First real uh-oh moment

[captgus]

I brewed a Saison on Saturday, the grist I'll include below not that it really matters. I split the batch into two 3 gallon better bottles and pitched the Saison Brett blend from Yeast Bay in one and Brett Brux Drie in the other. Real signs of fermentation began in about 4 hours, with the Saison Brett blend leading the charge. I must confess, this was my first forray into primary fermentation with Brett and it wasn't what I expected so when I noticed things starting to slow this morning, I thought I would take some gravity readings. I decided to use a turkey baster to pull samples, thinking I didn't want to mess with my glass thief and well...I guess the bulb portion of the turkey baster wasn't on well because as I stuck the end in the top of the first one and squeezed, well let's just say that I now have half a turkey baster in the bottom of a 3 gallon better bottle.

Do I shrug it off and just allow it to sit in there for the remainder of the time or should I rack off into another carboy? Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Weyerman Pils 68%
German Spelt 10%
Munich 5%
Carapils 4%
Acidulated Malt 3%
Sugar 10%


.6 oz Galena 60 min
.5 oz Amarillo 10 min
.5 oz Mandarina Bavaria 10 min
.5 oz Amarillo 1 min
.5 oz Mandarina Bavaria 1 min

 

[dantheman13]

I'd say to rack it off now while the beer is still young. The brett should clean up any air pickup during the transfer. It may not be necessary to do, but it will make you feel better afterwards.

On a side note, primary fermentation with the Yeast Bay Belgian Brett Blend is wild (normally it is used in secondary as far as I know)! Let us know how it turns out!

 

[jack_a_roe]

i would just leave it but that's only because it's not happening to me. in theory, a sanitized turkey baster is no big deal...but there's always a chance....

sidenote...my brett saison blend took 3 days to take off, same yeast. interesting.

 

[captgus]

That's about how long it took before I noticed anything in the starter. I had the starter going on a stir plate for 7 days and then aerated with O2 for 20 seconds prior to pitching at 70. Once I started to notice to activity, I dropped the temp to 68 and kept it there for the next 48 hours.

I may just sanitize an old bottling bucket tonight after work, transfer to that, pull out that damn baster and then rack back onto the cake.

How did your Brett Saison end up, how long did it take to reach final gravity and how long before you bottled?