Length of Brett Fermentation

[Steady-Hopper]

How long, typically speaking, does a full Brett C. beer take to ferment out? Lets say 1.050og and 68f. Alternatively, if I was to brew a 1.050 beer let it ferment out with some Sacch. and then pitch some Brett how long would that take to ferment out. These might seem like unanswerable questions - I know predictability can be fickle with any type of fermentation- but any knowledge is appreciated. If you have done full Brett C. beers what were the recipe stats and how long did it till packaging? And if you have pitched Brett C. or B. after fermentation with Sacch., how long did those take until packaging?

These questions derive more from my own curiosity, although I would like to give some Brett beers a go. Thanks

 

[m00ps]

Ive been going with 3 weeks. 2 is probably safe, its always been at FG, but I do 3 just to be sure

if you mix sacch and brett id go like 2 months or longer. My mixed fermentations and sours seem to have matured much more rapidly than most. My last brett/sacch one i let go for 9 weeks and its got a ton of brett character. I co-pitched them though. Even my sours have gotten soured in 2-3months. I dont know how it happens, they got more sour than any of the beers their bugs came from

but yeah 3 weeks is my answer. I also like to use hevay bottles for anything wild (+220g weight). European stuff like Orval is best, but even stones bottles are noticeably more durable than the standard 12oz long necks

 

[m00ps]

oh I would also let it free rise. I ran that sacch/brett saison past 90f after 1 day and it didnt have any bad off flavors. This will also help it finish faster

 

[tennesseean_87]

Ive been going with 3 weeks. 2 is probably safe, its always been at FG, but I do 3 just to be sure

if you mix sacch and brett id go like 2 months or longer. My mixed fermentations and sours seem to have matured much more rapidly than most. My last brett/sacch one i let go for 9 weeks and its got a ton of brett character. I co-pitched them though. Even my sours have gotten soured in 2-3months. I dont know how it happens, they got more sour than any of the beers their bugs came from

but yeah 3 weeks is my answer. I also like to use hevay bottles for anything wild (+220g weight). European stuff like Orval is best, but even stones bottles are noticeably more durable than the standard 12oz long necks

I have always thought it a waste of money to buy empty beer bottles, but some 12 oz bottles I bought for doing a wedding reception were much heavier than any commercial bottles I've had.

 

[Steady-Hopper]

Ive been going with 3 weeks. 2 is probably safe, its always been at FG, but I do 3 just to be sure

if you mix sacch and brett id go like 2 months or longer. My mixed fermentations and sours seem to have matured much more rapidly than most. My last brett/sacch one i let go for 9 weeks and its got a ton of brett character. I co-pitched them though. Even my sours have gotten soured in 2-3months. I dont know how it happens, they got more sour than any of the beers their bugs came from

but yeah 3 weeks is my answer. I also like to use hevay bottles for anything wild (+220g weight). European stuff like Orval is best, but even stones bottles are noticeably more durable than the standard 12oz long necks

So the 2-3 weeks if for a 100% Brett fermentation? Thanks for some insight.

 

[Calder]

A few weeks for all-brett beers.

18 months for brett secondary beers.

I find brett-C ferments clean if temps are below 85 F. I've gotten no yeast flavors below that temp. I split a batch between Brett-C and PacMan and couldn't tell the difference.

Ferment it at 85F, and it makes a great beer. I'm planning an English IPA recipe with it in a week, and will start off at 85F.

 

[Steady-Hopper]

A few weeks for all-brett beers.

18 months for brett secondary beers.

I find brett-C ferments clean if temps are below 85 F. I've gotten no yeast flavors below that temp. I split a batch between Brett-C and PacMan and couldn't tell the difference.

Ferment it at 85F, and it makes a great beer. I'm planning an English IPA recipe with it in a week, and will start off at 85F.

Why such a long wait for Brett secondary beers? I can understand if Brett is working in conjunction with Pedio or Lacto, but I'm talking Sacch primary + Brett secondary.

EDIT: I'm thinking of doing 5 gals of a blonde ale (1.050, 25ibus, mostly 2-row, some munich & wheat) and pitching US-05 on the whole batch. After fermentation with Sacch is done, bottle 2.5 gallons and rack the other 2.5 gallons to a secondary with some Brett in it. Could I pitch a single White Labs vial into the 2.5gals of post-sacch fermented beer or do I need to make a starter?

 

[m00ps]

white labs gives you a minuscule amount in their wild vials. They are intended to pitch in secondary, so itd work, but Id still make a starter. itll work faster. Like I said, Ive had good results in 2-3 months but that seems much faster than what most people do. Havent had anything close to a bottle bomb from any of them though, I guess its just for extended conditioning. 18 months is ridiculous though

 

[TheBigLebrewsk1]

I had a terrible experience bringing in Brett. It ruined 4 batches, I eventually charged our my hardware. It started with the WLP American farmhouse blend, after 5 weeks in the bottles I tested it and it was overwhelming with Brett, a few more weeks later I dumped every bottle, they gushed everywhere after opening.

 

[southdenverhoo]

I like to bottle all-Brett beers at 2 weeks but then let them condition at room temp for about 4-6 weeks. This means they really take no longer than a lager.

They are plenty "farmhouse" by then if not as funky as Brett/Sacch beers which btw I do by splitting the batch into a Brett batch and a Sacch batch and then combining after one week.

I bottle these when the combined batch is at the all-Brett historic (in my experience) FG, 1.002. (I use Inland Island Brett Barrel III). Believe it or not, this is usually at the end of the week after combination, 10 days max. But again I use a 4-6 week regimen after bottling. I do use heritage bottles vs longnecks as I think they are a little stronger re: max psi. I sometimes get saison DuPont levels of carbonation but not much more than that.

So I think my method is valid, not dangerous, and of course, quick. I mean I'm drinking very funky Brett saisons 6 weeks from brew day, not 6 months. (actually I start sampling at 2 weeks after bottling, ie 4 weeks from brew day, and they are pretty damn good) But YMMV.

 

[Calder]

I like to bottle all-Brett beers at 2 weeks but then let them condition at room temp for about 4-6 weeks. This means they really take no longer than a lager.

They are plenty "farmhouse" by then if not as funky as Brett/Sacch beers.

Your experience is a lot different than mine, and I've used a few Brett strains. Last night I had a couple of All-Brett Saisons (Brett-C fermented at 85 F) which I brewed in March, with no hint of "Farmhouse". Excellent beer. Same goes for the Brown I brewed in January.

Going to be starting some Brett-B today to use in a Belgian Pale Ale.

I really like using Brett as a primary yeast.