Let me start by saying, most of you will think this is a really dumb idea because lagers are meant to be clean and crisp and I’d be taking away from that aspect of the beer, but…
I was wanting to experiment with a german lager and pitch some Brett into half of my 10g batch. Has anyone every tried this before with or without success? My only worry is putting it back at room temp in a carboy after lagering. Additionally, I’m wondering if the lagering phase will leave any “food” for the Brett to eat or if I’d have to add some matlodextrine or sugars? Thanks!
I’ve had the same idea myself, but just haven’t gotten around to it. If anything, I’d think that lagering may preserve more food for the Brett to eat. Go for it, and be sure to let us know how it turns out!
As I am thinkng through your idea… I think the two things to consider:
1.) What is the FG (Before pitching Brett)
2.) What temperature are you going to let the brett lager sit at?
I am thinking lager vs ale yeast to start is not a big issue, but how much residual sugar for the brett to munch on is the bigger thing…
I have not done a brett beer, but my understanding is that they work slow… and at lagger temps, might not work at all.
I’d be very curiouse what you do with your temp, and how long it would take to get some decent character… (im thinking it might be three to six months depending on temps and sugar left)
Which Brett strain are you interested in using? I see no issues with allowing the beer temps to increase to the low 60’s then pitch your brett strain into your lager. Is your lager sitting in a secondary carboy off the primary yeast cake? Depending on the amount of head space you have in there, you might want to consider blanketing the beer with some CO2 after pitching your brett so no further oxidation occurs after opening your carboy.
I have not brewed it yet, but likely what I would do is transfer to a 5-gallon carboy and store at 60-65 for about 3 months. I may even pitch the Brett into a small jar with the wort from the batch when I pull it to doing a D-rest. I’m thinking either Brett C or Brett L. Currently, I’m thinking of doing a Dunkel so I can have some rich flavors and complexities, plus it really lends to it’s naming: “Munich Funkel.”
I’m about to do something similar to a lager whose mash schedule I screwed up, causing fermentation to stick around 1.020. It’s already carbonated, so I’m going to do a closed transfer to a couple of Corny kegs with bent dip tubes and then pitch Brett B. I’ll post here with results.