Starter question for Brett. Clausseni

[PistolaPete]

I had a buddy give me two vials of White Labs Brett. Clausseni and I would like to use only them in a 2.5 gallon batch of something prob around 1.055-1.065 ish. Will a 2 Liter starter on a stir plate be good enough if I toss both vials in there? How long should I let the starter go for and can I just toss in the whole starter or should I chill and decant it first?

 

[porterpounder]

With a 2.5 gallon batch, you may not even need to worry about a starter if the vials are relatively fresh. Otherwise a 2 L starter is more than enough. I'd start it 2-3 days ahead of time and decant as 2L in a 2.5 gal batch will likely alter the flavor profile unless you are using wort similar to the future batch for the starter.

 

[Calder]

If you are using it as a secondary yeast, 1 vial without a starter is fine.

If you are using it as a primary yeast, you need to make a starter. The WL vials contain a much smaller amount of yeast than they put in sacc. You need to build a bigger starter than you would with a sacc yeast.

 

[40watt]

Brett takes longer than Sacc.

Chad from Crooked Stave suggests 7 to 10 days at higher temps with a stir plate. 14 days without. He said that you can expect one or two lag phases after which it will continue propagating.

 

[PistolaPete]

Thanks for the info! After seeing a post on here about someone making a cider with brett here is my new plan:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/brett-beer-cider-questions-455909/