Question about Saison Brett

[scottyg354]

Hey Guys,

I brewed a Saison Brett (Brett B) back on May 5. Its been in the primary now for roughly 5 months. I added the Brett after my initial Saison yeast was nearly finished (ramped it up to 85 degrees slowly, then let it hit about 70 before adding Brett). I am wondering if the 5 months is a sufficient amount of time in the primary and if it is okay to keg this beer. I am asking because recently over the past few weeks there has been a white bubbly film forming on top of the brew and I am wondering if that is the brett just beginning to do its thing. Should I transfer to the keg and secondary in that for another month or so? Or do you think this is good to go.

 

[moti_mo]

The thin white film is a pellicle and just means that there is some oxygen in the head space of your fermenter, which induces Brett to form a film on top of the beer. It doesn't mean the brett is just starting to do its thing, as it should have been doing that for the whole time now.

Taste and gravity readings are your only guide now, and since you're kegging, the former is the main thing I'd worry about. Brett can chew on plenty of things to produce its recognized flavors even without starting on a beer with a high final gravity. Brett can also continue to ferment in the bottle, so bottling at too high of a final gravity can produce bottle bombs. However, since you're kegging, you can really just go by taste/mouthfeel, and really just keg when you're happy with where the beer is at.

I've had brett secondaries taste great after 2 months, and I've had some that needed 6 months. All depends on the flavor profile you're going for. And I would leave it on the brett (personally) until I'm ready to keg. No need to secondary in the keg.