Secondary fermentation question(s)

[Spelaeus]

Planning my second batch and I've just got a couple questions about secondary fermentation. The beer is an offbeat saison/farmhouse ale that's meant to taste sort of how autumn smells. Lightly smoked and I'll be adding apple cider and a fresh pear puree, fermented with the WLP 670 American Farmhouse Blend. Having never done a fruit beer before, I was just wondering about the necessity of a secondary vessel. I'll certainly be adding the fruit after primary fermentation ceases so as to preserve the fruit flavors, but I'm uncertain if it would be better practice to just add everything in the original fermentation bucket or to rack onto the fruit in a second bucket (the puree will be held in a mesh bag to prevent solids from getting into the beer, and I am NOT going to deal with that and the neck of a carboy).

Otherwise, since this is a partial brett beer, I do expect it will need some time. Would it generally be better at this point to bulk age in a secondary vessel (a glass carboy this time) or to just bottle age once the FG holds steady after the fruit addition? I kind of like the idea of being able to taste as the brett character develops in individual bottles, but I'm not sure if there's anything to be gained by bulk aging aside from maybe clarity.

 

[billl]

That is a pretty adventurous second batch.

You want the beer and any fruit to ferment fully before you try to bottle. With brett, that will be at least a couple months. You'll want to bulk age at least that long before bottling.

 

[Spelaeus]

Thanks for the response. Yeah, I'm realizing now just how long this beer might take to reach a stable gravity with a saccharomyces/brett fermentation PLUS a secondary fermentation from the fruit. I've decided to put it on hold for now for something that might ferment a bit faster, doing a 100% Brett trois Belgian golden strong ale with some raspberries and nelson sauvin (not that it will remain golden, but... oh well). The response is still very much appreciated, though.

And yeah, I started brewing after hanging around a local brewery for a while so I felt a bit more comfortable with the process and drafting recipes than I might have otherwise. First batch was an imperial oatmeal stout with cocoa nibs, cinnamon, vanilla beans, and ancho peppers that turned out very well.

 

[jimpdx]

First batch was an imperial oatmeal stout with cocoa nibs, cinnamon, vanilla beans, and ancho peppers that turned out very well.

Hunapocalypse! I love that combo (as you know from my other thread). Sweet and spicy is fantastic. We have an event this weekend in Portland (not Oregon Brewers Fest) but the "Fire and Brimstone" tasting of smoked and spicy beers. I had "Blazing Wildfire" from Agrarian Ales here in Eugene, Oregon. It was house-smoked chilies and malt aged on Rye Whiskey barrels. Damn it was amazing. Could you share your grain bill on your first batch? I'm planning out another dark complex beer later this year.

 

[Spelaeus]

Hunapocalypse! I love that combo (as you know from my other thread). Sweet and spicy is fantastic. We have an event this weekend in Portland (not Oregon Brewers Fest) but the "Fire and Brimstone" tasting of smoked and spicy beers. I had "Blazing Wildfire" from Agrarian Ales here in Eugene, Oregon. It was house-smoked chilies and malt aged on Rye Whiskey barrels. Damn it was amazing. Could you share your grain bill on your first batch? I'm planning out another dark complex beer later this year.

This is more or less correct: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f68/mexican-hot-chocolate-imperial-stout-483325/. I had to make some swaps from the original recipe I'd drafted to use what was in stock at the LHBS at the time, so that recipe was created after the fact from memory to reflect what actually went into the beer. Should be accurate within about an ounce, though. It's really just the crystal malt quantities that might be off by an ounce. Otherwise, there were some first-brew errors that led to this being a slightly smaller beer than expected (But still plenty big, 1.095 OG). And the amber DME is just there since I was using a little to get the yeast going but figured I might as well use it all. Cheers.