Adding brett in secondary for a saison?

[Colizza]

Brewed a 5 gal batch of saison last week using WLP566. Its been in primary for 7 days at 70farenheit and was im going to raise the temperature to 78 from day 10 till day 17 (done this often with this yeast with amazing results)

After day 17, i was thinking to split my batch into two 3 gallon carboys, one controlled and the other i was thinking of adding brett (both carboys would sit in a room at 70 deg)

What do you guys think?

 

[beergolf]

Simple answer... Do It...

Brett and saisons are great together. I have gotten to the point that almost every saison I brew get some brett in it. And I brew a lot of saisons.

You can add a commercial brett, or just add the dregs from a couple of bottle of Orval. The brett in them is very fresh and works great. The good thing is you get to drink a couple of bottles or Orval.

 

[Colizza]

Thanks man! It will even though there are not a lot of sugars left?

 

[unclebrazzie]

Thanks man! It will even though there are not a lot of sugars left?

I recently brewed a Citra saison which fermented down from 1.063 to 1.001.
Pitched the dregs of a bottle of Orval into 5 liters and three months later, SG was down to 0.990.

And it's effing awesomesauce too

 

[Colizza]

Cool! Should i make a starter before pirching it?

 

[beergolf]

Thanks man! It will even though there are not a lot of sugars left?

Brett does not need a lot of sugars to work. There are some Chad Yakobson where he talks about fermenting with sach first and then when it is done adding brett.

Here they are.. All you want to know about brett.

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AjVOzBtE27Y[/ame]

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Swv294Xkbq8[/ame]

[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9FtfPKRBUhA[/ame]

 

[m00ps]

LOL, my intention was to just click on this thread and type
YES.

I just did a similar split. But I bottled the clean portion and brettd the rest in a 3gal carboy

 

[hanuswalrus]

I would suggest that you do add brett. I have one going in secondary right now that smells scrumptious, and another saison that I added 6-8 drops of Brett at bottling that has an awesome brett character to it. I have a culture of Wyeast's Brett C mixed w/ Orval dregs that I keep in my fridge just in case I get the urge to condition w/ Brett again. Brought a bottle to my club meeting last night and the people that got to try it really liked it. I was surpirsed how much Brett character it has after 3 months in the bottle.

 

[Colizza]

I will probably buy a vial of brett and pitch it

 

[Calder]

Cool! Should i make a starter before pitching it?

NO! Part of the Brett character is due to anaerobic growth. If you make a starter, you will be pitching too much brett and it may not produce the desired effect due to the high population and the need to not reproduce in the new hostile wort.

 

[m00ps]

I dunno. I've started doing starters for my Brett beers and it definitely makes it develop Brett character faster. Worked like a charm on the past 4 or 5

 

[Brew_Meister_General]

I dunno. I've started doing starters for my Brett beers and it definitely makes it develop Brett character faster. Worked like a charm on the past 4 or 5

Did you pitch it to the primary or secondary? What would happen if you did pitch it to the primary?

 

[Calder]

I dunno. I've started doing starters for my Brett beers and it definitely makes it develop Brett character faster. Worked like a charm on the past 4 or 5

Maybe I have a few people mixed up, if so, I apologize. I think I have seen you make a number of claims that are contrary to most peoples experience. As you note here you get Brett flavors quicker with a large pitch, you also seem to get sour beers quicker than most - what's your secret, as I've spent many years working on these beers and not had the same success.

Maybe your idea of Brett flavor and sour are not the same as mine.

 

[m00ps]

Hmm yeah I agree. I am suspicious of how fast my brett/sours work. But compared to commercial ones they have the same intensity of character, even at a few months. They still develop past that. I've had 2 sours that were more sour than any one I've bought.

I think the secret is a very diverse microbe population. My Brett blend had 7 strains or more. My sour blend I have no idea. It's full of all kinds of Brett. Lacto, pedio, and some sacch of its alive

 

[unclebrazzie]

If you're using Brett as a flavouring agent in secondary, then you don't need a starter. More stress = more yummy is the rule of thumb here.

Just the dregs of a Bretty beer is enough to spike your brew.

Primary with Brett is another affair, but I've no experience there.

 

[Colizza]

I pitched it in the secondary (brett bruxellensis, no starter). S.G. Was 1.006 before adding the brett and wait a couple of months to see the results!

Final question, should i expect some king of pellicule to form or theres just not enough sugar for this phenomenon to occur?

 

[hanuswalrus]

Pellicles are formed when there is contact w/ oxygen in the fermenter. If there is any headspace, you will likely see a pellicle. That's been my experience so far, at least.

 

[m00ps]

My last few sours / brett beers didnt develop any sign of a pellicle until I took like the 3rd reading. Defintiely from oxygen exposure. I had very little headspace though, like so little that I needed to siphon some of the beer back out of the secondary

 

[Colizza]

Thanks!