I’ve made my first Brett. IIPA.
Used the White Labs Brett. Brux. Trois Vrai.
This yeast is insane. It fermented from 1.090 to 1.010 in 8 days.
I also used the yeast as secondary fermentation for an Orval inspired beer.
However, I’m not experienced with using Brettanomyces. And after 3 weeks, both the primary IIPA and the secondary Orval clone, have started to form a white film on top, with big bubbles.
And I’m not sure if it’s a brett pellicle or an infection.
A while ago I used the Wyeast Lambic Blend for an Rhubarb/Strawberry ale. And I’m worried if some of the lacto survived the sanitation, or that it might be an acetobacter infection.
I should probably just relax and have a homebrew. But is there any way to spot the difference between lacto. acetobacter and brett pellicle ? (without an lab grade microscope)
Pictures may help but I’m thinking pellicle based on your description and some pictures I posted for comment.
I’ve never had lacto make a pellicle (and I’ve soured with lacto solo before fermenting many times)
Also, the yeast strain you used is not actually Brettanomyces
I would just have a taste and see how it is…
It’s the Vrai version. WLP648 and not the older WLP644, so it should be proper Brett 
But I’m happy that it isn’t lacto, that’s making my beer look funky.
Still a bit worried about an acetobacter infection, but you guys made me much calmer
I’ll try to get a photo of the pellicle one of the days
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=16659.0
Does it look like this? This thread is what I am basing my comments on.
I have gotten pellicle with lacto which looks the same as Brett pellicle, not that I would be concerned about lacto here.
Acetobacter will form a mother, not a pellicle. Acetobacter wants oxygen so a pellicle, which limits oxygen flow, would be worthless to it. You will know you have a serious acetobacter problem when you find a mother floating in the beer. It looks like a greenish fried egg.
Brett will form a pellicle in most situations.
Yes. Looks like a pellicle to me. Those are CO2 bubbles being trapped underneath. Pretty cool. Alien landing pads.
Alien Landing Pads. I like that
But that’s cool, glad to be assured that it’s probably Brett pellicle and not infection.
Does anyone have any idea about how to harvest yeast, from a pellicle covered fermentation ?
Do I scoop the Pellicle away or should I include it in the yeast washing ?
The pellicle has no relevance to your yeast collection. If some gets into your slurry then it is fine. If none gets into the slurry that is fine too.
I agree with all of the foregoing, but I would also note that these yeast blends are harvestable, but you will likely have a different profile with the slurry as compared to the initial pitch due to different growth rates between or among the strains involved. But that can be half of the fun! You will have truly artisanal beers that may be difficult to reproduce exactly…that’s where blending comes into play.
You will have to wait until you rack the beer off of the yeast cake underneath it to get a hold of that slurry. Simply leave a little beer above the yeast (1/2 inch or so), swirl up the slurry into suspension, then sanitize the opening and pour gently into a sanitized jar.