Seeking advice on Brettanomyces

[Climb]

Hello HomebrewTalk:

I am seeking some advice pertaining to using Brettanomyces, which I have no experience with. I have a barleywine that I brewed in March, 2016 that didn’t fully carbonate in the bottle and tastes too sweet. It went from an OG of 1.098 to a FG of 1.018 with WLP013 (London Ale). This is 80% apparent attenuation and 10.5% ABV using the standard formula or 11.5% using the alternate formula which is more accurate with high gravities. WLP013 lists an apparent attenuation range from 67% to 75% and an alcohol tolerance of ≤ 12% ABV. So it looks like WLP013 did it’s job, but the beer was not carbonated (none of the several bottles I tried) and was way to sweet.

In October, 2016, in an attempt to reduce the sweetness and to get it to carbonate, I emptied all of the remaining bottles back into the bottling bucket and pitched WLP090 (San Diego Super Yeast) with some additional fermentable sugar in boiled then cooled water, thinking that WLP013 might have hit its alcohol limit. WLP090 didn’t help with the carbonation problem nor reduce the sweetness. My notes don’t indicate the approximate cell count of WLP090 that was pitched, but knowing me I am sure I made a suitable sized starter. My notes show that the FG didn’t change; still at 1.018, so the WLP090 must have converted all of the added sugar. Unfortunately I didn’t take a gravity reading after adding the sugar. The barleywine has been sitting in bottles ever since; still too sweet and not carbonated. I assume that this ale has a ton of unfermentable sugars/dextrins and thus my interest in using Brettanomyces to help further reduce the sweetness and to add some carbonation. I just don’t have the heart to toss this batch and am thinking that this might be a good opportunity for me to gain some experience with Brettanomyces.

I enjoy some barnyard funk, but I am not a big sour fan. For any of you who have experience with Brettanomyces, what would you recommend I do in an attempt to save this batch? Which Bret would you suggest and why? Any specific details on how to pitch it; does it need oxygen, nutrients? My thought is to leave this in a carboy to let the Brettanomyces do it’s thing for about a year or I could package it in heavy duty belgian bottles and hope I am not making bottle bombs. If it’s not drinkable after that, then to shed my final tear and show it the drain.

Other ancillary details …
Batch Size - 10 gallons
Fermentables
63.3% Pale Malt
14.1% DME
9.4% Crystal 40
7.0% White Wheat
4.4% Dark Molasses
1.2% Special Roast, 50 SRM
0.6% Chocolate, 350 SRM
SRM target - 19.5
Total IBU - 93.7
BU:GU - 0.847
Oxygenation - vigorous shaking only, I don’t have any supplemental oxygen. I know, I should!
Need 805.3 billion cells of WLP013
Made a starter and pitched ~843.0 billion cells of WLP013

 

[Climb]

Bump. Any comments?

 

[huckdavidson]

A six-year-old beer with little to no carbonation that has sat in bottles and carboys may also suffer from oxidation. Oxidation may be giving it that sweet character.

Pitching Brett will most likely solve the attenuation issue bringing the beer <= 1.010 over the course of time (but may not solve the oxidation issue). There should be no need for oxygen or nutrients. Oxygen exposure will most likely produce a pellicle and Brett will metabolize dead yeast contributing flavor compounds. The strain of Brett used will give a "cherry" or "horse blanket" character and sourness in the beer. Some strains will give a "pineapple" character but will also form a pellicle in the fermenter and even in the bottle. Making a starter won't necessarily speed up the Brett fermentation. Leaving the new fermentation in a carboy for one year will definitely give the Brett enough time to attenuate and packaging in Belgian bottles with a bottling yeast like CBC-1 and priming sugar will ensure carbonation. Ensure stable gravity for at least 2-3 months before packaging.

At this point you have nothing to lose by trying a Brett fermentation and if you work up the courage or have a taste for tartness - a pedio bacteria pitched several months after the brett will help with attenutation while contributing a complex sourness.

 

[Climb]

@huckdavidson - Thanks for your comments above. Based on that and other reading I have done, It appears that I want to use Brettanomyces Bruxellensis. I will give that a shot.

 

[Miraculix]

A beer that went from 1.098 to 1.018 has no attenuation issues. If the beer tastes too sweet it's because of a lack of hops, oxidation or personal taste. Could also be a combination of any of these factors.

Did you add carbonation sugar to the bottles before closing them?

 

[Climb]

Yes. I added additional fermentable sugar each time before bottling. Both times it did not carbonate, which is one of the conundrums.