Bottling brett beers

Mon Jun 03, 2013 6:31 pm

I'm planning on bottling a sour beer, the SG is currently 1.007. The only yeast I used was Wyeast Belgian Lambic Blend (3278). This is my first time using Brett, so I'm a little nervous about putting it in bottles. I've heard if the FG is below 1.01 the likelihood of bottle bombs is low. But then I've also heard I should use champagne type bottles because they are a bit stronger. Any recommendations?

Should I add a little priming sugar and some dry yeast since the gravity is so low?
What temp is best to store this at?
trvlnpt34
 
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Re: Bottling brett beers

Tue Jun 04, 2013 3:06 am

i bottled my brett b beer at 1.007, used half of the sugar for what i thought was a good amount of carbonation. kept them at about 15c (my cellar so a bit less during this winter). i used champagne bottles so i didn't worry to much about them. kept them for 4 months and popped one open just a week ago and it was great! now they're in 4c.

now, i only used wlp001 them brett for secondary where it sat for 5 months. the lambic blend have some critters in it as well. so maybe that will do something else?

use thick bottles and try one every now and then, when they're good keep them as cold as possible!
No beer is good in your cellar, it's only good if you drink it with your friends!
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nicsub
 
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Re: Bottling brett beers

Tue Jun 04, 2013 5:47 am

So did you use any extra yeast when you bottled? And I'm assuming you had to use corks for the champagne bottles?
trvlnpt34
 
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Re: Bottling brett beers

Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:18 am

i didn't use any yeast for bottling. i just gave it time! guess you can put some yeast in if you want it to carbonate faster, but in that case i would use the right amount of sugar for your choice of carbonation, and then store them cold as soon as you're there. brett and bacteria will work slower and depending on how long you've been fermenting for there won't be much viable brewers yeast left! and the amount of alcohol will probably play a role too.

i did use corks yes, but i think caps will work to. the bottle will burst before a cap does.

since its hard to control wild yeast and bacteria, doing tests til you're happy with the pressure is probably the best. the cooler the slower it moves. think brett won't work below 4c..

time is always best in my opinion :)
No beer is good in your cellar, it's only good if you drink it with your friends!
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nicsub
 
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Re: Bottling brett beers

Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:25 am

How old is the beer now?
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SouthHouseBrew
 
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Re: Bottling brett beers

Tue Jun 04, 2013 9:15 pm

It's right at 11 months old.

I bought a bunch of champagne bottles today, so I think I'm going to go ahead and bottle it this weekend using some priming sugar and some dry yeast. Hopefully it works out ok.

Thanks for the replies!
trvlnpt34
 
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Re: Bottling brett beers

Wed Jun 05, 2013 9:05 am

awesome! tell us how it goes. if we don't here from you we'll assume a exploding bottle killed you!
No beer is good in your cellar, it's only good if you drink it with your friends!
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nicsub
 
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Re: Bottling brett beers

Wed Jun 05, 2013 2:40 pm

trvlnpt34 wrote:It's right at 11 months old.

I bought a bunch of champagne bottles today, so I think I'm going to go ahead and bottle it this weekend using some priming sugar and some dry yeast. Hopefully it works out ok.

Thanks for the replies!



I think you are wise to add fresh yeast at bottling. It is a simple measure to ensure that proper carbonation will occur in a timely manner for a beer that you have already been waiting a long time for. Be sure to properly rehydrate the yeast before adding to your bottling bucket along with your priming sugar. It will be entering an acidic environment with no oxygen and a fair amount of alcohol. My favorite strain for this is Lalvin EC-1118. It is only $1 at my LHBS, is a champagne yeast which is highly alcohol tolerant AND tolerant to acidic environments (ie sour beer).
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