Brett starter help

[brewinhard]

Just got my brett (B. Claussenni and B. Lambicus) in the mail yesterday. The Claus was fresh but the Lambicus was dated back to January (booooo....). Soooo, I now have to brew with it a little earlier than desired, but oh well...

I was planning on a beer with 90% pils, 5% wheat, 5% acid malt (maybe a touch of vienna for character, but havent decided). Herein lies my question:

I wanted to use both brett L. and Brett C. as primary fermenters only (my first 100% brett beer). I was planning on making a 2 liter starters for each brett packs. How early before brew day should I make them providing around 30 hrs. to crash cool before pitching so I can decant the spent wort on top? And I have seen many people make 1 type of brett with a 1 liter starter and the other with a 3 liter starter or vice versa. Any suggestions?

[positiverpr]

i did the 3l and 1l and had my starters on a stir plate fot 4-5 days before cooling and decanting. it took off like a rocket(with oxygenation) and was at 1.004 at the end of the 3rd week. i have read on the babble belt about people building up over WEEKS. so many variables with this style and just not enough evidence about what works better yet.

[ChrisKennedy]

I think most people step up the relatively low cell count pitches from both yeast companies a time or two before their main starter.

Most I have seen start with around .3L, and do that once or twice before adding a couple of liters of starter wort.

[sheikyerbouti]

Good to know. I was wondering if a starter was necessary for Brett

[ChrisKennedy]

Good to know. I was wondering if a starter was necessary for Brett

It isn't necessary when using it in the secondary, but it is necessary when using it as the primary yeast.

[brewinhard]

My starters initially took off (made last Wednesday) after 1-2 days with high krausen. The Clausenii peaked and then settled out with most of the yeast still in suspension. The Lambicus still has a pretty big krausen on it right now. Oddly, the claussenni has now started up again... Go figure... wild yeast are interesting buggers!

Question - I was planning on brewing this Friday but the weather has been kind of cool and the starters have been around 63 degrees for the past 2 days with no way to really warm them up too much. I now have about 4 days until brewing and the brett is slowwwwwwwly fermenting away. Any thoughts on crash cooling even though the brett might not have completely fermented out the 1/2 gallon starters they were in or will that really slow them down for brewday?

[sheikyerbouti]

If you'll be splitting 1 pack of brett to inoculate more than 1 beer, would that be an instance where you'd make a starter?