• Speakeasy

  Brettanomyces Yeast and Aging Whisky in Barrels

  Posted by broken anvil distilleries on February 1, 2017 at 8:31 pm

  A local brewer is hoping to use some of my space for some Foeder tanks holding Sour Beer. His process will be using Brettanomyces and I have read of some serious concerns with Bretta attacking the cellobiose of whisky barrels. Knowing that many of you are also brewers, I’d love to get your feedback on whether I should be concerned with airborne cross contamination. The brewers would use their own pumps, tanks, etc. but would be in close proximity to my mash tun, fermenters and barrels.

  Thanks

  nabtastic replied 7 years, 10 months ago 3 Members · 3 Replies
• 3 Replies

• 

  justandy

  Member

  February 1, 2017 at 9:41 pm

  I wouldn’t worry about it infecting your whiskey storage barrels. It’s very possible depending on the type of equipment you have to get a persistent brett contamination of fermenters and etc but it would depend on your process whether that’s a problem for you. We have some plastic fermenters that I’m certain harbor brett from some wine we worked with, but the 7 days that whisky ferments reside in them doesn’t seem to be long enough to get much activity from it. 

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  broken anvil distilleries

  Member

  February 2, 2017 at 11:30 am

  Thanks Just Andy, I appreciate it. With a new shipment of 30 or so barrels coming just after the foeder (s) make themselves at home, I would have been mad at myself if I infected them.

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  nabtastic

  Member

  February 12, 2017 at 8:42 pm

  I wouldn’t see it is as any more of a threaten than a regular open-air fermentation.  If it’s a big concern, maybe install a layer of vinyl refrigerator door curtains?

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