1500 ml or so starter with 2 packages of yeast. I just did what Mr. Malty told me to do. I let it ferment for 4 weeks and it went from 1.115 down to 1.023. I tasted what I used for the gravity reading and all I can say right now that this is a hot one. I got a little cherry at the end of it but over powered by the alcohol taste. My plan is to let this one sit in secondary for 6 months and see how it's doing then. I'd like to see how yours went.

bootney said:

Did you end up brewing the No. 1? I did this a month ago and did a 1500 ml or so starter with 2 packages of yeast. I just did what Mr. Malty told me to do. I let it ferment for 4 weeks and it went from 1.115 down to 1.023. I tasted what I used for the gravity reading and all I can say right now that this is a hot one. I got a little cherry at the end of it but over powered by the alcohol taste. My plan is to let this one sit in secondary for 6 months and see how it's doing then. I'd like to see how yours went.

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It is on the agenda for next Monday. This Friday I am doing the AK47 Pale Mild. I have never tasted a Pale Mild, nor do I believe I have seen one for sale. Did you do your's as an all grain or extract? These two will be my first extracts in two years and first ever partial boils.

This is excellent to hear. I plan on getting No. 1 and brew it around New Years/first week of January. Good luck to ya BillTheSlink.

Bill,

I went all grain, and I will say the flaked maize was a pain in the backside to mash in and avoid dough balls.

Wiggly,

Did you brew up the Northern No 1 yet?

Not sure if you already brewed this or not and whether or not you have read up on Brett. You supposed to use glass carboys and seperate racking/bottling equipment as Brett can live in conditions that regular yeast cannot. You either have dedicated equipment to it or you run the risk of contaminating future batches which could end in bottle bombs.

I have done several batches following this using the same equipment without any known issues. I use PBW and star san for cleaning and sanitizing. Not saying there isn't a reason for concern, but so far so good for me.

bootney said:

I have done several batches following this using the same equipment without any known issues. I use PBW and star san for cleaning and sanitizing. Not saying there isn't a reason for concern, but so far so good for me.

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Some do it without too much trouble but I have a friend that had a batch of stout ending up with brett/lacto in it. He lost about half of his bottles and had a huge mess to clean up. The ones that didn't explode were way over carbed obviously but once the head settled, it was actually a very interesting beer.

Its mostly just your plastic piece you should worry about.