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When working with brettanomyces "Brett" should I adjust the amount of priming sugar I use? Does brett have any affect on quantity or quality (fineness of bubbles etc.) of carbonation in the bottle?

I ask as I've never used brettanomyces before and want to avoid bottle bombs as much as possible.

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3 Answers 3

Brett won't change the amount of priming sugar you need. Just be sure fermentation is complete before bottling.

The problems people have had with Brett is if it is added later after another yeast, it can consume sugars the other yeast won't consume, leading to overcarbonation. Also, it usually ferments slower than saccaromyces, so you may want to wait longer before bottling (and check the gravity regularly).

Disclaimer: I haven't used Brett in any of my brews.

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I've not noticed any effect in any of the Brett beers I've done - if I'm doing Brett stuff though I will always bottle into half champagne bottles or Orval bottles, assume that they'll be bombs and wrap the whole lot in bin bags just in case. I've not had any bottle bombs though but I think it pays to be safe.

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Use the thick bottles to bottle with when using brett.

I would suggest not using priming sugar for the brett. I do not know your FG for the beer, but the brett will eat the residual maltose and produce c02. Adding priming sugar will either make the beer over carbonated or make the greater possibility of a bottle bomb. I just pulled a bretted dubbel that reached an fg of 1.008 from 1.017 within 7 months.

The key to getting the carbonation right is to let the bottles sit. Forget about them for at least 6-7 months. Keep them in a warmer area of the house 65-70. Pull a sample and it is not carbonated enough let them sit another two months. Brett is very very very slow to work.

The head that is produced by brett tends to be a little more rocky and light. Champagne is how i would describe it.

The key is to give it time and it will come out amazing.

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