Secondary Bottle Conditioning with Brett B

[Goon Boy]

Hi all,

I'm bottling a Saison fermented in primary with Danster Belle Saison and I want to add some Wyeast Brett B for secondary ferment in each individual bottle. I have not measured FG yet but assuming in range of 1.005 to 1.008. I'm bottling into 750ml bottles. If so, then:
- do I add dextrose to bottles? If so, how much, same as per normal?
- how much Brett B do I add to each bottle, ie how many cells per 750ml? I am using Wyeast so already have a slight slurry. Do I add XXml of sterile water and then add XXml of the slurry to each bottle? if so, how much of each?

Obviously want to have Brett character but don't want bottle bombs.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mje1980]

I've added orval dregs to finished saison before. I still added some priming sugar, but not as much, and I made sure I drank them within a few months. They were bloody good IMHO haha.

Do you have an unopened wyeast smack pack of brett b?. If so, I'd open it, run some wort into it, then split that wort + brett b into the bottom of a few bottles ( want more bottles, add more wort to the smack pack ), and fill as normal, with a reduced amount of priming sugar.

Also depends on how long you want to leave them. If you plan on leaving for ages, reduce priming sugar. If you like the funk after a few weeks, add a little more, but still less than normal. Better to add less and wait longer than bombs.

I am far from an expert, only done it a few times now.

 

[neonmeate]

i think youd be safe from bombs if your FG was less than 1005. but its still a gamble adding at bottling cause you wont know how much carbonation youll get. i usually leave it 4-6 months in secondary till the brett finishes before i bottle. youd need to leave it in the bottle for that long anyway, or youll be picking the pellicle out from your teeth...

 

[GalBrew]

I was just listening to one of the latest BeerSmith podcasts about sour beer. They were talking about this exact issue and that to carbonate a bottle required a drop in gravity of only around 0.3 of a point. They also talked about all the different compounds that Brett can chew through compared with Sacc. Could be worth a listen.

 

[lukencode]

I'd also recommend plastic PET bottles just to be on the safe side.

 

[Goon Boy]

Thanks, appreciate the feedback. Thinking I'll do a secondary ferment and avoid the pellicle in bottle as suggested.

 

[Goon Boy]

I pitched the Brett B last night after the primary had completed to 1.008. I also added some sanitised water with dextrose to get the gravity up and give something to chew through. I have not added oxygen. I have now read that Brett works better in aerobic conditions. Should I add oxygen now or would the transfer from primary to secondary added enough?

 

[mje1980]

The transfer would add some for sure. I wouldn't add anymore though, I don't think it'll be great for it. 1008 is a little high for a saison, though in a few months it should be lower. I find 3 months the brett will eat pretty much everything when added to secondary in beers that have already been fermented with normal yeast.

 

[Goon Boy]

Thanks.

 

[GalBrew]

I would try to keep it as oxygen free as possible. I understand that under aerobic conditions Brett will crank out lots of acetic acid (vinegar).