Brett Claussenii - mixed fermentation

[RustyHorn]

Just checking I understand this correctly: if I pitch S04 and add Brett Claussenii once the S04 has finished, the Brett will chew away on the sugar until it has reached its full potential? Also, does this contribute to the alcohol? It seems obvious to me that this is a yes, but Beersmith is ignoring the Brett addition so I'm questioning it.

My plan is to brew a beer with S04 then add the Brett. Once that has reached its full potential and when the S04 has finished fermenting, I plan on bottling and leaving for 6 months to a year. Does this sound about right?

Thanks.

 

[brownni5]

Yes, Brett will further attenuate your beer, depending on the wort, possibly close to 1.000, and yes, that will increase the alcohol at least a little (again, depending on your wort).

It's tough to determine when Brett will finish when adding to secondary. The prevailing thought is that packaging is possible when the gravity is stable for a couple months: that might be 3 months or it might be a year. Hard to age Brett beers too long, though (within reason) as long as you keep them away from oxygen.

Coincidentally, my next brew is going to be along the same lines: an Old Ale with Imperial Juice and Wyeast Brett c. in secondary for a stab at a 19th century Old Ale.

 

[RustyHorn]

Yes, Brett will further attenuate your beer, depending on the wort, possibly close to 1.000, and yes, that will increase the alcohol at least a little (again, depending on your wort).

It's tough to determine when Brett will finish when adding to secondary. The prevailing thought is that packaging is possible when the gravity is stable for a couple months: that might be 3 months or it might be a year. Hard to age Brett beers too long, though (within reason) as long as you keep them away from oxygen.

Coincidentally, my next brew is going to be along the same lines: an Old Ale with Imperial Juice and Wyeast Brett c. in secondary for a stab at a 19th century Old Ale.

Sounds nice. I'm also going for 19th century 'stale' beer. I need to be more patient, do it, then learn from it. I'm keen to bottle early to free up the fermenter, but I think I need to sit it out and see what happens before worrying about quantity!

 

[RustyHorn]

I nearly forgot...

Thank you!

 

[mashpaddled]

If you are bottling the beer early with a final gravity close to the expected FG for S04 then you need to make sure your bottles can withstand the pressure that might be created in the bottle between your FG at bottling and 1.000--in addition to any priming sugar you add. Brett might not get down that far but you don't want to find out the wrong (and dangerous) way that brett took it all the way.

 

[RustyHorn]

If you are bottling the beer early with a final gravity close to the expected FG for S04 then you need to make sure your bottles can withstand the pressure that might be created in the bottle between your FG at bottling and 1.000--in addition to any priming sugar you add. Brett might not get down that far but you don't want to find out the wrong (and dangerous) way that brett took it all the way.

That's the reason I asked.

 

[brownni5]

For a traditional stale English ale, you might want to go the route of low carbonation - Brett c at bottling without priming sugar might get you there. I'd rather go the route of letting it finish in the fermenter before bottling though.

 

[TandemTails]

I really enjoy a rye saison in which i use brett-c in secondary. I ferment the beer with a saison strain and then let the beer sit on the brett for at least 4 months before I consider bottling it. I would be very hesitant to add brett directly at bottling with anything other than a beer that already finished around 1.002 or so.