All-Brett Braggot Gravity

[NibblesMN]

I'm hoping to start an all-brett braggot in the near future. I am going to start with Schramm's "Don't cry for me Spargentina" as a base but use The Yeast Bay's Amalgamation brett blend instead of D-47.

I assume this should work without any real problem. But I've heard people mention anecdotally that all-brett brews have trouble starting in musts with high osmotic pressure.

This should start around in the neighborhood of 1.1, which is isn't really high for mead, but I thought I'd see if anyone has experience before I kick this off. Specifically, how big of a starter do I need? And does it matter if I ferment a bit cold because I keep my house pretty cool in the winter?

 

[NibblesMN]

Took me longer than expected to get to this one. I made a fairly large starter using a 64oz growler on a heat mat to keep it at about 80F. The OG was higher than I was shooting for at 1.07. But after 4 days it took off vigorously, so in about a week I'll have a proper starter to get the braggot going.

I am definitely glad I made a starter. If it took 4 days to start working 64oz at 1.07, it would take forever to start 5 gallons at 1.1 if I just used the vial straight.

 

[Arpolis]

Sounds like a good call. No experience with Brett myself so no real advice but glad to hear your starter finally started going. You may step feed the starter some of your 1.100 must over a couple additions to get the yeast more used to their new environment before pitching.

 

[NibblesMN]

After 2 weeks in the primary I moved this half honey/half LME concoction to a secondary fermenter and there is an almost overpowering strawberry banana aroma. Which is exactly the type of thing I was going for.

Hooray for successful experiments!