WLP650 Brettanomyces Bruxellensis - Help

[coldrain]

I am making an Orval clone and my primary is finished fermenting and ready to rack to secondary and add the WL 650. Last week I made a 1.5L starter for the WL 650 at 1.040 and had on a stir plate at 70F for 7 days. Nothing has happend with starter and gravity is still at 1.040 so I assumed I had a bad yeast vile and dumped it. Purchased another vile of 650 from different shop made same starter and after 3 days still nothing. Am I doing something wrong? I have been brewing for over 10 years and made many starters even some with Brett but never had this problem.

 

[CorporateHippie]

I am making an Orval clone and my primary is finished fermenting and ready to rack to secondary and add the WL 650. Last week I made a 1.5L starter for the WL 650 at 1.040 and had on a stir plate at 70F for 7 days. Nothing has happend with starter and gravity is still at 1.040 so I assumed I had a bad yeast vile and dumped it. Purchased another vile of 650 from different shop made same starter and after 3 days still nothing. Am I doing something wrong? I have been brewing for over 10 years and made many starters even some with Brett but never had this problem.

Same thing happened to me with Brett B. starter I took it off the plate and put it on a back warming pad I have (heating pad) Warmed it up and it was going good Within 12 hours

 

[secondbase]

My experience with that strain is that it is about the slowest moving brett that I've used, especially at normal ale temps. Give it some time or warm it up (close to 80º if you can) if you're in a hurry. The cell counts are very low so it may take a little TLC to revive it.

 

[coldrain]

Thanks for the replies, I thought about the temp but I guess 70 might be to low. I just put the stir plate setup on a warming pad and topped it with an inverted 7 gallon bucket. I will try for 80-85F and see if it helps.

 

[burninator]

Out of curiosity, what's the purpose of a large starter for a brett you're putting into secondary? Seems like you'd want to underpitch that and avoid introducing excess oxygen to your already fermented beer.

 

[dcHokie]

Out of curiosity, what's the purpose of a large starter for a brett you're putting into secondary? Seems like you'd want to underpitch that and avoid introducing excess oxygen to your already fermented beer.

Similar thought here. A small portion of that vial in secondary should get you the desired results. Or just dregs of a single bottle of Orval.

 

[MattHollingsworth]

What they said. Skip the starter and just pitch the vial straight into the fermenter. Then be patient and wait a few months. And don't worry. Brett is very hearty, very very strong. I've never once encountered dead Brett from White Labs, Wyeast or Yeast Bay. Not once.

 

[coldrain]

I left it at 85F all night and this morning it is going like crazy so the temp does make a big difference. I wanted a starter because my orval clone batch is 10 gallons and I also wanted to reserve some to grow up for other projects like a brett saison. Thanks for all the input.

 

[sweetcell]

Last week I made a 1.5L starter for the WL 650 at 1.040 and had on a stir plate at 70F for 7 days. Nothing has happend with starter and gravity is still at 1.040

Purchased another vile of 650 from different shop made same starter and after 3 days still nothing.

brett can take a week or more to become active in a starter. it is much slower than sacch. i wouldn't start panicking until after 10 days or so.