Controlling Brettanomyces flavours w/ brewing techniques

[dantheman13]

After reading OldSock's experiments with fast sours I've been voraciously researching (brettanomycesproject.com, sciencebrewer.com, mistakebrewing.com etc) and I hope I'm nearing a level of understanding that will help me brew a decent 'fast sour.' I'm trying to achieve both sourness, and some brettanomyces funk in a relatively short time.

There is a lot of information out there, and I've tried to consolidate what I've learnt into the following method. I invite all feedback as I try to refine my understanding.

I plan to use 30% rolled or flaked wheat (for starches), a ferulic acid rest (30 mins at 44C) and saccharification at 66C before mashout.

The majority of the wort will be boiled as usual and pitched with Wyeast 3068 @ 20C (a Pof+ yeast that can convert the ferulic acid to 4-vinylphenol & 4-vinylguaiacol).

The rest of the wort (about 20%) will be pasteurised, then soured with lactobacillus @ 44C for 2-3 days (or as required to achieved the desired pH) in an oxygen purged vessel.
I'll pasteurise the soured wort, before adding to the majority of the wort after primary fermentation has finished.

I'll then pitch brettanomyces @ ambient 20~22C (from a starter of Petrus Pale Ale and Lindemans Cuvee Rene Gueze) in a sealed fermenter to limit oxygen.

The brett will be pitched at ale pitching rates to encourage cell growth in the low sugar/high starch environment, and I hope that they'll have the right conditions to convert the 4-vinylphenol & 4-vinylguaiacol to the classic brett compounds of 4-ethylphenol (bandaids, stables) & 4-ethylguaiacol (smoky, spicy) in a relatively short period of time (2 months maximum).

Thoughts/feedback?

Cool experiment! What is the thinking behind heat pasteurizing the soured wort?

 

[metic]

Sounds like an interesting experiment, I'll be curious to hear the results! I have a couple of questions.

Why do you think that pitching the brett at ale pitching rates will encourage growth? And what do you mean by ale pitching rates, I guess? Are you going to pitch relative to the amount of gravity points left after fermentation? Or according to the O.G? Either way, I wonder if pitching fewer cells wouldn't be more likely to encourage growth. Pitching at ale rates for a secondary fermentation seems like pitching a lot of cells. (But I'm also unclear on the extent to which brettanomyces flavour contribution in secondary is related to growth/reproduction?)

Also, if you're deliberately creating a dextrinous/starchy wort, there's no reason to think the brett will be done fermenting it in just two months, even if the beer has started to taste funky. So if you're looking to turn this around quickly, you would probably have to keg rather than bottle condition, or at least store the beers cold to stop further fermentation.

One last thing to keep in mind: even if the beer is both sour and funky after two months, there's no guarantee that these flavours will complement each other in a way that's pleasant. Its pretty easy to brew a beer that gets sour and/or funky quickly---a lot of the waiting is for these flavours to meld/mature, and if they were created too quickly they might end up getting more unbalanced over time as the phenols increase, rather than blending. Then again, I don't really like beers in which the more phenolic character from brett is dominant, but your palette may be different!

 

[trousersausage]

Great feedback guys. I certainly don't have all the answers, but I'll try to respond.

@dantheman13

I'm souring the wort with lactobacillus purely for the lactic acid. Once an appropriate level is achieved I'll pasteurise to lock in that level of sourness. Also, I'll probably inoculate with the lactobacillus found on raw grain, which could also introduce other organisms that I don't want in the final beer .

@metic
I had the same thoughts about pitching rates. I think that, as with saccharomyces cerevisiae, the growth phase is important with Brettanomyces. This study discusses the effects:
3.1 Impact of growth phase in the nonculturable B. bruxellensis population
and 4-ethylphenol production
http://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/10986/1/Fernandes_2013.pdf

In summary, cells produce 4-ethylphenol (4EP) at all stages, but when there is a long lag time (time between pitching and cell growth) there is a decrease in overall 4EP production. Cells in the exponential phase, as well as healthy stationary cells (after lag phase and growth phase) are effective producers of 4EP.

So it seems that pitching rate is important, and that it is important to create healthy cells that are adapted to their environment, just as with saccharomyces. When I mentioned ale pitching rates, I guess I mean relative to the gravity after primary fermentation. I use usually use
http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/
to determine my pitch rates.

In terms of the right conditions for growth, somewhere around 25C seems to be a good temperature (higher might be better, but that's pushing into unconventional territory), and I don't have enough experience with dextrinous/starchy worts, or Brett, to know if two months is enough time for fermentation, but and if I can optimise the conditions I'm certainly giving the yeast the best chance.

