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WLP645 Brettanomyces claussenii is described as having “Low intensity Brett character. Originally isolated from strong English stock beer, in the early 20th century. The Brett flavors produced are more subtle than WLP650 and WLP653. More aroma than flavor contribution. Fruity, pineapple like aroma. B. claussenii is closely related to B. anomalus.”

The first picture is of my first attempt to grow a brettanomyces claussenii starter. I poured a vial of WLP645 into a sterile quart jar of wort and placed the jar on a stir plate for a couple of weeks (with the lid turned open a bit to allow oxygen in). The picture shows the result. It looks like a good bit of slurry has accumulated in the bottom of the jar, but the slurry is really dark and I’m not sure what that disgusting stuff on the top is.

This is a close up view of the stuff growing on the top. Click any of these pics for a high resolution version. I decided something must have been wrong with this culture, or perhaps I contaminated the starter with some sort of mold. I didn’t use it.

The next two pics are of my second attempt at growing a brett. c. starter. I purchased a new vial of WLP645. This time I poured a couple of quart jars of sterile wort into a vase and placed on a stir plate, covering only with aluminum foil to allow oxygen in. The vase on the right is the Brett. C., and the one on the left is a WLP001 starter. Notice the difference in color. I pitched the 645 and the 001 into their respective starter wort at the same time.

The next picture is of the Brett. C. stater about a week later after I’d added a couple more quarts of starter wort. You can see the line that had formed around the inside of the vase during the first week. Since this starter looked so good (and smelled good too), I decided to use it in my first ever 100% Brett only brew, a Saison. It’s going to be a while before I know how it turns out. For now I just wanted to record what I observed with the 2 different starters.