brewinhard wrote:I think your best bet would be to ferment with a healthy starter in primary. The saccharomyces yeast will reproduce faster than the brett and tackle most of the sugars. After primary is done, I would then rack to secondary with a little headspace (not too much) and at least let it age for 1-2 months and see if a pellicle does form (around fermentation temps). If it doesn't form during this time, bottle or keg. If it does, let the brett do its thing and eat up some remaining dextrins funkifying your schwill. When that fermentation subsides, bottle and enjoy.
I currently have a nice orval clone going (ala JZ) which I fermented in primary with Belgain Ardennes, then racked to secondary with Brett B. It took a good 3-4 wks. to form a nice (but thin) pellicle on top. It has been sitting for an additional 5 wks. slooooowly fermenting away. I plan on letting the Brett finish the majority of the way (which it appears to be slowing, b/c the pellicle is thinning and I see less CO2 bubbles rising) and then dryhop with 2 oz. of Styrian.
One of the biggest deciding factors in the thickness of your pellicle is the the amount of residual sugars/food left in the beer (based on my experience). Generally Belgian strains ferment down lower, so they leave less for the Brett to eat and form thinner pellicles than other strains. Also, if you let it sit on the lees, then they act as food for the Brett as well (they really will eat anything). The method that brewin is using here sounds almost exactly like how they describe it in Wild Brews, which JZ's recipe emulates quite well.
I was just listening to one of the first Vinnie shows and he was talking about one of the RR beers they ferment with Brett in primary and he was showing the brewcasters the ring around the top of the bottle that happened after bottling where the Brett continued to ferment. In Orval, the Brett is strictly in the bottling. So, with a single pack of the yeast if you want to get really close to Orval, I would pitch it, ferment it, and bottle it as normal and then wait. If you want the process in the bottle to go along a little more readily, store them at a warmer temperature.
If you wait a couple months for a pellicle to form, then you'll probably need to wait until it falls, after which you might want to repitch to bottle (I am not as experienced here). The flavor will be Brettier, but still close-ish to a really aged version of the bottled one. Depends which profile you want to go with. Personally, I'd do the first one. It's faster and more authentic. As you drink it it will age and change over time just like Orval (just make sure you don't drink it too quick!).
