Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale

In another 6 weeks or so I am going to be brewing a couple of batches of braggot. I would really like to age one of them on oak with some brett as well to try and get the flavors that would have occurred in the oak casks used in the middle ages (that were all infected with brett). I have never worked with brett so I'm not sure how to plan and execute this. I really don't want this to have a "knock you over the head" barnyard funk; I just want it to be a little funky and be able to taste the oak a bit as well. This recipe is regularly producing 13-15% ABV depending on when the English Ale yeast gives out.

Thanks in advance.

Generally English ale yeasts are lower attenuating yeasts. There should be plenty for the Brett to "chew" on after the English yeasts are done.  Brett will eat higher sugars that regular brewing yeasts won't.  I would primary ferment it with the English yeasts as you usually would.  Then add the Brett to a secondary, or you could just add the Brett and oak to the primary fermentation vessel after the English yeasts are finished. Try not to oxygenate the wort too much because you don't want a vigorous Brett ferment, as you had stated.  Also, go with a Brett strain that is known to be more mellow, like Brett C.  Don't use something like Brett. Lambicus because you'll get too much funk for what you're looking for.  White Labs and Wyeast both produce what they call Brettanomyces Clausenii but most Brett-brewers agree that these are actually different species or strains. Wyeast Brett C. is also referred to as Brettanomyces Anomalus.  You might have to do some research yourself to determine which of these would be more historically accurate to use for your braggot.  The Wyeast Brett C./Anomalus(5151) is a special release strain, but it's due out in the April-June 2010 set of VSS yeasts and it's presently available here: http://www.brewbrothers.biz/
Expect a lower F.G. in the Brett-ed batch and save the oak when you're done.  It will harbor the yeasts, mostly the Brett will survive best in the wood, and can be used as an inoculation "wand" in your next batch! Rather than oak chips or cubes, consider getting an OakBoy.  It's a single piece of toasted oak, American or French, available from Northern Brewer. The benefits that I see are easier handling and less oakiness, which could be important since the braggot will be exposed to the oak for a while.  Hope this helps!

Great information. A couple of additional questions:
Will using the brett extend the secondary fermentation? if so, for how long?
What is the best way to store the inoculated oak for later use?

Usually Brett-ed beers aren't palatable for about 3-6 months. How long your secondary has to be will depend on what flavors you're looking to obtain from the Brett.  For example, lactic acid produced by Brett will take about a year to achieve, but some Brett fruitiness will be noticeable within a month or so.
Actually, I'm not sure how to store the oak; I've just heard from a lot of people that it can be done. And that it's a great way to share and transfer bug stocks.  I'll be looking into this myself though for my own brewing.  When I find out how to store it, I'll let you know!

I was listening the the BrewStrong episode on Wood Aging and at the very end they mentioned storing oak cubes that have been inoculated with bugs. They suggest either air drying and storing in a ziplock bag at room temperature or just placing in a ziplock bag and putting them in the freezer. It seems like either cubes or one of the oak spirals would be easier to store than the longer OakBoy.

Let me know if you come up with better ways of dealing with this.

As for how long to let it stay in secondary with the brett - Wouldn't I be in danger of getting bottle bombs if I bottle too soon? I'm quite fine with doing 3 - 6 months in the carboy for the secondary (I often do meads much longer) but I don't want to completely sour the braggot, I just want to have a noticeable brett character.

I'd probably let it secondary for 3 months then taste it and do a gravity reading.  As with any yeasts, sure, you could get bottle bombs if you bottle too soon.  That's one reason that I keg.    Most of the Brett fermentation should be finished within 3 months and you'll just be getting some secondary effects after that. So I wouldn't sweat it too much as long as your gravity reading is in a "normal" range like 1.010 or so.
Thanks for the info from BrewStong. I'll probably go with the Ziploc bag in the freezer idea.  I know what you mean about the length of the oakboy.  I wish it was half the size, then it would be perfect.  Maybe I'll saw mine in half. I ran into a little problem with it last night when I was trying to soak it in cabernet in a carboy for my next beer.  The damn thing wouldn't lay flat, even on the side of a 6.5g carboy!

Wow, that is long. I think I may go with one of the spirals; they cost a bit more, but are more compact, and should give lots of surface area for the brett to hang out.