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Author Topic: Brett Starter Patience  (Read 2123 times)

Offline klickitat jim

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Brett Starter Patience
« on: July 13, 2015, 05:17:56 pm »
Last year I made my first sour beers, and did a typical starter with my brett. They didnt seem to do much. After studying Chad Yackobsen's Brett Thesis, I saw that he found brett needs more time. He states that it goes through growth phases, grows, stops, grows, stops, grows again. Seven days is what I got out of it.

So I pitched Wyeast bret lambicus on the evening of July 9. Peeked in on it every day. After 24 hrs it had a slight powdery cloud at the bottom. After 48 hrs, no change. After 72 hrs the powdery cloud seemed a bit thicker. Here it is at day 4.




I'm going to let it go the full 7 days. I'm curious to see if that third growth phase is a dramatic as the second one.

Offline brewinhard

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Re: Brett Starter Patience
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2015, 09:30:42 am »
I have read Chad's reports as well, and why I do not disclaim what Chad has observed, I have never had issues with brett starters going through variety of growth phases.  Maybe because I have always typically given these starters around 7 days to make sure they were fully fermented.  If you prefer a small amount of acetic acid production (which some brett strains can do) you can put them on a stir plate which provides more oxygen for the brett to produce this compound (in small amounts) while speeding up the starter process. 

I half wonder if Chad's observations were more for long term fermentations via direct growth of brett strains in starters?  I have to go back and re-read his project as it has been a few years for me....

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Brett Starter Patience
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2015, 06:33:42 pm »
Ya, I get lost in the weeds on that scientific stuff pretty easy, but I'm convinced that Brett starters deserve at least 4 days if not 7.

Offline brewinhard

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Re: Brett Starter Patience
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2015, 01:00:07 pm »
Agreed.  Although on a stir plate they can almost be done as fast as normal yeast strains. 

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Brett Starter Patience
« Reply #4 on: July 16, 2015, 05:15:33 pm »
Probably true. By the way I didn't see much change between day 4 and 7, but that's just naked eye. When I swirled it to pitch it was full of CO2. Nice clean Brett aroma. No off odors. Anyway, I think I'll stick with this method

Offline brewinhard

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Re: Brett Starter Patience
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2015, 04:21:12 pm »
Probably true. By the way I didn't see much change between day 4 and 7, but that's just naked eye. When I swirled it to pitch it was full of CO2. Nice clean Brett aroma. No off odors. Anyway, I think I'll stick with this method

+1.  It is my preferred method as well.  No need to add any additional acetic acid character unless I am looking for it, which I never really am unless I am brewing a flanders red.

Offline greatplainsbrewer

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Re: Brett Starter Patience
« Reply #6 on: February 16, 2020, 08:20:26 am »
I realize this is an old thread.

How does one calculate a brett starter?  I'm assuming cell count matters on this.  I will be using WLP 645 by itself on this one and I have one vial- why does White Labs still use the vials on brett?

Thanks in advance

Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: Brett Starter Patience
« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2020, 11:15:40 pm »
I realize this is an old thread.

How does one calculate a brett starter?  I'm assuming cell count matters on this.  I will be using WLP 645 by itself on this one and I have one vial- why does White Labs still use the vials on brett?

Thanks in advance

My guess on WL is to avoid contamination from brett in their clean packaging lines.

If you are using brett as a secondary fermenter I wouldn't worry about a starter at all. The vial by itself is enough for a 5-10 gallon batch. If you intend to use brett as a primary fermenter I have always used yeast starter calculators targeting lager volumes and not had problems.
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Offline greatplainsbrewer

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Re: Brett Starter Patience
« Reply #8 on: March 01, 2020, 07:16:51 am »
Thanks- its a 100% brett fermentation