Adding Brett at bottling, any input?

It's how Orval is brewed, so you should get plenty of funk given adequate warm aging. Some brewers actually prefer the character from bottle conditioning with Brett over secondary. I've noticed I get character sooner in bottles.

A word of warning though. Let's say you prime with sugar, aiming for 2.5 volumes of CO2. The ale yeast will eat that in a few weeks. Now let's say the Brett gets to work and chews the beer down to 1.001 over the next few months. At that point you'll be well over 4 volumes of CO2. All this is to say, check frequently and store them in a plastic bin or something that if one were to pop it wouldn't ruin your day!

 

I too get character quicker when bottling with Brett. I have done this a few times now. The Brett Trois I used in my last Saison like this turned the bottle into a geyser with very little funk, even a year later. The Orval I used in the first one gave great carb levels and lots of character. Even almost 3 years later it is not a gush when opened.

 

For those who desire funk sooner rather than later another option is to primary ferment with a blend of ale yeast and Brett. I have brewed two batches of what was intended to be an Orval clone with Wyeast 3789 which is a blend of Belgian ale yeast and Brett. That beer was extremely funky right from the primary. My wife called that beer horse piss. I really liked both of those batches.

Cheers!

 

I know you've mentioned 3789 before, and your results were close to Rayon Vert. I used 3789 also when it was available, and my results were the closest I've even gotten to Orval - not too funky at all, definite brett character but perfectly balanced. That batch was nearly identical to Orval aged 3 or 4 months, and is still one of the best brews I've done. Really hope Wyeast releases this blend again.

 

I did a Tripel with this blend. It tastes like almonds. No Belgian esters. No fruit, no funk, no phenols, just almonds and sweet alcohols. I pitched the right amount of healthy yeast, controlled ferment temps, got great attenuation, bottled it after 4 weeks in primary, it has low carb, and almonds. I'm 16 months in on it... almonds.

 

Did you make a yeast starter when you brewed with 3789?

Cheers!

 

Honestly can't remember. I wasn't as strict about keeping notes as I am now, so can't look it up either. I wanna say I did not. I do remember that it attenuated very close to 1.000. Wish I still had a few bottles of that batch...

 

So, for my two batches using 3789 I made yeast starters since I was brewing higher gravity beers. I strongly suspect that whether you make a starter with 3789 vs. not making a starter will change the proportions between the ale yeast strain vs. the Brett.

Cheers!

 

Yes, maybe making a starter grows too many brett cells and throws off the saccharomyce to brettanomyces balance. I seem to remember that my thinking was that a starter would not be needed, because any food left over by a sacch underpitch would be taken care of by the brett.