How long with Brettanomyces really stick around

[nolabrew85]

So I have always heard that Brett is very stubborn and can infect your equipment forever. What I am wondering is how true this is. I added a small amount of brett to the end of a fermentation in my glass carboy about a year ago. After bottling, I cleaned my glass carboy and then did not use it again until now. I cleaned the carboy thoroughly with PBW and then rinsed and sanitized with starsan. What are the chances it is still in there and viable enough to infect the next batch. I have heard of biofilms, etc. Thanks!

 

[Sadu]

I thought that the whole point of glass and steel was that you could get rid of the bugs with a thorough clean and sanitise regime. I have some glass demijohns with Brett beers in them, was defo hoping to be able to reuse these for clean brews afterwards.

 

[myndflyte]

I think with glass, you're probably in a better spot than if it were plastic. I think the issue is that small scratches in plastic can harbor brett and it can make it difficult to get rid of. I think with glass you'll probably be ok.

 

[cactusgarrett]

As I understand it: brett is just another type of yeast, and with good sanitation habits you can treat brett as you would sacc as it relates to the treatment of your equipment. True "bugs" (lacto, pedio, etc.) pose different issues, however.

 

[ryanm8]

I had a batch recently that tasted like it was infected with some kind of wild Brett. I sanitized everything afterwards with Starsan at double strength and let air dry for a week or two. Brewed a new batch with the same equipment and no infection whatsoever.

 

[secondbase]

Brett is yeast and can be easily cleaned! If your cleaning regimen is strong I wouldn't worry about it, especially when using glass.

 

[cactusgarrett]

I had a batch recently that tasted like it was infected with some kind of wild Brett. I sanitized everything afterwards with Starsan at double strength and let air dry for a week or two. Brewed a new batch with the same equipment and no infection whatsoever.

Just a word of warning on this: from what I've read (I'm having trouble sourcing the info right now) increasing the strength of the starsan solution doesn't increase its sanitizing power.

 

[6midgets]

Just a word of warning on this: from what I've read (I'm having trouble sourcing the info right now) increasing the strength of the starsan solution doesn't increase its sanitizing power.

James Spencer on Basic Brewing podcast interviewed the guy that created Star San. That guy said if you use more than the directions call for then "no rinse" becomes "must rinse".

 

[Imperator85]

I've heard scare stories relating to Brett several times, but then I've met or read people using it all the time with no issues in their non-Brett brews. I think it all comes down to cleaning and sanitizing properly. Sometimes I think people skip on the cleaning part and trust the Starsan to do something it cannot do well on it's on (certainly not by dipping it super quickly in the solution, which I've seen people do in person).

 

[ryanm8]

James Spencer on Basic Brewing podcast interviewed the guy that created Star San. That guy said if you use more than the directions call for then "no rinse" becomes "must rinse".

Good to know for the future. I have heard of people using bleach to sanitize, so I figured double Starsan would have to be safer than that. I didn't rinse and the beer tastes great. I drank a few and am still alive