Bottling with Brett

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gotsumbeers

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Hi. I'm a very green noob with Brett. I want to batch condition then bottle a Saison I have with the dregs from Saison Rue. My Saison is down to 1.006. Am I safe? How low does a brew need to go before you need to add priming sugar? Does batch conditioning and bottling from a keg negate the worries of bottle bombs?
Thanks.
 
Funny you ask this question...I had a similar issue with my brett saison not knowing when to bottle or the safest way. My sasion was at like 1.002 and stayed there for about 2 weeks. I figured all done so I bottled w/3oz priming sugar and some s-04 yeast as I "thought" NO way is there anything left after the ageing was complete. Well long story short... no bottle bombs but way over carbed and I wouldn't call them gushers but it definitely overflows when I open a bottle. Just remember that Brett will eat almost anything/everything given enough time. Ageing in the keg may alleviate some of the issues I would recommend putting a spunding valve if you go the keg route. If you can rack over to another keg after and force carb then use a beer gun just bottle off of that then I really think you would be safe.
 
No, unless you account for some additional attenuation from the Brett in the bottle. So being at 1.006 I would make the assumption that there will be an additional 4-5 gravity points of further bottle refermentation with the brett. You can bottle now and figure that carb contribution into your priming calculation. Only thing is that it may take 4 months or so to become fully carbed. Also there is the slight chance you will end up on the high or low side because or the varibles. So if you can be happy with a range for a carb and be patient, then go ahead and bottle. Otherwise if just using regular bottles, you certainly risk blown bottles. That is unless you have brewed this recipe a number of times and it is fairly predictable.

Your other option is to take enough wort for three or four gravity samples. Then get it to like 85f and do a forced ferment almost to sort of predict your final gravity before the rest of the beer gets there. That will take about a month at least though.
 
No, unless you account for some additional attenuation from the Brett in the bottle. So being at 1.006 I would make the assumption that there will be an additional 4-5 gravity points of further bottle refermentation with the brett. You can bottle now and figure that carb contribution into your priming calculation. Only thing is that it may take 4 months or so to become fully carbed. Also there is the slight chance you will end up on the high or low side because or the varibles. So if you can be happy with a range for a carb and be patient, then go ahead and bottle. Otherwise if just using regular bottles, you certainly risk blown bottles. That is unless you have brewed this recipe a number of times and it is fairly predictable.

Your other option is to take enough wort for three or four gravity samples. Then get it to like 85f and do a forced ferment almost to sort of predict your final gravity before the rest of the beer gets there. That will take about a month at least though.

This is something I am interested in since I saw Mitch Steels presentation on his new book a couple weeks ago.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1938469003/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

His explanation (if I remember it correctly) of why those IPAs were so "effer-vec-ent" was the secondary fermentation in the casks by the Brett...

He also said that seven different yeast strains were involved in the Burton Yeast.

I am thinking about making my own Burton Ale Yeast combination using a few different English yeasts together and when the IPA goes into the Keg (after a Month) add a very small amount of priming suger just to seal the keg and some Brett and see if it will carbonate on it's own...

DPB
 
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Well. I was a bit mistaken, and suspect, of my gravity reading. I took another sample, shook the hell out of it and let it sit overnight. It is 1.002.

If I grow up a pitch for bottling at 1.002 is this enough sugar left to carb the beer?
 
I'll say it again for emphasis my brett saision which I thought was fiished at 1.002 and I only added 3 oz of priming sugar to 5.5 gallons which added a negligible amount of points was extrememly over carbonated. Now that being said I don't know when to tell you to bottle.... or when it's safe. Hell I wouldn't of had over carbed beer if I knew the answer. the only bit of advice I can give that may be helpful is to go through the motions of adding your priming sugar and bottle then ......... every week or 2 taste one and check the level of carbonation once it has been reached heat pasturize the rest o the bottles. it's a tedious work but you will not have to be worried about over carbed beer anymore. There are a lot threads on how to do this here on HBT If your interested in the technique.
 
Thanks Aschecte. I'll definitely be checking out more of these threads. I appreciate your experience. I plan on bottling heavy 750ml bottles but I do not plan, or have the means to, on corking them. I'm just amazed that 1.002 beer can over carb.
 
remember that 1.000 doesn't mean there's nothing left in there, since density decreases as ethanol percentage rises. so your beer can get below 1.000. ciders regularly go down around 0.990. just something to bear in mind
 
1.002 is not enough to carb the beer on its own. I did a beer finished at 1.009 I primed for 2.5vol and let the Brett do its thing. It is sitting at 1.005 now in the bottles. It was sort of an orval clone hence the high carb. I say bottle and target a more conservative level for a saison. Something like 2.7-2.8 should be good and give you some upward wiggle room for the brett. I hate tying up a fermentors for a Brett saison I figure I can get close on some educated assumptions and bottle early rather than but age for 7 months.
 

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