I have been making my Saison using Wyeast 3711 for years now, but being able to get is via mail order since my LHBS closed is becoming a bit problematic. I can get it overnight from a store in Southern Ohio, but a lot of time especially in the summer months, it ends up arriving way too warm. So I am thinking about moving to a dry strain.
I have seen that LalBew Belle Saison. BE-134, or T-58 are good for Saisons. As a note, I make a Super Saison and ferment it pretty warm (in the high 80’s) to increase the phenolics for the style. I am leaning toward the Belle Saison and hope it wouldn’t get too fruity. Recommendations?
Belle Saison was my favorite of the dry saison yeasts, but they don’t sell it in homebrew-size packets anymore.
BE-134 works well – in my experience, it leans towards the dry peppery character. I run it around 20-22°C. It will run very dry … so be sure it’s really, truly done if you’re going to bottle condition.
T-58 is nice but it’ll give you a very restrained yeast character compared to BE-134.
I have a packet of Lallemand Farmhouse in my fridge but I haven’t tried it yet.
If you can find a stray packet of Belle Saison somewhere, definitely go for that (I used my last of two remaining packets in my dry yeast stash last week). Last year I fermented a batch in the mid-70’s, and fruit was subtle with light peppery notes. I’m guessing you’d get more peppery in the 80’s, but am not certain.
I just noted on Dave Taylor’s Yeast Master spreadsheet that Mangrove Jack’s M29 (French Saison) and Cellar Science’s French Saison should be roughly equivalent to Belle Saison. Availability is a bit spotty on those, so you may have to search some, if you want to try them out.
I haven’t used BE-134 previously, so am going to make a note to try it next time.
Lallemand’s Farmhouse is another option, but is probably too fruity for what you’re looking for, based on their sensory data.
I’ve moved to Farmhouse for my Saisons. I like the flavors, classic spicy notes with a bit of citrus, without the flavors being too in your face. Makes a really nice, easy drinking Saison. But…it won’t attenuate as well as Belle/3711. I’ve only seen upper 80%, finishing around.006-.007. That might not be dry enough for you.
What are you doing for mash time/temperature? I was thinking about using Farmhouse on a future batch, and was wondering if a long and low mash might dry things out (e.g., 90 or 120 minutes at 145 or so).
Usually between 150-152 for 90 minutes. I also add about 4% corn sugar to the boil. I don’t push fermentation temperatures though as I don’t like a lot of phenolics. I pitch in the mid 60’s and just let the yeast run its course, usually getting as high as 74-75F during peak activity, then falling back to room temp for the remainder. First couple of times I used it, I got around 85%, last two times I got 87 and 89%.
I like Lallemand Farmhouse but get comments about it being to clean from the judges. I’ve noticed that fermenting it at 64-68°F it produced a much cleaner, more neutral beer. There was still a subtle fruit character that I really like. More Belgian Pale Ale than Saison maybe?
In a cpl weeks I am going to try knocking out at 75°F and allowing it to reach just over 85°F during primary fermentation hoping it results in a much more farmhouse like profile. Less citrus and fruit impact in the taste and aroma, and far more spicy phenolic, barnyard character.
Belle is no longer sold in small sachets… unless you get Mangrove Jack M29 instead which is a repack of either some or all Belle. CellarScience Saison most likely is the same as well. These are not very fruity, mostly just black pepper with slightest hint of lemony citrus.
BE-134 is a great saison yeast that is much different from 3711/Belle/M29, very fruity.
T-58 is NOT a good saison yeast at all.
I would also avoid WB-06, which no one mentioned, and I probably should not have either. Trash.
I would also avoid WB-06, which no one mentioned, and I probably should not have either. Trash.
Definitely avoid for a saison! That said, I used WB-06 in a Belgian Single, and it was quite good for that use case. That makes sense if it’s a Belgian golden ale / Belgian strong ale type of yeast…and no sense at all to use it in a witbier or weissbier as suggested by Fermentis.
Thanks for all the replies. I have used BE-134 to finish off my Quad after the Abbaye Ale yeast peters out and it works well. Hadn’t considered using it in a Saison, but might have to rethink that. While waiting for comments, I managed to scare up a smack pack of 3711 for this round of Saison that is still fresh but will keep all the suggestions in mind. After this, I now have some other options. I agree that the Belle Saison yeast might be the best choice but didn’t want to spend $179 for a 500 g brick. Mangrove Jack M29 might be a good alternative.
Another comment on WB-06. We used it on my Dunkelweizen recipe that we made at Bugnutty Brewery in Cocoa, FL last year and it didn’t have enough of the character for the style. in fact, it was pretty much a nothing burger. I have a couple free sachets I got from a HBC a few years ago just in case and will probably never use them in anytning. I would never use this yeast in a Saison.
Cool! That’s in the ballpark of what I do, also; have you tried Farmhouse with that mash temperature? (or has anyone out there?) I’m curious if getting a drier saison with that is just a matter of adjusting the mash temperature lever.
For the first Saison I ever made I used Mangrove Jacks M29 and let it ferment at 80 degrees. It took second place in our local competition, Malt Madness.
I used Lallemand’s Farmhouse Hybrid Saison-style yeast a few years ago after using White Labs for years before that. I am very pleased with Lallemand’s saison yeast both in attenuation and profile and will use it for every Saison I make.
Currently working on 17.5 gallons of Sour Saison Braggot and Saison Braggot using PhillySour&BE-134 or Farmhouse&BE-134. Can’t yet comment on how they will finish. Using Cactus Honey (45% of total).
I’m a big fan of saisons and the best saison I’ve made with dry yeast was not intended to be a saison because I used Mangrove Jack M31 Belgian Tripel yeast. Which seems wrong but the beer, once it settled down, was remarkably similar to the Saison Dupont I drank in a bar during the period I was drinking my beer. I’m going to do another saison with M31 soon. The yeast is diastatic and attenuates around 90%. For three or four weeks the beer had strong flavours of banana and clove but it smoothed out really nicely. It was just one beer. I’ve used Belle Saison several times and BE-134, M29, Lalbrew Farmhouse and T-58. They are all ok yeasts, in my opinion. Farmhouse and T-58 don’t give you the dry finish and are mild flavoured, the one time I’ve used Farmhouse the beer was pretty good. 134 and M29 are more typical of what we expect from a modern saison. M31 really surprised me.