Brett B got hot during shipment... DOH!

[krumb]

So I ordered a pack of Wyeast Brett B from Midwest. I forgot to include the ice pack (they really should encourage it like AHB does). My own fault, I did so in haste.

So it was on the FedEx truck for five days. It was hot when it arrived yesterday. I immediately put it in the fridge. Got home, made up a starter, and pitched it into the starter. I'm hoping some of these little beasties survived!

Anyone out there have any words of encouragement? If viable, how long could I expect to wait for action in the starter? What is my cutoff point where I suck it up and order another pack?

 

[MalFet]

Realistically, the ice packs don't do a whole heck of a lot. They are thoroughly melted long before they get to you, and the only real benefit they have is to provide a bit of heat capacity to mitigate sudden changes. Your yeast is no worse off than it would be any other time you have bought it.

 

[krumb]

Realistically, the ice packs don't do a whole heck of a lot. They are thoroughly melted long before they get to you, and the only real benefit they have is to provide a bit of heat capacity to mitigate sudden changes. Your yeast is no worse off than it would be any other time you have bought it.

Right...so wait on the starter to show activity. Any idea on how long I should wait...or just pitch the starter regardless. This is my first time to utilize a starter for a Brett pitch...and first time to pitch Brett into primary with another yeast.

 

[MalFet]

It depends on what you mean by activity...on a stir plate, it can be tough to see much. In any case, so long as the yeast didn't get really hot, there was almost certainly something alive in there. If you don't have fermentation in a normal starter on the stirplate in, say, 48 hours, something is wrong.

 

[ryane]

If you don't have fermentation in a normal starter on the stirplate in, say, 48 hours, something is wrong.

Eh, I would go a bit longer than that, the brett packs are much lower cell counts than normal packs to start with

- To the OP -
use yeast nutrient, and large starter volumes (2L+) to get up to a reasonable cell count for pitching with a sacch strain, brett solo you want double that size for a starter

Also, in my experience with WY Brux, you want a mid to lower gravity wort, as higher alcohol levels seems to make it throw a lot of harsher phenolics

 

[krumb]

Eh, I would go a bit longer than that, the brett packs are much lower cell counts than normal packs to start with

- To the OP -
use yeast nutrient, and large starter volumes (2L+) to get up to a reasonable cell count for pitching with a sacch strain, brett solo you want double that size for a starter

Also, in my experience with WY Brux, you want a mid to lower gravity wort, as higher alcohol levels seems to make it throw a lot of harsher phenolics

Thanks guys.

Ryan - love the blog, brother.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Brett are hardy badasses. I doubt you will have a problem with the pack.

 

[beerandcoding]

Recently did the same thing. Ordered some Brett Brux from Northern Brewer over the 4th of July holiday. 7 days in transit, most of that sitting in Oregon while we had our 80-90F heat spell.

I boiled up 1/2 gallon of 1.035 starter wort with 1 tsp of Wyeast yeast nutrient, divided it across 4 pint jars and dosed each jar with 1/4 of the Brett pack. All of them took off after a couple days, no stir plate, just aggitating a couple times a day. Two of the starters have been used and the beers are doing just fine. The other two are waiting to be used next week.

Here is a picture of one of the Brett Brux starters at day 5.

<threadhijack>
Now I just wish the WY3724 that I ordered at the same time was doing better. I smacked it on Friday and made a 1qt starter. Started looked fine, so I brewed a 1.048 OG saison on Sunday and pitched the entire thing. 1/4" of krausen Monday morning, then it fell in by Monday evening. All that is left now is a few yeast islands and 3 silver dollar sized bubbles. Doesn't look like an infection yet, just weird. Been at 76-80 the entire time, so not sure what to think.
</threadhijack>

Cheers!
Kevin

 

[krumb]

Recently did the same thing. Ordered some Brett Brux from Northern Brewer over the 4th of July holiday. 7 days in transit, most of that sitting in Oregon while we had our 80-90F heat spell.

I boiled up 1/2 gallon of 1.035 starter wort with 1 tsp of Wyeast yeast nutrient, divided it across 4 pint jars and dosed each jar with 1/4 of the Brett pack. All of them took off after a couple days, no stir plate, just aggitating a couple times a day. Two of the starters have been used and the beers are doing just fine. The other two are waiting to be used next week.

Here is a picture of one of the Brett Brux starters at day 5.

<threadhijack>
Now I just wish the WY3724 that I ordered at the same time was doing better. I smacked it on Friday and made a 1qt starter. Started looked fine, so I brewed a 1.048 OG saison on Sunday and pitched the entire thing. 1/4" of krausen Monday morning, then it fell in by Monday evening. All that is left now is a few yeast islands and 3 silver dollar sized bubbles. Doesn't look like an infection yet, just weird. Been at 76-80 the entire time, so not sure what to think.
</threadhijack>

Cheers!
Kevin

good to hear, regarding the brett b. sorry about the 3724.

i'm going to be doing something similar...oldsock aka madfermentationists dark winter saison (fig/honey/anise) recipe. i'm using brett b instead of the c he used (was actually a cake, i think), and i'm torn between adding wyeast 3711 (scared that it will beat the brett b to the punch!) or wlp 565. pitching both the brett and the saison yeast into primary.

i love the 3711...should i be worried about it out-competing the brett?

 

[beerandcoding]

In my experience, albeit limited, as long as you aren't looking for a quick turn around, Brett Brux. only needs a few points of gravity to throw a lot of funk. A couple options if you are worried about 3711 being too aggressive are to pitch the Brett along with your primary strain, or to add a little (< .25lb) malto dextrin to the end of the boil. Brett will be able to eat the more complex compound, but sacc won't touch it.

Cheers!
Kevin

 

[Bsquared]

Last year at NHC I talked the ear off of one of the wyeast guys. Regarding their packaging, he was telling be about their testing of it and its ability to maintain yeast viability through vary abusive handling. He might have been overstating or not, but Id say you should try it out I bet it will work fine.