I brewed a Belgian Strong Dark about 10 days ago. It was 1.099 OG on WLP 550 Belgian Ale slurry, mashed at 156F, with D180 syrup. Smells gorgeous. SG after 10 days is 1.040 and its still going, albeit slowly, tastes good alrady but still sweet. I’ve never Brett’ed before but its tempting, and this seems like a good candidate if I cant get it down to the target 1.018. I’m tempted to let Sacch run its course then throw in a vial of WLP650 Brett Brux. But I have unknowns, so help.
Starters. Do I need a starter for WLP650? It says you can pitch direct, and that Brett should be underpitched. I;ve also read that its slow to get going so dont waste time, just pitch and be patient.
Bottle conditioning. I don’t want to put sour beer through the keg system. Do I just wait for Brett to finish out, then prime and bottle like normal? Do I need to to worry about bottle bombs?
Reusing equipment. I’ve seen the argument of dedicated Brett equipment. I’ve also seen the argument that PBW and sanitizer will take care of it. Just stick to metal and glass that doesnt scratch. Maybe dedicate a bottling wand though.
Stuck fermentations. Brett will eat what Sacch wont, right? So if your fermentation sticks, and you cant get it down low enough, and the style is right, one option to save the beer is to Brett it and forget it?
First of all let’s talk about sanitation and your equipment. I brewed my first brett beer about 10 years ago. I set aside 4 kegs and one tap on my kegerator for brett or sour beers, but after a while I got lazy and just started using whatever keg was handy. I still have the dedicated tap, but if I have 2 different brett or sour beers on tap I use whatever other tap is open. Brett is just another variety of beer yeast and is easily handled with your normal sanitation methods. If you’re still nervous bottle it, but that makes me even more nervous. The only bottle bombs I ever had were from a batch of cherry brett. It’s very hard to know how much more stuff brett will eat so carbonation levels are more difficult to predict than with normal beer yeast( whose name I can’t spell). Look at how heavy Orval bottles are-I would be terrified of bottling in anything lighter duty than them.
About your beer. I think given that mash temp 1.018 is pretty optimistic. I brewed a Belgian strong dark with the D2 syrup and 1 pound of white sugar, mashed at 150 and it only got to 1.024 fro 1.098.
Don’t need to worry about bottle bombs. After several months the beer will have stabilized to its new FG. You might want to add a little fresh Sacch yeast when you add your priming sugar. Sugar gets completely used up and doesn’t leave unfermentables for the Brett, so there is no chance of bottle bombs.
I reuse everything except my Autosiphon (don’t use a bottling wand), I have had no issues with contamination of subsequent batches run through a fermentor.
Yes Brett can utilize more complex carbohydrates than Sacch. So it is an option. Or you can use a lambic blend that has Bretts and bacteria. A Belgian dark strong ight make a decent base for a Flanders red.
I was just thinking about adding cherries too. Here’s my recipe so far
18lbs Belgian Pils
1lb White Wheat
8oz Special B
4oz Aromatic
2lbs D180 syrup
2oz Hallertauer @ 60mins (4.6%)
1oz Sty. Goldings @ flameout (2.6%)
WLP550 slurry
Mashed at 156F for 60 mins. 1.099 OG. 1.040 after 1st week @ 62F, then house temp and water bath dropped so it started to sleep. Water bath is up to 68F now, roused and bubbling again nicely. Now I’m really intrigued by Brett’ing and maybe some cherries…
I agree you can get cherry notes without any fruit, but it is very common to use sour cherries in a Flanders. I’ve got 5 gallons on some sour cherries now
We just tasted a kriek I made in '09, the stuff is dry as a bone now and really tart and tasty.
My latest Flanders red is killer too, I’ve entered it in a contest that happens this weekend and I think it has the best chance of my three entries (also a helles and an Ofest).
I have another batch of kriek that I may keg because I used some cherry juice and it hasn’t wanted to ferment the sugar so I’m scared to bottle it. Its not bad as is, not as sweet as Lindemans but you can tell its got some residual sugar. It actually takes the edge off what is otherwise a pretty tart beer.
When pitching Sacc into beer to clean it up or start a stalled ferment, you generally have to get it cranking first. The combination of alcohol, low nutrienst, no oxygen, etc. etc. makes it so it needs a little help first to get going. When you pitch Brett after primary fermentation is complete, do you need to treat it like adding more Sacc or can you pitch it straight from the tube into nearly finished beer?