My thoughts are that traditional lambic fermentations take such a long time as the conditions for Brett aren't ideal at the outset, and it takes time for the (potentially) unhealthy Brett to produce the enzymes to produce 4EP & 4-ethylgluaiacol (4EG).

If I can optimise the conditions from the outset by
a) providing a starchy wort (which saccharomyces can't process, and will be available for the Brett after primary fermentation finishes)
b) providing an abundance of 4-vinylgluaiacol (4VG) & 4-vinylphenol (4VP) and relatively little ferulic acid (which inhibits Brettanomyces growth, and which weizen yeast converts to 4VG & 4VP)
c) providing hydrocinnamic acids (including ferulic) for the weizen yeast to convert by using an acid rest at 44C
d) providing oxygen to allow initial growth (but limiting oxygen thereafter)
e) keeping the temperature around 25C
f) keeping ethanols levels relatively mild (ethanol inhibits growth, with growth ceasing above 15% v/v)

I initially thought that pH played a big role, but unless the pH is <3.5 I think it makes little difference, which makes sense as (from memory) Orval isn't very acidic yet it has definite Brett characteristics.
http://www.researchgate.net/publica...n_red_wine_making/file/79e4151278ac1f0594.pdf
Effect of free SO2 at pH 3.5 on the conversion of p-coumaric acid into 4-ethylphenol
In summary, low pH = higher levels of SO2 which increase the inhibitory effects of benzoic and sorbic acids.

I've also thought about beers that are 100% Brett fermented and why they don't end up especially phenolic. I'm guessing its because Brett isn't effective at converting hydrocinnamic acids (including ferulic) into 4VG & 4VP, but I don't have the science to back that up.

As you point out, whether this turns out pleasant or not is a whole other story. Science aids brewing, but in the end it's your tastebuds that decide!

 

[metic]

Nice, looks like you've done your research. I'm looking forward to reading those papers tomorrow.

I guess one thing I meant to be saying is that you're focusing a lot on the production of phenols, and that isn't the only thing people look for from Brett---in fact, some people try to minimize them (e.g Chad Yakobson). So you want to be sure that those are the flavours you want, or at any rate want to maximize.

 

[Failing_Ales]

you are taking steps to have lacto-produced acidity without leaving live bacteria, but then plan to pitch a mixed culture that will include brett, lacto, and pedio? Or do you mean that you will pitch a brett isolate from cuvée rene?


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[trousersausage]

@Failing_Ales

I'd kind of glossed over the fact that bottle dregs are a mixed culture. You're right, I will be introducing pedio and lacto (again) and I could do some research into the effects they will have. I doubt they'll have a great effect in a short period of time as I expect Brett to be the dominant organism, but it's definitely something to look into.
As for not leaving live lacto bacteria, the sour portion of the wort will have a lot of healthy, active lacto that I don't particulary want working on the majority of the wort. I think that introducing a small amount of lacto from a mixed culture will have a relatively small impact (especially in the presence of dominant Brett) compared to introducing a large amount of pure lacto (and possibly acetobacter).

 

[trousersausage]

For anyone that is interested...

 

[trousersausage]

After more research I'll admit that I underestimated the contribution of the lactic acid bacteria lactobacillus and pediococcus in beer flavour. I don't have a science background, but I'm enjoying learning about the biological processes that happen in beer and thanks to access to academic databases, I'm able to access some interesting articles.

 

[trousersausage]

In summary, whilst Brettanomyces is very effective at producing esters and phenols, lactic acid bacteria also contribute these compounds and favoured their growth conditions are similar: pH<7, temperature>20C, low oxygen environment.
I haven't considered any of this when I pitched bottle dregs in favour of a pure Brett strain, but in light of the positive effects these bacteria can have, I'm glad I did.

 

[loftybrewer]

OK just spitballing here, but reading few lines of that article made me think of...Chardonnay. Why do you ask? Great question! Well, Chardonnay traditionally undergoes a malolactic fermentation, during which lactic acid is transformed into - you guessed it, malolactic acid, which is generally reported as being much less sour in taste. Often you will get notes of pear, apple, peach, pineapple, grapefruit, melon, etc. Sound like the tropical esters that folks like Chad and sausagepants are working for? Well, that last article mentioned that malolactic fermentation results in an alteration of the ester profile.

