I've read the WLP 644 is Saccharomyces and not brett. Can I use this yeast in my normal ale fermentors without having to dedicate that bucket to sour beers? Do I need to use it in my sour buckets or can I treat it like normal sachh?
My understanding is that you should treat it like Brett. The reason they made the mistake is because it looks and acts like Brett (which is also smaller in size than normal Sach, as this is). It wasn't until they sequenced it that they figured out it isn't Brett.
It creates a pellicle and infects soft goods just like brett from what Ive heard and from my experience, so my advice is to keep your gear separate. Others will claim you can share gear, but I have heard multiple people mention that after using 644 in their clean gear that all successive beers that used that equipment developed the typical 644 tropical fruit and haziness. I have had a 644 pipeline/dedicated tap on my funky/sour/wild keezer for a couple of years and couldn't imagine my home bar without it...I'm a big fan of using it in my DIPAs because it attenuates more than most Sacc and dries the beer out better than any other yeast I've ever used for DIPAs! 644 is similar to brett in that it likes to be mistreated to make more funk/tropical notes, so if you want more brett like qualities out of it, under pitch and/or ramp up the heat during fermentation and it'll get more tropical fruity
Imperial Organic also supplies this yeast under the name "Citrus"... I talked to them about the cross contamination issues with it and I have used it myself. There should be no reason to treat it like Brett. In most cases, this yeast is actually a slightly lower attenuator than most other Sacch strains are.
I've used it for several years very regularly and hit at least 80% attenuation each time and have heard most talk about how it over attenuates, never heard of it under attenuating. Curious if it was your experience or if you heard from someone that it under attenuates?
It's what I have seen the two times I used it. I had a brief discussion about it with a tech from Imperial Organic and he said that was what they saw in the lab as well. Obviously though, a lot of factors go into play, so I wouldn't doubt that 80% is definitely possible. However, with a Brett blend of Clausenii, Lambicus, and Drie, I normally see 95-100%.
Brett loves to eat...everything! That's one reason I like 644/Trois is that it throws similar Brett characteristics without completely attenuating and drying the beer out way too much.
