No go on the brett brux

I planned to add brett bruxellensis to a done porter of about 5% abv and about 50 ibu. I was told that since the porter has a relatively healthy IBU, that I was best to start the brett on its own and then add when done.

I threw the brett in cherry juice concentrate and added about 3x water to dilute a bit. it did not say on the concentrate label whether it was pastuerized. no visible action happening after 1 week.

i feel that i have three options, so please weigh in if you can:

  1. wait

  2. add 1 cup of boiled/cooled DME into the “starter.”

  3. dump the brett and cherry mix into the finished porter.

Does the cherry juice have potassium sorbate or other preservative? If so, you may have killed the brett. Another issue could be that the pH of the cherry juice wasn’t allowing for growth.

If it’s a pH problem, then adding some DME or otherwise adjusting the pH could help. But if it’s a preservative issue, then you may need to go buy a new pack of brett.

fwiw, I don’t necessarily agree with the advice you got regarding the brett and IBUs. I think you would have been just fine adding the brett directly to the beer. If it’s like most porters (liberal use of crystal and roasted malts, etc.), there’s probably plenty of fermentables left for the brett.

so looks like I’ll throw in a cup of DME boiled and cooled and check for activity. the bottle says “no preservatives.” we’ll see

update 1 week later (Feb 28) after the DME addition: full vigorous activity and a stanky sour odor. I plan to add to the 5 gal of done porter and let sit for 6+ months.