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Brettanomyces and Saccharomyces Co-fermentation

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One method that some brewers attempt is adding a small pitch of ''Brettanomyces'' to a clean beer at bottling time. This can be done either in the bottling bucket/tank, or added to each bottle individually. If adding ''Brettanomyces'' to each bottle individually, a 1 mL dosage of ''Brettanomyces'' from a starter should be enough since pitching rate seems to have little impact on the beer <ref>[[Brettanomyces_secondary_fermentation_experiment]]</ref>. Some brewers believe that adding the ''Brettanomyces'' at bottling time results in a more complex beer. It is speculated that the extra stress of pressure within the bottles helps to create this complexity.
One challenge with this approach is that it is difficult to predict how much ''Brettanomyces'' will further attenuate the beer once in the bottle. Over-carbonation and bottle bombs can easily be an issue with this method if the brewer is not careful. Each degree Plato adds ~2 volumes of CO2 <ref>[http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php/Accurately_Calculating_Sugar_Additions_for_Carbonation#Remaining_or_Residual_Extract "Accurately Calculating Sugar Additions for Carbonation." Kai Troester. Braukaiser.com. Retrieved 08/07/2016.]</ref>. Since different species and strains of ''Brettanomyces'' ferment different types of sugars, some strains might be safer for dosing at bottling time. For example, most strains of ''B. anomulus'' do not ferment maltose, which is around 50% of sugar in wort, so this makes it a good choice for adding to the beer at bottling. However, if the amount of additional attenuation is already known for a particular beer and a particular strains strain of ''Brettanomyces'', than any strain can be used.
Daniel Addey-Jibb, co-owner and brewer at Le Castor near Montreal, Quebec advises that the approach that his brewery takes is to ferment their saison wort down to 1°P. Once at 1°P , the beer is cold crashed, fined, and then bottled with ''Brettanomyces''. The beer is then stored at room temperature for three months to condition naturally in the bottle. During bottling conditioning, their ''Brettanomyces'' culture takes the beer down below 0°P, and their desired level of carbonation is reached. This process took Addey-Jibb's team dozens of trials to perfect using their specific wort recipe, saison yeast, and ''Brettanomyces'' strain. Different species or strains of ''Brettanomyces'' might ferment differently, and different wort compositions might also ferment differently. For example, Addey-Jibb's saison is mashed with malted barley, wheat, and rye at a low temperature so there are not many higher chain sugars, allowing the beer to dry out quickly <ref>[http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/session-le-castor/ Addey-Jibb, Daniel. Interview on the Brewing Network's Session podcast. 10/04/2016.]</ref>. Other wort compositions that include higher chain sugars from specialty malts and/or higher mashing temperatures might ferment much slower, and thus knowing what the final gravity will be once ''Brettanomyces'' is added is difficult to know without running trials on that specific fermentation profile. It is recommended to use Belgian beer bottles of sparkling wine bottles that can withstand higher pressures than regular beer bottles just in case over-carbonation becomes an issue.

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