"Researchers observed increases in ethyl ester concentration in wine following malolactic fermentation, including ethyl acetate, ethyl hexanoate, ethyl lactate, and ethyl octanoate, as well as decreases in some esters...Changes in ester concentration following malolactic fermentation may either enhance or degrade wine quality, depending on the ester metabolized."

It's not specific. However, perhaps messing with the lactic acid production and then doing a malolactic fermentation (softening the sourness) might set the stage for certain brett strains to do some interesting things? Also, Chardonnay is traditionally aged in oak. Maybe I'm not making sense but I see some parallels between Chardonnay and mouth-explosion brett beers all of us funkmeisters would love to create. Just a thought

 

[metic]

Interesting, but I'm a bit confused: I thought malolactic fermentation transformed malic acid into lactic acid? So you would want to produce a wort high in malic acid rather than lactic acid. In fact, the reason for the increase in those esters might just be that there is now more lactic acid present to be a precursor to them, which should be there anyway in a sour beer?

 

[BzurkoBrews]

That's what I thought too.


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[dantheman13]

Interesting, but I'm a bit confused: I thought malolactic fermentation transformed malic acid into lactic acid? So you would want to produce a wort high in malic acid rather than lactic acid. In fact, the reason for the increase in those esters might just be that there is now more lactic acid present to be a precursor to them, which should be there anyway in a sour beer?

That's what good old Wikipedia says: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malolactic_fermentation

I think Lofty accidentally got that backwards (or Wikipedia is wrong).

 

[Oldsock]

OK just spitballing here, but reading few lines of that article made me think of...Chardonnay. Why do you ask? Great question! Well, Chardonnay traditionally undergoes a malolactic fermentation, during which lactic acid is transformed into - you guessed it, malolactic acid, which is generally reported as being much less sour in taste.

Sounds like you were guessing. Malolactic fermentation turns malic acid (contributed by grapes, apples, and several other fruits) into lactic acid. Lactic acid is actually the "softer" acid compared to malic. In wines an Oenococcus oeni culture is pitched with completes the malolactic fermentation even with high alcohol and low pH. However, the same type of fermentation can be done by many of the strains of lactic acid bacteria already found in sour beer (if you are adding malic-acid containing fruit).

 

[loftybrewer]

You're right, that was all based off of my assumption that malolactic went the other way 'round. No point in adding wlp675 to my brett beers. However, if that conversion can set the stage for brett to go juicy-fruit wild, then I for one will be requesting a couple gallons of wine varietal grape juice from local wineries this harvest season for my brett beers!

 

[trousersausage]

@oldsock

any thoughts on the 4VG -> 4EG pathway that I described by fermentation with a wheat yeast then brett?

anything to add regarding the flavour development and ideal conditions for Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB), especially pedio?

 

[Oldsock]

@oldsock

any thoughts on the 4VG -> 4EG pathway that I described by fermentation with a wheat yeast then brett?

anything to add regarding the flavour development and ideal conditions for Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB), especially pedio?

It does seem that fermenting with a phenolic primary yeast increases the funky character of the finished beer. The only issue is that esters/phenols aren't a 100% thing, so likely you still have a beer with some banana and clove even after extended aging, which you may or may not want.

Pedio prefers low oxygen. I don't buy that either plays a huge role in flavor development on their own given the character of 100% Lacto and Lacto/Sacch beers I've brewed and tasted. It is more likely that the pH lowering and lactic acid they supply make for more interesting character from the Brett. Chad Yakobson did some interesting work on the effect of pH on ester production, it helps some and hurts others.

 

[trousersausage]

Let the experimenting begin.

 

[unclebrazzie]

Alright, let's do this.
I have a batch of seriously offensive Gose. 2/3 wheat malt, 1/3 pilsnermalt with just a splash of acidulated malt.
The wort was intentionally soured before boiling by pitching with a bottle of geuze and letting it go its course for 36hours in a hot room (approx 25° to 30° C). That proved too cold: I got a massive stinkbomb of butyric acid which I boiled (stunk up the place something fierce) and is now nearing the end of primary fermentation (Mauribrew 514). Post-boil, the sell had dissipated (read: leeched into my house) and the brew tasted quite okay.
Now with primary almost ended, the butyric acid is coming back into the mix. Not pleasant.

Reading all the above, combined wit various other sources of input, it would seem that my last hope is Bretts, which might be able to turn the bileous butyric acid into more savoury butyrate esters.
So I'm going to rack to secondary sometime soon, pitch with a pack of WLP644 (Brett brux) and leave things in the cellar for a few months. Should be stressfull enough for them to not try anything orthodox and munch on all those juicy by-products.

