Brettonmyces Lambicus and Old Ale

[keithshead]

Hey,
I recently attempted a Scottish 80/ but because of a 'equipment flaw' it turned into a right cake and arse party. Anyway, managed to save it by turning it into an Old Ale. As a second thought i bought an 11 litre glass carboy and some Brettonmyces Lambicus and after a few weeks in the fermenter i transferred it into the carboy, chucked in the Brett then purged it with CO2 before sealing with a bung and airlock. It has now been sitting peacefully in a dark corner of the garage for a few days (no activity).

Question; what can i expect here? i know it needs to be left at least six months and it may form some gunk on top. It is a very dark beer, highly hopped and fermented with Wyeast Scottish Ale. Its OG was 1072 and FG of 1.018. How far can i expect the gravity to go down with the brett?

Any ideas?

[Barley Water]

Well, I don't have any experience with Brett but you have a couple of things going against you that I noticed right away. First of all, the alcholol level is pretty high which may well inhibit the bugs or at least slow them down. Secondly, you said that the beer was heavily hopped, again not a great environment for the bugs. I know from experience that Oud Bruins for instance start life in the 1.060 neighborhood and are fairly moderatly hopped. Both alcholol and hops conspire to keep the wild stuff down. Of course, anytime you start messing with this stuff, you really never know exactly what is going to happen (which is why they are referred to as "wild"). You might want to check and see if Brett L is super attenuating, if it is you might well end up pretty low. It will however take quite a bit of time (maybe a year or more). One of these days, I really need to start another "sour beer" solerna, either a lambic or possibly a Berliner Weiss.