Stringers in Brett yeast - Is this normal

About 6 hours ago I made up a small starter for Brett yeast. WLP650 (Brett B), vial date 4/2011. I don't have a stir plate so I keep it near and frequently swirl it around.

I've noticed there are several 'strings' swirling around. I am assuming it is the Brett yeast, is this normal? I am used to Sacc yeast which tends to be individual cells, only being lumps when left to drop, but separates again after a while. This is not separating.

The starter container was clean. I had a sour yeast mix in it yesterday, which I used. Overnight the jar was filled with a mild bleach solution, rinsed with hot water this afternoon and then rinsed with idophor solution.

at the beginning of the brett life cycle, particularly during the hot summer months, the wild yeasts are referred to as being "stringy". this is commonly referred to as the "sick" period. it will pass, just be patient... it's strange that a pure culture of brett would exhibit this, but you never know how wild yeasts might react. if oldsock is around i'm sure he'll chime in to confirm the same and elaborate.

here's some more info: http://hbd.org/brewery/library/LambicFAQ.html

How do I culture these bacteria/wild yeasts?
For basic information on yeast culturing, see the yeast issue of Zymurgy, the Yeast FAQ in rec.crafts.brewing, or any of the other good articles on culturing that have been published. In general, develop skill at culturing regular yeasts before even attempting these.

For culturing Pedio., it has been found that it does better in a liquid culture then on agar. Also, use MRS broth (from Diffco) or add a little (about 10%) tomato or apple juice to the wort. The media should me autoclaved (pressure cooked) at 15psi for 20min. Simply boiling will not work, as it doesn't kill off things like mold spores. Also, a Pedio. culture should _not_ be aerated, as it is an anaerobic bacteria. For both Pedio. and Brett., the medium should have a little (.5%) Calcium Carbonate as a buffer. Cheap agar can be had from a health food store or Chinese market.

Both Pedio. and Brett. take quite a bit longer to grow then common beer yeasts, so give them time. They also will look differently. They will not get bubbly, or develop a kraeusen on top. Pedio. will sometimes develop a wrinkly pellicle on top that has been described as 'stringy' or like a 'brain cross section'. Brett. will sometimes develop a waxy looking pellicle, sometimes with large bubbles in it. These pellicles are normal, but not always present. Don't expect a pellicle sooner then a few months, even if one is going to develop.

http://***********/stories/beer-styles/article/indices/11-beer-styles/980-lambic-brewing-with-bacteria

“My lambic was pretty disgusting for a pretty long time,” he explains. Allen’s lambic was too nasty to drink after two weeks in the bottle. After two years, it took first place in the 1996 first round American Homebrewers Association national competition in Denver.

24 hours and no obvious activity in the starter. Anyone know how long it takes Brett to get going.

It's a fresh vial pitched into 20 ozs of 1.035 wort. Both were at fridge temps when pitched, but kept at room temperature since then.

i panicked with my first all brett too since there was a huge lag time. RDWHAHB it will be okay. expect traditional signs of fermentation after about 3-4 days. very long lag time, but whatever, is it going to get infected? lolz:cross:

just to intercept your next post since i see it going in that direction... primary will last about 2 weeks at which point you'll have a SG of ~ 1.010-1.016. after another 2 months you'll be at ~1.108-1.101 where it will stay and at that time you're ready to bottle & drink. introducing pedio and lacto could cause superattenuation which might ferment down to 1.000 and could take years.

go check out the lambic and wild brewing section if you haven't already. there's tons of info already in there just waiting for you. you might be there for days reading since there's lots of good stuff & educated folk with experiences to learn from!

Thanks Jessup. Good information. I assume you have some extra 1s in yyour numbers. That wasn't my next question, I've already asked it on the other forum. And yes, I've done a lot of reading through the history on that forum too. Seems there really is not too much information on pure Brett beers.

Calder said:

I assume you have some extra 1s in yyour numbers.

Click to expand...

jessup said:

after another 2 months you'll be at ~1.108-1.101

Click to expand...

haha whoa look at that. yeah i meant you'll be between 1.008 and 1.010. that got all kinds of lost in translation from brain to fingertips

Vinnie Cilurzo has an excellent power point presentation on brewing sour beers at home that addresses all of these points. An excellent read.

http://www.babblebelt.com/newboard/brew_resource/RRsour_beer_presentation.ppt

Interesting read. Answered some questions.

After 2 days it looks like my starter might be going. Looks like it is generating small amounts of CO2, and those 'stringers' are maybe getting a little bigger (or I might just be imagining it). I'm glad it wasn't an old pack.

This morning it was acting just like a normal starter. Lots of activity and when swirled, started spitting sanitizer out of the airlock.

I knew this was going to go slow, but I thought it would be a slow ferment, not slow to start. 2.5 days for a fresh yeast is a long time.

Anyone know how White Labs really dates theit yeast. The vial says the "best before date is 4 months after testing and packaging". The date on this one is 4/30/11; so I got this 1 month before they admit to packaging it?!?

That's odd. You might shoot them an email about that.

My conjecture is that the vial is best before it is 4 months old but it expires apparently 6 months after packaging.