I will of course report back as soon as I've learned anything from this, other than "butyric acid in beer = dump it".

 

[JF_HBrews]

You're right, that was all based off of my assumption that malolactic went the other way 'round. No point in adding wlp675 to my brett beers. However, if that conversion can set the stage for brett to go juicy-fruit wild, then I for one will be requesting a couple gallons of wine varietal grape juice from local wineries this harvest season for my brett beers!

I'm confused, why the grape juice? Are you expecting spontaneous/wild maloactic fermentation? If not, wouldn't any sugary fruit do?

 

[unclebrazzie]

Follow-up in case anyone's interested.

I pitched in secondary with a pack of Bretts four weeks ago, which formed a nice pellicle after about a week. Room temp, which in this seasons runs between 20 and 25 C.
Four weeks after pitching, it seems like the Bretts are making short work with the butyrate: while the bileous puke smell is still present, it's gradually turning into something resembling ripe pineapple with a lot of fizz. Butyrate esters, apparently.

I'm leaving this baby to stew some more before I take a gravity reading, and a much dreaded taste.

 

[unclebrazzie]

Following up:

sampled yesterday. The Bretts have muched their way through quite a bit of the residual sugars, as well as a hefty dose of the butyrate. Whilst still decidedly reeky, it's turned more cheesy than vomity now, and the Brets are beginning to display their signature barnyard aromas.

Together with the coriander and the salt, the Brett-tempered butyrate is turning into a really weird, but interesting brew. So far, I seem to be the only one able to get past the reek, but I'm sure, with more time, the Bretts will tame this beast

 

[Spelaeus]

Following up:

sampled yesterday. The Bretts have muched their way through quite a bit of the residual sugars, as well as a hefty dose of the butyrate. Whilst still decidedly reeky, it's turned more cheesy than vomity now, and the Brets are beginning to display their signature barnyard aromas.

Together with the coriander and the salt, the Brett-tempered butyrate is turning into a really weird, but interesting brew. So far, I seem to be the only one able to get past the reek, but I'm sure, with more time, the Bretts will tame this beast

Really interesting, thanks for providing the follow-up. Good to know that there MAY be a method for rendering Clostridium infested beer drinkable.

 

[unclebrazzie]

Thx. I should really stress here that "drinkable" become a very subjective term at this stage

While I found the beer "drinkable-bordering-on-the-very-weirdly-off-putting", my wife made a very sour face when she took a sniff. The kids refer to the beer as "vomit-and-pigsty-brew" by now.

I think the smell is the major detractor from the beer's overall enjoyability by now. Sure, it's got some Brett-funk already, but as long as the butyrate doesn't get down below threshold concentration, no one in their right mind is gonna want to drink it. Even so, it's never going to be everybody's favourite beer, if anyone's at all.

 

[Sam_B]

I'm doing a very similar experiment. I did a sour mash that ended up extremely butyric and ended up pitching some brett, hoping for the best with some conversion of that nasty vomit aroma and flavor to some pleasant esters. Pitched the brett about a month ago and have not tasted the results yet. I plan to report back on that.

Process:
Mashed in as usual, reduced temp to 120F (using ice), pitched some whole grains, flushed with C02, covered, and let it sit in a hot attic for 48 hrs. The temp came down to 100F during that time. Tasted mash 36 hrs in. Medium-Strong vomit aroma. Firm sour flavor, with slight vomit in the background.
After 48 hrs, similar but perhaps slightly reduced vomit aroma, stronger sour flavor, slight vomit flavor.

Did a one hour boil, which stunk up the neighborhood and drew some deriding comments from some buddies. Chilled wort and pitched a clean ale yeast strain.

I was hoping that the boil and fermentation would drive off some of that unpleasant aroma, but after 5 days of fermentation there was still a strong vomit aroma and a perceived increase in vomit flavor.

I happened to have on hand a 1L flask of Brett B (WLP650) that I had been growing up for about 5 weeks beforehand, with the last feeding about a week before pitching. I pitched all of it and am currently hoping for the best, especially given that I've got 10 gallons of this stuff.

I'll report back on the progress. I'm interested in how long it will take to transform that butyric acid into ethyl butyrate, and how much of that conversion will actually end up taking place. It's encouraging to hear that unclebrazzie noticed a distinct difference in only 5 weeks.

 

[signpost]

This thread is awesome. Thanks for all the info, thoughts, and opinions. I'm just getting into sours and tying to understand how the stuff works. Thanks.

