Brett/Sacc timeframes and results?

[jivex5k]

I just read a blog post on a two week sour at themadfermentionist...I had no idea brett could finish so fast. I was always under the assumption that you need at least 6 months for the brett to do it's thing.

Well ****... I've loving my sour mash results as they are right now. I boil off the bugs then finish it with 05, never took a ph reading but it's pretty damn sour.

Anyways, I don't want bottle explosions and I want to try out some brett in these berliners I'm making. So does anyone have experience in say:

Brett only?
Brett + Sacc?
Brett in secondary after sacc is done?
Brett in secondary on fruit?

Just looking for some insight and trying to decide which method to go with. Thanks in advance!

 

[billl]

Not a brett expert by any stretch, but my experience is that brett will be mostly done pretty quickly and then slowly munch away the last few points over several months. I've never tried it with a pre-soured mash though, and I would suspect very low ph would impact that.

Personally, I'd go with brett+sacc and just monitor it over a couple months. Most of the interesting brett flavors come from its interaction with other yeast. It's actually pretty clean on its own.

 

[sweetcell]

I just read a blog post on a two week sour at themadfermentionist...I had no idea brett could finish so fast. I was always under the assumption that you need at least 6 months for the brett to do it's thing.

can you post a link to that article? i wouldn't generalize on the behavior of brett based on one article (even if it is by someone as knowledgeable as Mike). just because brett finished in 2 weeks, in this one case, doesn't mean it always will. was this a primary brett fermentation? if so, that's much different than using it in conjunction with sacch.

Anyways, I don't want bottle explosions and I want to try out some brett in these berliners I'm making.

using brett as a secondary yeast in a short time-frame requires a delicate hand... as Mike writes, "A drop of .003 is all you need for full carbonation, so adding Brett at bottling is dangerous for all but the driest beers." what is the pre-brett FG of your berliner(s)?

 

[jivex5k]

can you post a link to that article? i wouldn't generalize on the behavior of brett based on one article (even if it is by someone as knowledgeable as Mike). just because brett finished in 2 weeks, in this one case, doesn't mean it always will. was this a primary brett fermentation? if so, that's much different than using it in conjunction with sacch.



using brett as a secondary yeast in a short time-frame requires a delicate hand... as Mike writes, "A drop of .003 is all you need for full carbonation, so adding Brett at bottling is dangerous for all but the driest beers." what is the pre-brett FG of your berliner(s)?

High, was 1.014 twice. Third time it was 1.016. Used WB-06, US-05, and Nottingham respectively. I'd like to use 05 every time...for some reason my LHBS never has it. I chalk it up to the low ph of the wort, and the beers tasted great the first two times, third one is on fruit and tasted great right before transfer.

The article was talking about 100% brett fermentations finishing fast. I wouldn't be doing brett in a secondary with any intention of quickly bottling. It would be 100% brett fermentation after boiling off the lacto with the intention of bottling after 2 weeks. Brett Trois seems to be the brett of choice for this but I don't like pineapple. I want to try it with brux, though it may take longer. If the FG isn't holding steady for at least 3 days around 1.004 - 1.006 after 2 weeks then I would let it continue to ferment instead of bottling.

http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2013/11/sour-experiment-1-two-week-sour.html