Bottling first brett beer

[Potamus]

I made a Rye saison beer with brett (recipe at bottom) that sat in the primary for about a month with Begian saison yeast and has been in secondary with brett for a little more than two months.

The problem is that somehow the batch came up pretty short -- I'd guess it's closer to four gallons than five. I was thinking about cutting the bottling sugar down to about four ounces rather than five, but I also have heard you have to be careful with brett because it ferments down to a lower gravity than other strains.

So my question is how much priming sugar should I use to avoid bottle bombs?

Here's the recipe (from Popular Mechanics):
3 pounds rye malt
2.5 pounds Belgian pilsner malt
1 pound brown Belgian candi sugar
0.5 pounds CaraWheat Malt
3.5 pounds extra-light dry malt extract
0.75 ounces Chinook hops (14.1 percent AA), 50 minutes
1 ounce East Kent Golding hops (5.7 percent AA), 15 minutes
.5 ounces Chinook hops (14.1 percent AA), 2 minutes
2 vials of White Labs Belgian Saison Ale yeast in primary
1 vial of White Labs Brettanomyces Bruxellensis in secondary

 

[NewWestBrewer]

I made a Rye saison beer with brett (recipe at bottom) that sat in the primary for about a month with Begian saison yeast and has been in secondary with brett for a little more than two months.

The problem is that somehow the batch came up pretty short -- I'd guess it's closer to four gallons than five. I was thinking about cutting the bottling sugar down to about four ounces rather than five, but I also have heard you have to be careful with brett because it ferments down to a lower gravity than other strains.

So my question is how much priming sugar should I use to avoid bottle bombs?

Here's the recipe (from Popular Mechanics):
3 pounds rye malt
2.5 pounds Belgian pilsner malt
1 pound brown Belgian candi sugar
0.5 pounds CaraWheat Malt
3.5 pounds extra-light dry malt extract
0.75 ounces Chinook hops (14.1 percent AA), 50 minutes
1 ounce East Kent Golding hops (5.7 percent AA), 15 minutes
.5 ounces Chinook hops (14.1 percent AA), 2 minutes
2 vials of White Labs Belgian Saison Ale yeast in primary
1 vial of White Labs Brettanomyces Bruxellensis in secondary

can't you just use an online calculator and adjust your bottling size?

 

[Potamus]

I did try one at TasyBrew.com. It said I should use 2.7 ounces of dextrose, which seemed a little low considering I usually use 5 ounces. I was just curious if other people have advice or been in a similar situation.

 

[duboman]

Well,, you really need to be sure the beer is completely done fermenting. brett can chew through lots of sugars that regular yeast can't. Just because it's two months doesn't mean it's done. Take some gravity readings over a week and verify they are not changing. If the gravity is still moving you need to wait it out.

Once the beer is stable then you can bottle as normal as the brett will only eat that sugar at that point and if you have a full 4 gallons you can use 4oz to prime. Saisons are usually carbonated a bit more than other styles.