# Brett from bottle dregs



## bradmccoy (9/1/15)

I recently brewed a beer and split it in half. Half was bottled and half was transferred to a smaller vessel for an addition of brett. 

I've got around 10L of a beer that started life with an OG of 1080 and finished around 1015.

I dropped some dregs from a bottle of a sour kriek that was aged with brett for around a year.

Should I expect this tiny pitch of brett to do anything? Or should I go an buy a smack pack?


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## seamad (9/1/15)

Although your gravity was a bit higher I've had success several times with just the dregs from 2 Orval stubbies into 20L, takes a year or so to get it where I like it though.


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## manticle (9/1/15)

I've used dregs from orval similarly with success. Mine was excellent after a month but the main brew had stalled at 1030 so was already underway.


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## Not For Horses (9/1/15)

Yes you should expect this to do a lot. It will take time but the difference will be huge.
When using brett as a secondary yeast like this, the pitch rate is much less important.
Brett is metabolising compounds produced by the sacc fermentation and producing new ones but not in the same way as when sacc is reproducing during primary ferment.
So the pitch rate will alter the speed at which this secondary ferment will happen but not so much the flavour compounds that are being produced.
That is a very simplified version of events but I hope you get the basic idea.
For further reading I would say check out Chad Yakobson's posts on http://www.brettanomycesproject.com/ and also The Mad Fermentationist on http://www.themadfermentationist.com/


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## bradmccoy (9/1/15)

Thanks. Any tips on ideal temps? I'm not sure what strain of brett it is, if that makes any difference.


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## mje1980 (9/1/15)

Yeah excellent idea. I just keep it at room temp. Give it a few months then check gravity.


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## Mickcr250 (9/1/15)

Trying something similar myself at the moment actually so interested to hear how your turns out. I just brewed up a saison then racked to secondary and added the dregs of 2 Orval's, a 3 monks Flemish sour, a timmermans lambic and a 3 fontene lambic will be interested to see what happens.


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## Mickcr250 (9/1/15)

Also if you pitched dregs from a kreik aren't you pitching more than just Brett? I'm pretty new to the sour game but I'm pretty sure there would be some bacteria in there


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## bradmccoy (9/1/15)

Geez @mickcr250 that's some cocktail of dregs you've thrown in. Sounds great!


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## bradmccoy (9/1/15)

With the kriek, pretty sure it was just brewed with ale yeast and finished with a wyeast brett.


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## bradmccoy (9/1/15)

Not For Horses said:


> For further reading I would say check out Chad Yakobson's posts on http://www.brettanomycesproject.com/ and also The Mad Fermentationist on http://www.themadfermentationist.com/


Never seen Chad's website, thanks for posting the link.


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