Does anyone know why the BYO recipe for Belgian Fat Tire uses an american yeast? A direct quote from the website description of the beer, I added the underlines: ---------------- The American Craft Beer Icon After a trip to Europe, New Belgium’s co-founder returned to Colorado from Belgium with a handful of ingredients and an idea. Two years later, Fat Tire – named in honor of his inspired bike ride across the Belgian countryside – pedaled its way into the hearts of beer drinkers. Now considered an iconic centerpiece of the craft beer movement, Fat Tire represents the American spirit of craft brewing ingenuity and an irresistible imagination that reminds us all to rediscover our playful side. Fat Tire’s unique flavor profile originates from the late 1930s, when local Belgian breweries aimed to satisfy the tastes of visiting British soldiers. English floral hops, subtle malt sweetness and spicy, fruity notes from Belgian yeast made for a balanced yet magical combination. These same characteristics are at the heart of Fat Tire. Classified as an Ameri-Belgo style ale by the revered Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup competitions, Fat Tire blends a fine malt presence, fresh herbal hop balance and a touch of fruity yeast to offer drinkers everywhere a timeless craft beer experience with a rare blend of balance and complexity.
Interesting question. From a thread on another forum discussing the same question: "I would highly recommend using the current Wyeast private collection yeast 3655-PC Belgian Schelde Ale. It is cleaner than most belgian yeasts and will work very well in a fat tire clone. I think it is the De Konnink strain, which some claim is the inspiration for fat tire. I have used this strain and the white labs strain wlp-515 with success in amber ales and belgian pale ales." In that thread someone suggested using the Chimay yeast (WLP 500 or Wyeast 1214), but fermented cool to minimize, but retain some, Belgian character. This might be a decent route to go. It seems to me you need some Belgian yeast character for a clone, but it must be subdued. Pitching a large cell count would also likely keep the Belgian character in check. On the other hand, some argue that a neutral yeast such as the Chico strain is what you want, and that the key is the malt bill. Along those lines, here's some more from the same thread. Bouckaert is (or at least was) the head brewer at New Belgian (IIRC). "When trying to emulate Fat Tire Amber Ale, Bouckaert advises that you pay particular attention to the malt bill and the aging process. 'We have a malt character that asks for a lot of light-colored malts,' he says. 'Specialty, Munich and light caramel malts comprise up to 30 percent. For the signature toasted biscuit flavor of this brown-amber beer, add from 5 to 10 percent of malts with a nutty character.' For hops, he recommends shooting for 16 IBUs with a subtle late addition of aroma or dry hops. 'Don't use Cascade or other overpowering hops,' Bouckaert adds. " Cheers!
Thanks - that is super helpful. Net-net, we basically need somewhere in the middle, not a full on trappist type, and not a totally neutral profile either.
I think you could get close to this beer with an English strain that emphasizes malt character over esters, like WLP 002. I never really picked up on the fruity and phenolic characters found in Trappist and abbey ales. Sure, maybe the Schelde strain, but it is not available year round.
You can get the Omega version through Midwest Supplies year round https://www.midwestsupplies.com/omega-yeast-belgian-ale-dk