 

[unclebrazzie]

Update on the SpewBrew: it's been nearly three months since I pitched the Brett, and almost all the butyrate is gone. There's noticeble, but subjectively appreciable parmesan-tang to it, with lots of different weird smells surfacing from underneath that. Band-aids and something farmaceutical, pig sty and a lemony zip which somehow ties it all together. Flavour-wise it's becoming the singlemost complex/weird beer I've brewed so far, tasting like all the above and yet nothing like it. I'm leaving it in secondary until the Brett's all done, or until it looks like things are stabilising.
But even at this stage, I can verify that yes, Brett clears up butyrate and turns it into "something more palatable". It takes time, but then, it's Bretts, innit? :fro:

 

[Oldsock]

Finally wrote up an experiment I started a few months ago. Looking at the difference between the same Brett strain in a high 4VG wort (ferulic acid rest and Belgian ale) and low 4VG wort (single infusion and English ale). Results in a couple months!

http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2014/09/phenols-and-brett-fruity-and-funky.html

 

[metic]

I have a question people here might be able to help with.

From reading Chad's research, I get that brettanomyces produces a vinyl phenol reductase, which means it can convert 4-vinyl derivative into 4-ethyl derivatives. So its taking phenols from the wort, and converting them into other phenols, right?

Is there any evidence that brettanomyces can do something similar with esters? Again, from Chad's research, I get that esterases produced by brettanomyces can take fatty acids in the wort and produce new esters. But can they also take existing esters, and convert them into different ones, as happens with the phenols?

 

[Oldsock]

I have a question people here might be able to help with.

From reading Chad's research, I get that brettanomyces produces a vinyl phenol reductase, which means it can convert 4-vinyl derivative into 4-ethyl derivatives. So its taking phenols from the wort, and converting them into other phenols, right?

Is there any evidence that brettanomyces can do something similar with esters? Again, from Chad's research, I get that esterases produced by brettanomyces can take fatty acids in the wort and produce new esters. But can they also take existing esters, and convert them into different ones, as happens with the phenols?

Esters require fatty acids. Brett can hydrolyze (split) existing esters into their component alcohol and acid. So I guess it is possible that for example Brett could hydrolyze isoamyl acetate (into isoamyl alcohol and acetic acid), then create ethyl acetate (with the acetic acid plus ethanol from the beer). However with a flavor threshold of 1.6ppm the loss of the isoamyl acetate will be much more significant than the tiny gain in ethyl acetate with its 33ppm flavor threshold.

However, Brett couldn't turn something like ethyl lactate into ethyl butyrate without a source of butyric acid though.

Hope that helps!

 

[metic]

Brilliant, thanks.

 

[Sam_B]

Following up:

sampled yesterday. The Bretts have muched their way through quite a bit of the residual sugars, as well as a hefty dose of the butyrate. Whilst still decidedly reeky, it's turned more cheesy than vomity now, and the Brets are beginning to display their signature barnyard aromas.

Together with the coriander and the salt, the Brett-tempered butyrate is turning into a really weird, but interesting brew. So far, I seem to be the only one able to get past the reek, but I'm sure, with more time, the Bretts will tame this beast

Just tasted my butyric sour mash experiment. It's been about 7 weeks since pitching the brett. Definitely a big difference, although its still not something I would really enjoy drinking at this point.

For me, the aroma is about 50% butyric, with the remainder being a combination of esters (decidedly pineapple-esque) and alcohol. Flavor-wise, I get a medium sourness (acidic) with a strong bile aftertaste (my mouth kinda tastes like I puked earlier). Minimal ester flavors, no detection of cheese or characteristic barnyard brett flavors.
A buddy of mine got a mostly fruity ester aroma, with butyric just in the background.

unclebrazzie- How much brett did you pitch, and what was the variety? In retrospect, I wonder if it would have been better for me to pitch less brett, encouraging more growth and therefore ester production. I ended up pitching a 1L "starter" of Brett B (WLP650) that I had been growing up and re-feeding for about a month.

 

[Sam_B]

oops. you said WLP644. got it

 

[unclebrazzie]

oops. you said WLP644. got it

In restrospect, I realise it was Wyeast5112. One full (and fresh "bag").

Also in retrospect, I realise you are probably right in that less = more where yeast-as-a-cleanup-agent is concerned. I guess it all depends on what you want to achieve: get rid of unwanted metabolites (such as butyrate) or convert said chemicals to something more desirable (such as butyrate esters in this case).

