robust porter with saison yeast

I have no idea how 3724 will ‘behave’ in a Robust Porter.

I can provide some level of feedback on using a Belgian yeast strain to make a Porter. I brewed a Belgian Stout last fall using Wyeast 1762 (the Rochefort strain). I also added a boatload of Belgian Specialty Malts (Belgian Aromatic, Belgian Biscuit, Special B) in addition to a ‘standard’ dark malt of Chocolate malt. I purposefully fermented this on the ‘warm side’ (e.g., 73°F) to encourage 1762 to make “Belgiany’ flavors. The resulting beer turned out well (my wife absolutely loved this beer) but it tasted like a ‘regular’ Porter to me. Since I was hoping for a Belgian Porter vs. a ‘regular’ Porter I personally was a bit disappointed.

Cheers!

 

Most of the character in a basic 3724 Saison is yeast derived. Dry, fruity, and a bit peppery. So I think the question is whether you want a porter with those characteristics on top of its malt derived flavors.

 

I may not have stated it emphatically in my prior post. My Belgian Porter’s taste was very much dominated by the dark malt flavors. I was unable to perceive any ‘Belgiany’ flavors from the 1762 yeast.

Maybe 3724 is ‘stronger’ and you will be able to perceive the yeast produced flavors? I tend to doubt it based upon my personal experience but I certainly would not discourage cracker from trying

Cheers!

 

I think a dry peppery porter would be a nice combo without the fruitiness.
Wyeast 3726 sounds like it might taste better with a porter:
This strain produces complex esters balanced with earthy/spicy notes. Slightly tart and dry with a peppery finish. A perfect strain for farmhouse ales and saisons.
It's in season (or whatever yeast being available is called) I believe I just got some last Friday.
Dig that tart too, Tart of Darkness was awesome beer.

 

Were you surprised by this? 1762 is about the cleanest fermenting belgian strain I can think of. Totally different animal from 3724.

 

To discuss the ‘concept’ that jivex5k mentioned, the Saison strain that has produced the most black pepper in my Saison beers is 3711.

I have fermented once with 3726 (back in 2008) and it is my recollection that it produced a nice balance of esters and spices (including pepper).

Cheers!

 

A bit. I brewed a Dubbel using 1762 before and fermented in the low 70’s. That beer had very noticeable “Belgiany’ flavors (nice noticeable fruity esters and some phenol flavors). I have also noticed fruity esters and some phenols in the Rochefort beers that I have tried (8 & 10).

I have read that 1762 will produce a ‘clean’ beer if you ferment on the cooler end of the recommended range or in lower gravity wort. My personal experience with 1762 in my Dubbel is that it was not a ‘clean’ yeast.

Cheers!

 

Me too hombre.

I find Rochefort 8 to be pretty heavy on the dark fruit and spice, not in any way neutral to my tastes, even among other big belgians.

 

I will echo Jack's comments regarding Belgian yeast characteristics in Porter/Stout worts.

You have to make that yeast work hard to overcome the darker malt characteristics. I am not saying it cannot be done, but think of ways to get the yeast to work hard and still perform. Most of my sucessful attempts have been from pitching WY3787 on the low side, intentional or not. I do not have any experience with other Belgian strains in these types of wort.

Thinking about it, Baltic Porter may be just the type of roast malt wort to make it happen with this styles's emphasis on sublty in the roast department.

I think splitting a batch between two yeast is a great idea. Good luck.

edit: ah hell. all that thought and i put the comment about baltic porter when the op wants robust porter. sorry for that.

 

While I can't 'speak' from personal 'experience' in regards to brewing a 'porter' with 'saison yeast' I can certainly 'speak' of my 'experience' with '3724'.

All of the 'beers' that I've 'brewed' with this 'yeast' have finished with very 'low' FGs and have a very 'dry' and lightly 'phenolic' flavor with a very light 'mouthfeel'. Personally I would be 'concerned' about how a 'robust porter' recipe would meld with these 'characteristics' and would 'worry' that the 'beer' would come out too 'astrigent' and/or 'off balance' without some 'body' or 'sweetness' to 'balance' the 'roast' or 'bitter' character. Again, I've never 'brewed' such a 'beer' before, I'm just 'speculating' based on my 'experience' with this 'yeast'.

 

That was surprisingly difficult to read.

 

While I don't think that 3724 is the way to go for a Belgian Stout (mouthfeel and dryness would probably not jive on a stout), I will relate some recent experience from a few months ago. Was going to brew a dubbel, LHBS only had 1581 or 1214 available (didn't want to place an order during beer week when there were so many extracurricular activities). Went with the 1581, as I don't really care for 1214. A few days later, ended up with a day off and nothing to do, so top-cropped for a starter the night before and then brewed an oatmeal stout to try it out. The dubbel is a dubbel, lots of malt, dark fruit, and a hint of cocoa, and the oatmeal stout is... an oatmeal stout. You've got to really push the belgian yeast in some weird ways to overcome the roast but not dry it out too much.

 

Congratulations, you gave me a migraine.

 

I have used roasted grains in dark belgian beers to have a porter-like beer. However, I was concerned about clashing flavors, so I used less roasted grains than I would use in a porter and ended up reining in the yeast too by mixing the Westmalle and Chico strains (this part was a brewday mistake). It wasn't a bad beer, with unmistakeable-yet-subtle Belgian and Porter character.

 

“Of course it could be amazing too right?” The only way to know for sure is to run the experiment. Please report back if you do brew a Robust Porter with 3724.

Cheers!

 

I laughed out loud.

 

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