Brett C question

[Stevesauer]

Hello. I'm currently working on a Brett IPA. After letting the saccharomyces do its thing for 3 weeks, I racked to secondary and pitched a vial of white labs Brett c. Gravity at time of transfer was 1.014. Plenty for the Brett to work on. Temp was 65 at time of pitch. 24 hours later, all of the Brett settled at the bottom of the carboy. I swirled it back into suspension and brought the temp up to 72. Was this the right move? At least to get it going maybe? I know Brett can take a while to get moving when pitched in secondary, but am I incorrect in thinking that if it's settled at the bottom very little is going to happen? Never worked with this stuff before and looking for some guidance. Thanks!

 

[DisturbdChemist]

Not really. There is brett swimming around in the beer. Just let it be and in a few weeks check the gravity and see if it changes. It will not be a vigorous fermentation like the initial but it should show a some signs. Brett takes longer to grow and split. Plus brett produces more characteristics under pressure like in a bottle. Just be patient and check the Gravity before you bottle.

My suggestions is leave it for a month or two. Hold off the dry hop until a few weeks until you bottle/keg.

 

[m00ps]

Itll be fine. There is still a bunch of it in suspension that you cant see. Brett isnt very flocculant. Id wait a month and see what it tastes like. In the future, you could pitch everything all together to develop brett flavors faster. I got a brett wit in the bottle 9 weeks since pitching and it has mroe brett character than a lot of commercial brett beers

 

[secondbase]

Brett works slowly. Check on it in a few months.

 

[Stevesauer]

Thanks guys. Should I hold the temp at 72 where it is now, or let it sit at ambient temps? White labs says 82 and up is optimal. That is pretty high so I figured I'd split the difference and bring it to 72. If I can let it sit at ambient, that would be ideal. Then I'm not tying up my temp control ability long term.

 

[secondbase]

I've found i get a softer, more rounded brett profile when I ferment at lower temps. Ambient will be fine if you don't have space for it in your temp control'd environment.

 

[Calder]

Using that yeast as a primary yeast, you need to get it up to 85 F to get any real flavor from it. I have never used it as a secondary yeast.

As a secondary yeast, Brett works slowly. It takes a long time to build up in the anaerobic environment. I've had Orval 3 months from bottling, and there is zero Brett flavor. It is going to take 12 months to get decent Brett flavor into your beer, and it is going to keep developing for 24 months or more.

 

[Stevesauer]

Wow. That's a long time. Was planning on a few months.

 

[Agate]

I usually get pretty good brett flavor at 3 months, but it does develop in the bottle. Using a nice estery or phenolic saison strain that really dries the beer out in primary helps, depending on the brett character you want. Relying on brett to attenuate the beer from 1.015 or so really takes a long time, but if your primary strain brings it to 1.005 or less, then you can turn it within a few months.

 

[Stevesauer]

Relying on brett to attenuate the beer from 1.015 or so really takes a long time

Wish I'd known it moved that slowly. I mashed hot to give the brett more dextrins to work on over the secondary. Learning experience I suppose.

 

[MattHollingsworth]

In my experience, most strains of Brett in secondary show character at 3 months or so and are very nice by 6 months. Waiting for a year has never been necessary with the Brett beers I've made, though I have waited that long. Just bottled a strange Brett-Lacto beer at 16 months old and it's fantastic. But that waiting was necessary for the Lacto, not the Brett.

The Yeast Bay Saison-Brett blend often shows Brett character in as little as one month but, of course, gets stronger after that. I have a few beers sitting on that yeast now and some are showing minimal Brett at three months old and one is showing intense Brett at 4 months old.

Also, it is not necessary to take Brett C up to 85. If you're using it in primary, it's nice at an elevated temp like that but it's also nice at a cooler temp. A couple of years ago, I made a 100% Brett C beer (The White Labs strain) and pitched at 63. Early fermentation was 65-67, then warmed up to 71 for finish and aging. Left it at 71 for 3 months when I left town for an extended period. Checked it as soon as I got home and the Brett was entirely dominant and lovely. Have also used it at 85 or so and it's really great. Versatile strain of Brett, I'd say. Never used it in isolation for secondary, only along with other strains, so can't say exactly how it will behave on its own in secondary as far as Brett strains go. I wouldn't want to leave a beer aging for extended periods above 80F, though.

If I were you, I'd leave it around 70 or so for three months then take a sample and taste it. If you have no Brett at that time, wait another month or two and check again.

Everybody has different experiences with Brett and this is just my experience. Not saying anyone else is wrong but some of the information I see posted here is not what I have experienced with the 30 or so batches of Brett beer that I've made in the last few years. With Brett, though, patience really pays off. Just brew some more while you're waiting. I have 7 batches of Brett beer aging and at various ages right now. Makes it easier to wait when you have a bunch of them in the pipeline.