Recent content by MattHollingsworth

I caught a wild yeast about 3-4 years ago as well. First batch I did with it was 5 gallons of small beer. Figured I didn't wanna waste a brewing day, so went the small beer route from the batch I was already brewing that day. Like others, mine is very Belgian. But I found also that it...

If you don't already know all of this, this link shows the supposed sources of yeasts from Wyeast and White Labs. I like the Duvel and Westmalle strains myself. http://www.mrmalty.com/yeast.htm

Sounds in line with this yeast's behavior. Your beer attenuated 90%. Don't know that you can expect more out of this yeast. From a post of mine, 2 pages ago in this thread, my attenuation across 7 beers brewed with this yeast:

If a starter was made with the Brett C, it's not surprising at all. It should take some time to produce actual funk, but if it was pitched in a similar amount as the Hefe yeast, then it will be present. If I were to do this, I'd pitch a starter of the Hefe yeast and a vial of White Labs...

I've never seen a blowoff tube suck back into the beer after all these years of brewing. Might happen if you leave it on and then cold crash the beer. Never tried that myself. These days I don't have to use one very often as I generally ferment 25-27 liters in a 34 liter demijohn. I had...

Data points on attenuation with Brett Trois WLP644 from batches I've made: 1. Mashed at 153. Attenuation 89%. 2. Mashed at 152. Attenuation 90%. 3. Mashed at 153. Attenuation 85%. 4. Mashed at 153. Attenuation 81%. 5. Mashed at 154. Attenuation 84%. 6. Mashed at 153...

What BrewinHooligan wrote. I would also argue that it's not necessary to mash low to get high attenuation. This yeast will give high attenuation no matter the mash temp.

I had to take 7 years off when I lived in places where it wasn't possible to brew. And when my son was born, I took a few months off. That time when babies are so young is pretty exhausting. Like others have said, it's a hobby. Enjoy it, but without pressure. If you wanna take a...

Brett doesn't mind IBUs at all. Lacto does. From my understanding, Pedio is pretty okay with IBUs. That blend, WLP655, has all three. If you want it to sour, better to go easy on the IBUs, under 10 at least, IMHO. From Wild Brews, by Jeff Sparrow: From American Sour Beers, by Michael...

I have seen Brett produce diacetyl. Nothing like what you're writing about and not that set of bugs. I bottled a beer a year and a half ago, though, and added a vial of Yeast Bay Beersel Brettanomyces Blend at bottling. After about a week, it kicked up a bit of diacetyl. Nothing crazy, but...

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.

In my experience, Lacto doesn't really produce any nasty products that need cleaning up. While Brett can be used in a Berliner Weisse, it's not strictly necessary for cleanup. You may be referring to Pedio and Diacetyl production, though. Yeah?

Worth considering is that 677, Lactobacillus Delbrueckii, can very often not really do a good job of souring a beer. In my experience, it doesn't do much souring at all. In one of my beers, it didn't sour the beer AT ALL for more than a year and even at 18 months in it was very, very slightly...

Lacto does something to kill the head in a beer. From memory, it creates an enzyme that destroys the protein responsible for head formation, but not totally certain on the specifics of that without looking it up and I don't have time at the moment. Because you pitched straight onto the cake...

Yeah, what m00ps said. Brett generally won't form a pellicle that fast. It's hard to see through that condensation, but it looks like just normal krauesen. A pellicle will look a bit different. It won't have so many small bubbles and will form some rather large bubbles. And the bubbles...