[tomsawyer]

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.

[wildknight]

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?

[tschmidlin]

I usually just throw brett in and let it sit.

[morticaixavier]

I usually just throw brett in and let it sit.

doesn't he struggle?

[bo]

I usually just throw brett in and let it sit.

doesn't he struggle?

I hope you're gentle with him.

[ukolowiczd]

Great thread. I actually did my first Brett beer a week ago. I used Brett lamb. totally and a lb. of accidulated malt for some pre-souring. I tasted it last night and it was remarkably mild - Brett flavor but very little sour. I don't want to add the lactic acid bacteria so will the Brett yeast sour the beer on it's own? Does it need time? 3, 6, 9, 12 months?

[tschmidlin]

I usually just throw brett in and let it sit.

doesn't he struggle?

I whack him in the head with a rock first.

[tschmidlin]

Great thread. I actually did my first Brett beer a week ago. I used Brett lamb. totally and a lb. of accidulated malt for some pre-souring. I tasted it last night and it was remarkably mild - Brett flavor but very little sour. I don't want to add the lactic acid bacteria so will the Brett yeast sour the beer on it's own? Does it need time? 3, 6, 9, 12 months?

Straight brett ferments are much less funky than you get from using brett with a sacch strain, especially a Belgian strain.  It will sour a bit on it's own IME, but not all that much.

[ukolowiczd]

Straight brett ferments are much less funky than you get from using brett with a sacch strain, especially a Belgian strain.  It will sour a bit on it's own IME, but not all that much.
[/quote]

Really, what does Sacch do that increases sour? Can I add some lactic bacteria later if it's not sour enough? And how come one of my local brewpubs (The Alchemist in Waterbury) makes some all Brett Beers and they're sour? Are they perhaps adding bacteria?

[tschmidlin]

Really, what does Sacch do that increases sour? Can I add some lactic bacteria later if it's not sour enough? And how come one of my local brewpubs (The Alchemist in Waterbury) makes some all Brett Beers and they're sour? Are they perhaps adding bacteria?

Sacch increases funk, not necessarily sour.  Greg Doss from Wyeast gave a talk on this at the NHC a few years back, but the gist of it is that the sacch creates precursors that the brett can convert into compounds that give the distinct brett taste.

Some people say you can't add lacto after the fact, but i haven't tried it by itself.  Cascade Barrel House in Portland adds lacto after primary with sacch and gets some awesome sours beers, but they aren't using brett at all.  Lacto converts sugars to lactic acid, so if the brett has already chewed through all of the sugars then the impact from the lacto may be minimal.

The place near you - if the say they are doing 100% brett then I'd believe them.  Different things can cause sourness, not just the brett.  But also different conditions for the brett can cause different levels of acetic acid production.  And there are probably strain to strain differences as well - do you know what they use?