saison yeasts

BA pweis909 seems to like WLP760. He posted in a past thread:

This week I cracked open bottles of an ale made with WLP670, American Farmhouse Ale.
Great Bretty yeast character; I couldn't be happier with the taste. And I am shocked by the amount of of particulates in the beer.
The recipe was 83% Belgian Pils and 17% raw spelt, which I crushed, precooked, and then mashed with the pils. I assume the massive amounts of particulates has something to do with the spelt. It did not seem cloudy when I vorlaufed, or when I transferred to the fermenter. I can't recall if I used whirlfloc. So much white particulate getting kicked around in the bubbles of this beer - several mm of it settling to the bottom of my glass. I wonder if it is starch, protein, or otherwise.

As much as I like the flavor, it may be difficult for me to share with friends, unless I invest in some red (opaque) plastic cups. Perhaps this is one I'll just enjoy on my own.
On to the next beer and...
...not so cloudy.

The other ones I sampled came from the tail end of the bottling bucket. At the front end, it's not SO bad. Maybe I have something I can share afterall. And still, really tasty. Consider this thread a resounding recommendation of WLP 670 American Farmhouse Blend.

Cheers!

 

Don't believe everything you read about the regular Dupont strain...it ferments just fine if you don't go crazy with your grainbill.

 

Wyeast 3711 is a beast that will chew any grain bill you can imagine down to record low FG.
I have never had it stall.

 

Ditto on the 3711.

It kills it. Keep it warm early on and it throws some good flavors, finishes fast. It'll dry it down too. I think my last saison went to 1.002 or something. It's delicious.

 

3711 French Saison is not the one with the bad reputation (at least for attenuation) : )

 

I use 3711 a lot, and really like it. The last batch I did a big "super saison" - Sort of a Tank 7 kind of thing. I used the new dry Belle Saison strain, and had really great results with it. 1 packet got a 1.065ish OG beer down to 1.003 at about 65 degrees fermentation temp.

 

^ But what did it taste like?

 

“I used the new dry Belle Saison strain”

Please report back on what flavors you obtained from the Belle Saison strain. How would you compare those flavors to 3711?

Cheers!

 

I tend to push the 3711 a little more on the temps. I've used a water bath with an aquarium heater to do so, gradually raising the temps.

The yeast characteristics of the dry strain are somewhat similar to the 3711, but perhaps a bit more restrained. It has that classic slightly fruity saison flavor but not much of that peppery spice note. They recommended 2 packets, but I used one - just to see if I could stress the yeast into a little more ester production, and it blasted right through the wort like a champ. I'd like to try to see if it's slightly less restrained at around 70 degrees.

 

3711 is da bomb! It's happy at normal ale temps, it never stalls, and my Saisons typically finish right at 1.000. Spicy, peppery, dry. I'm tempted to try 3724 just to see what it can do, but I've been so happy with 3711 that the temptation is not too strong right now.

 

Mike,

If you are happy with 3711, that is the yeast to use. It is a great no-fuss Saison yeast.

I have only used 3724 once but I was very happy with the results. It has a more complex flavor profile then 3724. My experiences:

· 3711 completes primary fermentation in less than one week. As you stated you can ferment at ‘normal’ ale temperatures. The resulting beer is spice forward.
· 3724 fermented for 4-5 weeks (I fermented in the 80’s). The resulting beer had a more complex flavor profile; a combination of fruity flavors and spice. My batch never stalled on me but others have reported stalling.

My new favorite Saison strain is White Labs Saison III (WLP585). My last batch using this strain completed fermentation in 10 days (I fermented at the high end of the recommended range: 74-75°F). The resulting beer was similar to 3724 in that it had a complex flavor profile of fruity and spicy. WLP585 is Platinum strain which will be available July/August of this year.

Cheers!

Jack

 

Woah, nice to hear so many good things about 3711. I'm brewing my first saison this week with that yeast, hopefully with great results in a few weeks.

 

3711 is a monster attenuater. I love how dry the beer finishes and how quickly it works. The flavor is good but not great. A bit too clean without enough of the earthy, musty flavor that DuPont strains have. The 3711 is dry, peppery and a little floral.

Something I haven't done but have considered is two yeast or dual stage fermentation. DuPont pitched to start since it produces a lot of nice flavor early and then when it stalls at around 60% apparent fermentation, pitch in 3711 to finish or Brett to dry it down into the single digits.

 

SAVE ME ONE!!!

I just brewed a Saison with built up Arthur dregs, its currently going to town, smells amazing! Besides that, I have used WLP 565 in a Saison that was bottled in Oct 2011, fermented WAY too hot and is much more tolerable currently...its holding up well.

 

That Arthur one sounds awesome, I may have to do that someday.

 

I made my first Saison in January with WLP565. 68 for 2 days then ramped to 85 over another 2 days. It took off and fermented pretty violently for a full week. 1.058-1.010. Used 1.5 lbs of sugar in there too. I didn't even have to rock the fermenter like I did with the WLP400 Wit strain I used for a White IPA last summer. Had no trouble, though I think if I didn't heat it up it would have stalled out, it was slowing down right before I ramped it. The beer is completely fantastic. Nelson and Sorachi hopped.

 

I am considering the same approach. I have harvested DuPont and Ommengang's Hennepin. I would like to try pitching them at the same time. Both are warm fermenters (mid-80s) . . . just see what happens.

Anyone ever done anything like this?