Beer Forum

I am fermenting my first bret and lacto beer. The Bam Biere clone from CYBI. My Question is what does the fermention look like? First I started with Belgian ale yeast for 3 weeks, racked it to a fresh carboy and pitched the bret and lacto . It has been 4 weeks and I see no activity. Even the air look just sits there. Is this something I will just have to sample in a couple of months and see how it is coming or should there be some kind of activity going on?

Thanks
A Funk newbie

What was your gravity after the initial ferment when you added your bugs? If it was fairly low, you likely won't see much activity at all.

Amount of residual sugars as well as temperature can play a big role in secondary lacto/brett fermentations. You really won't see a "rolling " kind of fermentation as is evident with a big pitch of saccharomyces in a typical beer fermentationl. Depending on amount of available oxygen in the headspace of your carboy you might start to see signs of a pellicle forming on the surface of the beer. This can appear as white, wispy, patches all the way up to large white bubbles forming on the surface. Over time the pellicle can become thicker and more matted (proteinacious) which is just the brett's response to oxygen present. Be patient, and give the beer at least 3 mos before taking a taste. When aging my brett beers, I prefer the low 60's for a cleaner, less farmyard like presence, but bacteria works better at warmer temps so you may have to find a happy medium (ie 65-70 deg F).