Co-Pitching WLP565 and Amalgamation

[trav77]

Hi folks,

I'm going to brew a saison on Thursday and have about 200 billion cells of WLP565 on the stir plate right now. I plan to co-pitch with YB Amalgamation but despite brewing many saisons I have never done this before. Any thoughts as to how many cells to target for the Amalgamation pitch?

I typically overbuild starters and save a portion (with the original cell count) prior to pitching the rest. I.e. for the WLP565 I grow 300 billion cells, save 500 mL (100 bil cells) and pitch the remaining 200 billion.

I'd like to do the same with the Brett. In that case the original package has only 2 billion cells.

Thoughts?

 

[m00ps]

You can do whatver youd lke, the brett will impart its flavors eventualyl either way. Its very hardy

That being said, Ive had best results building up a brett starter about the same size as my sacch yeast in terms of timeframe to develop that character. Keep in mind that brett starters will take a bit longer than sacch since they have different growth phases. Id start it a week ahead of time

Also, Yeast Bay and White labs have miniscule pitching rates for their bug vials. I would start that in a small starter and step it up a few days later once you have activity

 

[trav77]

So are you saying you'd recommend building the Brett up to 200 billion cells as well? That seems like a lot to build from 2 billion.

Or are you talking equal volume to the Sacch starter? e.g. 1 L.

 

[trav77]

After reading this: http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Brettanomyces#Two_Approaches_to_Starters

Looks like they recommend 500-600 mL starter for a 100% Brett fermentation that would be approximately equivalent to lager pitching rates for 5 gal of 1.060 wort. So to co-pitch at ale rates similar to my WL565 I would need 1/2 that or ~ 250 mL. I will likely go with a 500 mL Brett starter, split off 1/2 to save and pitch the other 1/2.