Feeding Brett/Lacto with sugar or syrup

[davehenry]

Hi folks I have a question about what to do with my beer. I brewed a Bam Bier - ish beer last weekend and I had a brain fart and mashed too low or pitched too high. The Sach yeast chewed it down to 1.004 in 3 days.

I've now moved it to a secondary and added Brett and Lacto but there's not much for them to eat. I'm wondering if I can add some Candi syrup or dextrose sugar to give them something to eat. I figure that those would be good choices and if they don't consume it all it will still be a Belgian style beer.

If not I'll just brew another beer and mash high for a blender.

 

[Weezy]

The sacc still in the beer will outperform the brett and lacto and eat it all first. Did you primary with a Belgian strain? Is it not "Belgiany" enough for you already? The brett and lacto will still work, and the brett will also eat some of the esters and phenols created by the sacc. It may not be as sour or as horsey/bretty as you'd hope but it'll still be a fine beer.

You might be able to try some maltodextrin boiled in a bit of water, but I've never done that.

 

[davehenry]

I did primary with a Belgian strain and it has a nice belgiany character. I was hoping to get a little tartness and funk as well. I didn't realize they'd eat the esters and phenols as well so I'll just wait it out until summer and drink it.

 

[505-Brewer]

Hi folks I have a question about what to do with my beer. I brewed a Bam Bier - ish beer last weekend and I had a brain fart and mashed too low or pitched too high. The Sach yeast chewed it down to 1.004 in 3 days.

I've now moved it to a secondary and added Brett and Lacto but there's not much for them to eat. I'm wondering if I can add some Candi syrup or dextrose sugar to give them something to eat. I figure that those would be good choices and if they don't consume it all it will still be a Belgian style beer.

If not I'll just brew another beer and mash high for a blender.

You could cold crash the beer for several days, rack off yeast then warm back up feed and pitch brett lacto. Lacto prefers simple sugars. If possible Id pitch active starter of lacto then brett later.

 

[gregkeller]

If you are alright waiting a little longer, then pedio might be a better idea than lacto. Lacto is a finicky bug in that it doesn't like low pH, high alcohol or even slight bitterness. Adding it after primary you will not get the sourness/tartness you are looking for most likely. Pedio on the other hand will add sourness, but also spits out diactyl. The brett will clean that up but it takes some time (might take 9-12 months).

The brett will add some complexity, again over time, even if there isn't a whole lot of fermentables left, the more "belgiany" the beer the more raw materials the brett has to work on, even if there aren't lots of sugars in the beer. Maltodextrin is able to be chewed on by brett but not sach, so you could add some of that if you are worried about fuel for the brett.

 

[davehenry]

Thanks guys. I'm looking for just a small amount of funk and tartness for this beer. I have it in the chamber at 26 degrees Celsius and I did notice a little action on the surface today. I going to let it ride and see if it gets some character.

 

[gregkeller]

I would imagine you will get a small amount of funk. Probably not much tartness but maybe a little. I really like those beers that just have a hint of tart/funk to them but have a really hard time making them myself. Crooked stave seems to get it right for my taste.

 

[MileHighBrewer]

Brett doesn't neccessarily need a lot of gravity to work. It will consume what is left there, but brett will consume other compounds are continue to evolve and creat flavors even in bone dry beer.

Jolly Pumpkin intentionally mashes low to finish out quickly, then let the brett develop over time in the bottle. Trinity also mashes very low to totally dry out the beers and let the flavors develop slowly

 

[davehenry]

Brett doesn't neccessarily need a lot of gravity to work. It will consume what is left there, but brett will consume other compounds are continue to evolve and creat flavors even in bone dry beer.

Jolly Pumpkin intentionally mashes low to finish out quickly, then let the brett develop over time in the bottle. Trinity also mashes very low to totally dry out the beers and let the flavors develop slowly

Thanks. That helps my understanding of why this recipe had such a low mash temp with such a high attenuating yeast. Bam Bier isn't very sour or funky so I should be fine.