A little advice please...

[lazarwolf]

I have been brewing forever. Literally since the first Bush administration. But I am just now really getting into sour beer and brett beer. I wanted to run my general process by you guys for making these beers in a way that seems easy to me. And make sure I am not missing anything.

For lacto sours I have been souring with grain. Basically doing sour wort. They have all come out great. Nice and sour. So I think I'g good there.

For Brett I have been making a medium gravity base wort. Then I have been fermenting with an ale yeast. Then transferring to my sour fermenter and adding brett, or brett dregs. I just leave it alone for 6 to 8 months. The first beer has been bottled, and it is amazing. OG 1.058 After Ale yeast fermentation 1.020. after brett fermentation 1.005.

I guess I want to know if there is a way to make brett go faster. And if not, is there anything I should watch out for...

I have read Tonsmeiers book, and several others. Looking for practical advice here.

 

[dantheman13]

I have been brewing forever. Literally since the first Bush administration. But I am just now really getting into sour beer and brett beer. I wanted to run my general process by you guys for making these beers in a way that seems easy to me. And make sure I am not missing anything.

For lacto sours I have been souring with grain. Basically doing sour wort. They have all come out great. Nice and sour. So I think I'g good there.

For Brett I have been making a medium gravity base wort. Then I have been fermenting with an ale yeast. Then transferring to my sour fermenter and adding brett, or brett dregs. I just leave it alone for 6 to 8 months. The first beer has been bottled, and it is amazing. OG 1.058 After Ale yeast fermentation 1.020. after brett fermentation 1.005.

I guess I want to know if there is a way to make brett go faster. And if not, is there anything I should watch out for...

I have read Tonsmeiers book, and several others. Looking for practical advice here.

You can definitely speed Brett up by producing more fermentable wort (mash at ~147°F, use malts with simple sugars, etc). However, keep in mind that there is more going on with Brett than just fermentation of carbohydrates. It also metabolizes phenols and esters. No matter what, age almost always tends to produce a better product when you are working with Brett. Try pitching a bigger starter of Brett to speed things up as well.

 

[sweetcell]

I guess I want to know if there is a way to make brett go faster. And if not, is there anything I should watch out for...

brett laughs at your puny attempts to tell it what to do

heat should speed up brett's activity, but i'd be concerned about increasing other bugs' activity too. a bigger pitch should help some, but it's not going to turn a 6-month time frame into a week...

patience is the key ingredient in sour and funky beer.