Brett Weisse

[Harry482]

Hi All,

I just brewed the berliner weisse recipe from American Sour Beers. I pitched a large lacto brevis starter last night and it is bubbling away more than I expected in my ferm chamber today at 95 deg. I plan on pitching brett brux as the primary yeast. Its out of style, but i like brett flavor and the book states that brett does well in low ph. I was planning on letting the lacto work for 48 hours, but it's bubbling way more than I expected! Should i pitch the brett at the 24 hr mark or wait my planned 48 hrs? I want it to be sour, but not so sour that it will need blending... Im a beginner in sours. Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[DMosPickles]

taste it every couple of hours to determine the sourness level that you want. I like to do a quick pasteurization to kill off the lacto, then you can chill and pitch the brett without worry of additional sourness.

 

[jujitsudave]

in for the results, hope it works well

 

[sweetcell]

I plan on pitching brett brux as the primary yeast. Its out of style, but i like brett flavor

brett on its own will not give you the classic brett funk. brett acts very differently as the primary yeast, vs. adding it in secondary after sacch.

taste it every couple of hours to determine the sourness level that you want.

be aware that the beer will still contain a lot of sugars, so you have to taste the sourness through the sweet. what might seem like a little sourness now can be very sour once the beer is fully fermented.

let us know how it turns out!

 

[jnacey]

I've found it nice to have a reliable pH meter when doing a mixed fermentation like this where you have staggered pitches. It not required, but it really gives you a better feel for how things are progressing and at a minimum makes your process repeatable.

And as sweetcell said above, it really is amazing how a beer at 3.3 ph with residual sugars will taste remarkably less tart than a dry beer with a pH of 3.3. Good luck.

 

[Harry482]

Thanks for all of the advice. I ended up dropping the temp to 68 deg after letting the lacto work for 36hrs. I dont have a ph meter yet, but there was a defined sourness present. Like you all said, that sourness will be more defined once the remaining sugars are consumed by the brett b. I plan on keeping half plain and racking half on 2 lb of raspberries. Ill keep you posted. A wild pellicle has already formed in the primary.