No Activity from Brett

[FrictionGnome]

I pitched a vial of Brettanomyces Claussenii for a secondary fermentation in a Historical Type Porter I am trying. This was 11 days ago and I have seen no activity out of it. Any ideas on what could have happened and possibly how I can fix this if possible. Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[flyangler18]

11 days is way too soon to worry; Brett takes months, not days.

 

[PseudoChef]

11 days is way too soon to worry; Brett takes months, not days.

+1

You will see very little, if any, activity from pitching Brett as a secondary yeast.

 

[flyangler18]

As a point of reference, it took nigh 2 months before I saw the beginnings of a pellicle on my Old Ale that was inoculated with B. claussenii.

 

[Evan!]

+1, +1. I had the same concern when I pitched it into a 1.022 FG BDSA. No activity for 6 weeks, or so I thought. But then ol' man ******-o-Chef assuaged my concerns...and I tried a sample, and it was awesomely funked-up.

 

[flyangler18]

If you have minimal headspace in secondary, you may never see a pellicle at all.

 

[PseudoChef]

+1, +1. I had the same concern when I pitched it into a 1.022 FG BDSA. No activity for 6 weeks, or so I thought. But then ol' man ******-o-Chef assuaged my concerns...and I tried a sample, and it was awesomely funked-up.

That's PseuDoucheChef to you, sir.

 

[Tonedef131]

As a point of reference, it took nigh 2 months before I saw the beginnings of a pellicle on my Old Ale that was inoculated with B. claussenii.

Is that the strain they used in the Old Ale blend or are you talking about a different beer?

 

[flyangler18]

Is that the strain they used in the Old Ale blend or are you talking about a different beer?

Yep, that's the strain in 9097.

EDIT: Just checked my notes, pellicle formation was noticed around a month in secondary.

 

[Tonedef131]

Yep, that's the strain in 9097.

Good to know, I figured it was Brett C to begin with since that seems more English. Then I read somewhere that it was Brett B and I wasn't as excited anymore. I really should pull a sample from mine since it is going on 6 months old, but it is still rather active so I bet it's gonna be about a year before I end up carbing it.

 

[jacksonbrown]

How does Brett C work as a bottling yeast? Will it also take months?

 

[Edcculus]

How does Brett C work as a bottling yeast? Will it also take months?

I'd be VERY hesitant to use it as a bottling yeast. It would take a long time and be unpredictable. I've heard of people pitching the dregs of an Orval at bottling. In this case, there is so little brett and so little fermentation left, it won't cause bottle bombs. In any case, the primary yeast is still providing the carbonation.

 

[saq]

Brett certainly grows a lot slower, I did a nice experiment with a 100% brett C fermented beer that turned out very nice. It was done fermenting in about 6 weeks with very high attenuation and no pellicle was formed. I plan on more 100% brett beers in the future.

 

[FrictionGnome]

Thanks for the feedback from everyone. I wanted to just be clear by what I meant by no activity. I see a number of people talking about a pellicle forming this isn't what I was referring to with no activity. I mean my airlock has not bubbled once in 11 days. I am wondering if this is ok.

 

[Evan!]

Thanks for the feedback from everyone. I wanted to just be clear by what I meant by no activity. I see a number of people talking about a pellicle forming this isn't what I was referring to with no activity. I mean my airlock has not bubbled once in 11 days. I am wondering if this is ok.

My airlock hasn't bubbled from the brett either, but it's certainly working in there.

 

[FrictionGnome]

My airlock hasn't bubbled from the brett either, but it's certainly working in there.

Thanks. That puts my mind at ease.