[cfleisher]

The latest Zymurgy convinced me to try making an all Brett beer. I was wondering, however, how this would affect equipment? At the end of the article, it said that Brett posed "less of a threat to equipment than the bacteria involved in sour brewing." How much less of a threat? Should I just set aside the carboy and make it a "Brett-only" bucket?

[Slowbrew]

All the recommendation I've ever seen say to make any plastic items Brett only just to be safe.

I haven't ever made a beer using Brett though so it's all hear-say and not admissible as evidence.  8^)

Paul

[nateo]

I have a "funk bucket" I keep all of my sour beers in. It was an old bucket I was planning on replacing anyway, so no big loss. I'd recommend keeping them separate if you have the space.

[troybinso]

Brettanomyces is a yeast. Lactobacillus and Pediococcus are bacteria. If your cleaning and sanitizing regimen kills off all of the Saccharomyces (brewers) yeast, then it should do the same for the Brettanomyces. Bacteria can be a little more difficult to kill off, and it is probably a good idea to keep separate plastic equipment when using these microbes.

That being said, it isn't that hard to have a separate set of hoses to use for Brettanomyces, and it is cheap insurance.

[bluesman]

+1

It's easy and cheap enough to keep an extra set of fermentation equipment for this activity.

[hoser]

Brettanomyces is a yeast. Lactobacillus and Pediococcus are bacteria. If your cleaning and sanitizing regimen kills off all of the Saccharomyces (brewers) yeast, then it should do the same for the Brettanomyces. Bacteria can be a little more difficult to kill off, and it is probably a good idea to keep separate plastic equipment when using these microbes.

That being said, it isn't that hard to have a separate set of hoses to use for Brettanomyces, and it is cheap insurance.

+1

Although with Brett, they sometimes produce spores which generally are not eliminated with normal sanitation procedures and  could cause a contamination issue.

[anthony]

I believe Dekkera which is the spore forming form of Brett is exceedingly rare in brewing/wine making/etc.

[tschmidlin]

For a 100% brett beer I would not bother with separate equipment unless the cost and storage space are not an issue.  The standard cleaners and sanitizers will kill off any residual brett.