Brettanomyces starters: how long before brew day?

I am most familiar with Brett C, but in the case of that strain, I have found that starters sometimes take far longer than a brewers yeast starter, but not always. I have had some starters take two plus weeks to run their course, and others that didn't take much longer than a normal starter. I think the variation has been based on the age of the yeast that my LHBS stocked as the Brett there is sometimes a bit old. I would budget two to three weeks and make a big starter so that you start out with a nice, healthy pitch.

I have found that brett ferments almost as quickly as healthy brewers yeast when it is treated right and pitched sufficiently. I have been able to get as many as 12 fermentations with serial repitching out of a vial of brett before it started to mutate and produce characteristics I didn't like, so it can easily be worth the effort if you are going to brew a lot of beer with it.

 

I did a starter with Brett trois a couple weeks ago. It showed activity for 7 days with intermittent shaking. Once my stir plate freed up, my next step of the starter finished in a couple days with the help of
the stir plate.

 

Highly suggest the brewing networks ep from 4-15-12 they talk with crooked staves chad yakobson. The whole ep is on brewing with Brett

 

I do not have any personal experience, but I have read ideally a brett starter should go for two weeks. You will get an initial fermentation like sacc and then more activity after 7 days or so. I have a vial of Trios that I plan to get going soon.

 

The last Brett primary ferment I did, I built the starter up for ~ two weeks.

 

I have been brewing with Brett for several years. I usually do a two step starter (I use WLB Brett as well) as the amount of cells are much less than for Sacch. I do 5 gallon batches though.

That all said, I find that I usually need between 5 and 7 days for a starter, for each step.

 

A week is what you need for peak cell density on a stir-plate. Brett goes through a couple growth phases, unlike the single stage for Sacch. A single step is fine for Wyeast, but White Labs Brett tubes start with only about 3 billion cells. Going to a cup of wort first, and then your total starter volume is a good idea with them. Good luck!

 

This thread is a wealth of info. Thanks to all!

 

On the vial of WLP644 it is clearly stated that the contents will ferment a 5 gallon batch . . . which is clearly wrong. It took an internet search (why doesn't White Labs post the data?) to find what OldSock posted above. So plan on stepped starters. My results were the Brett seemed to be finished only slightly longer than a Sacch starter, but I still gave 'em some extra time.

If you search the recipe forum you'll find a couple of Brett recipes posted, the authors post a ferm temp of mid 60s and another couple at 70. I did mine at 70 and let it creep, hit 82% AA. Will have a taste report in about 3 more weeks.

 

BUT...we have since learned that wlp644 is NOT Brett! So if you are using that then......

 

...there are still only 3 billion cells. So a two stage starter is still a good idea.

 

Good point Mike!