how long before you decide if a Brett starter is viable or not?

I am trying to make my starter first brett brew using Brettanomyces bruxellensis Wyeast 5112.
I added about 100ml Wyeast pack to a 1.4L wort. Its been 5 days with no sign of fermentation or activity in the air lock. Is the yeast really slow or dead?
How many days do people normally wait before giving up on the batch?

 

Are you sure it isn't just done?

Brett will normally look like a regular sacc starter; sometimes it will ferment slowly and then develop a pellicle. Brett is kind of a dick sometimes and it won't want to ferment quickly in regular wort. If it hasn't fermented, do three things: aerate the starter; take off the airlock and cover the flask with foil; add a tablespoon of white vinegar. Oxygen forces brett to behave more like sacc but it also likes more acidic conditions so the vinegar will help it feel more at home. You may have to continue to give it a few more days to kick off.

 

Thanks! excellent suggestion! I will keep it going for a few days more. I never saw any signs of fermentation so far, no pellicle or air lock activity.
I will try what you suggested and post back here in a few days

 

Brett takes a while to get going.

The cells they provide are a lot less than normal yeasts, so will take longer to multiply and show signs of activity.

Brett is slower than sacc yeast, but not too much.

Do not add vinegar.

Give it a little more time.

 

That may happen anyway since I am out of town for the weekend. I will check on it Monday evening and decide what to do next!

 

Thought, I will close out this thread. In the end I didn't add vinegar but raised the temperature from 65F to 72F. That seemed to do the trick. The starter reached maximum cell density within 7 days