My understanding is that, in time, Brett will clean up most carbohydrate acids. Whether it will actually recycle them into something worthwhile is another matter.

 

[FatsSchindee]

Hey all, gonna give Brett a try for the first time, and thought I'd ask your opinions...

On a recent Basic Brewing Radio podcast, James talked to a homebrewer who took a previously bottled beer that he thought was too sweet, and decanted and refermented with different Brett (and Lacto) strains. Seemed to have good results. Have any of you done this?

I have an extract Barleywine that I'm considering this with... It was my third brew ever, still didn't exactly know what I was doing, and it's a bit sweeter and not as complex as I'd have hoped. Though, it has improved somewhat in the 1.5 yrs since I brewed it, but not all that much (I try one every other month, and I'm not really excited to finish it after a few swallows... So it wouldn't be a waste if this experiment makes it worse!).

I'm thinking of using Brett Brux (White Labs), but am open to other suggestions. I have about 24 bottles (12 oz) left, so am thinking of taking most of those for a 2 gal batch (and leaving a few for comparison/further aging). I have two one-gal glass jugs I am planning on using (thinking of splitting one vial between the two without a starter... Thoughts?), and maybe adding oak chips to one of them.

My question is about oxygen - I've heard that Brett needs a little bit to do its magic. So if I'm using glass, should I just use sanitized foil over the mouth to let some O2 in, or a foam spongy stopper, or a regular airlock? Or, being that it's slightly porous to O2, should I find a two gallon bucket to use instead?

I have a couple ales up on deck for my fermentation chamber, so I'd probably throw this in with them at around 68 F (room temp at my house is usually in upper 70s, and I've heard that may be too warm and cause more undesirable flavors?), and let them go for a few months...

Any advice or feedback would be appreciated - cheers!


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[metic]

You'll get plenty of oxygen from transferring the beer out of bottles back into a fermenter---if anything, I'd be worried about how to minimize it. I know the guy on that BBR episode didn't seem to have any problems with oxidation, but I'd still be cautious, and definitely wouldn't take any additional steps to increase exposure to oxygen.

 

[FatsSchindee]

You'll get plenty of oxygen from transferring the beer out of bottles back into a fermenter---if anything, I'd be worried about how to minimize it. I know the guy on that BBR episode didn't seem to have any problems with oxidation, but I'd still be cautious, and definitely wouldn't take any additional steps to increase exposure to oxygen.

Hmmmm... Good point. He didn't elaborate on his technique other than he "decanted carefully" (iirc). I was thinking I'd pop all the caps off, but let the bottles just sit and go flat (I'd throw a piece of foil over each opening to reduce chance of unwanted contamination) for a while (think a day would be plenty of time? Too much?). Then, I'd pour slowly and carefully down the tilted side of the jug, one by one, minimizing splashing. Any other tips?

Thanks for the response!


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[helibrewer]

Hmmmm... Good point. He didn't elaborate on his technique other than he "decanted carefully" (iirc). I was thinking I'd pop all the caps off, but let the bottles just sit and go flat (I'd throw a piece of foil over each opening to reduce chance of unwanted contamination) for a while (think a day would be plenty of time? Too much?). Then, I'd pour slowly and carefully down the tilted side of the jug, one by one, minimizing splashing. Any other tips?

Thanks for the response!


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If you have a CO2 tank you could use a 2-hole stopper with 1 long tube and push the beer out with very low pressure...think bottle-sized keg.

 

[youreanimpulse]

Hmmmm... Good point. He didn't elaborate on his technique other than he "decanted carefully" (iirc). I was thinking I'd pop all the caps off, but let the bottles just sit and go flat (I'd throw a piece of foil over each opening to reduce chance of unwanted contamination) for a while (think a day would be plenty of time? Too much?). Then, I'd pour slowly and carefully down the tilted side of the jug, one by one, minimizing splashing. Any other tips?

Thanks for the response!


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Sounds like a recipe for more oxygen (from being left out) than just carefully pouring with the CO2 still in the beer. If you have a CO2 tank you could also purge the fermenter, and trying not to splash you should be ok.

 

[Oldsock]

Brett does great in bottles with very little oxygen (think Orval). So many more beers are ruined by too much oxygen than too little. Oyxygen allows Brett to generate more energy from carbohydrates, but to produce acetic acid instead of ethanol. A little acetic acid (or the ester Brett creates from it, ethyl acetate) can be pleasant, but too much and you'll have a vinegar or nail polish remover bomb.