Bottling bretted beer

[Oneflewover]

Morning. I've got a Belgian quad that I brewed last September. It's been fermented as a split batch, and I've got a demijohn of it that had the dregs of a bottle of Orval in November. It looks to have finished working now and I'm thinking about bottling this weekend. Couple of queries if someone would be so kind:
1) I assume that the brett will consume priming sugar and I won't need to add a bottling yeast?
2) read a bit about brett creep. I want a well carbonated beer (3 vols ish) but am wary of the Brett slowly chewing though any residual sugars. Any words of wisdom / caution?
Cheers

 

[Ajhutch]

If it’s been stable gravity for a couple of months it should be fine to assume that it will just eat the priming sugar at least over a timeframe of a few months.

One things I’ve read is that pitching a different bottling yeast is a bad idea, because another fermentation could kick off and lead to overcarbonation. I think the principle is that if the bottling yeast ate the priming sugar it could produce some esters and then the Brett would eat these. Both reactions produce CO2, so overcarbonation results.

I wouldn’t worry too much about it having flocculated out and not getting any carbonation. I recently bottled a Brett beer that was over a year old, and while carbonation was a little slow, the Brett did the job in about a month.

So on balance, I’d go with no additional yeast and the normal amount of priming sugar for your desired carbonation. Once you know it’s at the right carbonation level, keep them at fridge temps if you can and it should at least slow any Brett creep though not stop it completely.

In any case if you have thicker Belgian bottles I’d recommend using them just to be on the safe side when pushing the carbonation level.

Oh, and the beer sounds delicious by the way!

 

[strange-steve]

Nice, I just added brett to a batch of quad yesterday thumb

I agree with the above, I personally wouldn't bother adding more yeast, and after 6 months I imagine the carbonation creep would be minimal. A little extra carbonation wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if it does happen anyway.

 

[Oneflewover]

If it’s been stable gravity for a couple of months it should be fine to assume that it will just eat the priming sugar at least over a timeframe of a few months.

One things I’ve read is that pitching a different bottling yeast is a bad idea, because another fermentation could kick off and lead to overcarbonation. I think the principle is that if the bottling yeast ate the priming sugar it could produce some esters and then the Brett would eat these. Both reactions produce CO2, so overcarbonation results.

I wouldn’t worry too much about it having flocculated out and not getting any carbonation. I recently bottled a Brett beer that was over a year old, and while carbonation was a little slow, the Brett did the job in about a month.

So on balance, I’d go with no additional yeast and the normal amount of priming sugar for your desired carbonation. Once you know it’s at the right carbonation level, keep them at fridge temps if you can and it should at least slow any Brett creep though not stop it completely.

In any case if you have thicker Belgian bottles I’d recommend using them just to be on the safe side when pushing the carbonation level.

Oh, and the beer sounds delicious by the way!

Many thanks, that's really helpful. Up for a swapsie? I've promised @strange-steve a bottle....

 

[Oneflewover]

Nice, I just added brett to a batch of quad yesterday thumb

I agree with the above, I personally wouldn't bother adding more yeast, and after 6 months I imagine the carbonation creep would be minimal. A little extra carbonation wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if it does happen anyway.

Thanks Steve, that's great thumb

 

[Ajhutch]

Many thanks, that's really helpful. Up for a swapsie? I've promised @strange-steve a bottle....

Absolutely up for a swap!

 

[Oneflewover]

Absolutely up for a swap!

Great, as soon as I know it's come good I'll get in touch