Multiple strains of Brett in secondary

[brewmeister13]

I'm brewing a saison, already fermented out, and am looking to add both Brett Brux and Brett Lambicus to the secondary. I'm looking for Brux to be the more dominant of the Brett profiles with Lambicus to be subtlety in the back ground. How do I achieve this?

I plan to make starters of both so I can keep them active for further brews. So should I pitch more Brux than Lambicus or more Lambicus than Brux?

 

[TastyAdventure]

It's already fermented out, so not a lot of sugars for them to chew on. I would have Co-pitched the Brux with your sacch and pitched the Lambicus about 5-7 days after... But that's just me

 

[brewmeister13]

Not looking for too much Brett and I'm working from the base of my wife's favorite beer. It's more for drying it out and providing a background of complexity. The beer this is modeled after is from a local brewery here in Tucson, 1055. They fermented it out to 1.009 before stuffing it into two separate barrels, one with Brux and one with Lambicus. The Lambicus version finished at 1.006. Then they blended the two. Unfortunately, I only have one of the barrels and am not looking to make 60 gallons of this or I would have tossed it in there.

Anyways, as far as Brett goes, as I understand it, the lower the initial cell count the stronger the characteristics. Does this hold true when blending Bretts or would a larger pitch be the dominant strain.

 

[madscientist451]

At least you know what flavor profile you want. Many brewers just throw the brett in and see what they get.
Since you are looking for a specific flavor, I'd brew more of the base beer and mash high at 158 to produce more dextrins that the Brett will have available during a secondary fermentation. Primary ferment with a neutral ale yeast, then split the batch and pitch the two stains of brett (one in each of the split batches). Its going to take a while, but when they are done, do some test blending with the original beer and the two brett beers to get the flavor you want.
What was the mash temp of the first base beer?
You could also try to just split your saison and add the two brett strains and see what you get then blend them back.

 

[Calder]

Either split the beer and pitch a different brett into each and blend at bottling. Could make an interesting session trying to figure out the mix proportions.

OR, pitch the Brux a few months before the L, and hope for the best.

Either case, I would still pitch small amounts of the Brett, rather than large amounts.

 

[brewmeister13]

At least you know what flavor profile you want. Many brewers just throw the brett in and see what they get.
Since you are looking for a specific flavor, I'd brew more of the base beer and mash high at 158 to produce more dextrins that the Brett will have available during a secondary fermentation. Primary ferment with a neutral ale yeast, then split the batch and pitch the two stains of brett (one in each of the split batches). Its going to take a while, but when they are done, do some test blending with the original beer and the two brett beers to get the flavor you want.
What was the mash temp of the first base beer?
You could also try to just split your saison and add the two brett strains and see what you get then blend them back.

My mash temp was set to 152 on my PID but in the RIMS tube it runs a little hotter (haven't quite dialed it in), but I did hit my target final gravity, 1.009. Which was what 1055 hit before pitching their Bretts.

Either split the beer and pitch a different brett into each and blend at bottling. Could make an interesting session trying to figure out the mix proportions.

OR, pitch the Brux a few months before the L, and hope for the best.

Either case, I would still pitch small amounts of the Brett, rather than large amounts.

Looks like I may rebrew the beer and pitch the other Brett in it when ready. Sounds like not many people pitch multiple Brett strains due to the unknown nature of the results. Thanks guys.

 

[TastyAdventure]

I've heard of people throwing all kinds of dregs into batches...
I once took 1 gallon off of a Batch I did and intentionally over pitched a lot of a Belgian strain and a LOT of 3 different kinds of Brett. I bottled after 3 months as it was sour and awesome. There was no lacto or anything

 

[ArcLight]

Make 2 starters, one for each strain of Brux, and add more of the kind you want to be dominant.
This assumes they are co-equal in terms of competition. If one will out compete the other you have have to add less or more, or add a second inoculation of one strain after some time.


The other thing I would have suggested (too late now) is to try some mini batches first, with varying ratios.
75% vs 25%,
50% - 50%,
50% - 50% with additional Brew Brux added after a few days?