WLP-530 vs. Wyeast 3787

Need some feedback here.  When I finally get back home, one of the beers that I am going to brew is a Tripel.  OG will bee around 19 degrees Plato.  I am torn between using White Labs WLP-530 and Wyeast 3787  which are both high alcohol tolerant.  Both are good for Tripels and I have never used either.  Leaning toward 3787 since that is the strain that Westleveran uses.

Thoughts?

I haven’t used the 530 but I love 3787.

I prefer 530.  The two are supposedly equivalent… but really aren’t.  Not sure which one is the “real” one.

What is it you prefer about 530?

Nothing super tangible.  I won gold with a dubbel with 530.  It truly was great.  Was your Chimaybe recipe actually.  Same recipe with 3787… the yeast was more finicky (well 530 is too but) and refused to settle out, and ended up with less character.  Still good but not gold.

Whichever you choose, try to leave plenty of headspace.  I’ve had blowoff with 3787 fermenting 5 gallons in a 7 gallon fermentor.

Have you used it other than that?  Any chance it was an isolated experience?

I prefer 3787. I use it for my whole Trappist series.

I made a tripel with the 3787 and it was excellent. I bottled at 13.5% ABV and the yeast woke right up and went to town.

There’s a very good chance it was a one-time thing… especially after seeing all ya’ll’s experience with 3787, I might need to give Wyeast another try.  Thanks.

I just love 3787. It’s the most well behaved of that bunch and it responds very well to no temp control, i.e. pitch at 64 and let it free rise.

Even your tripel, Derek?  I let my saison free rise to almost 90 degrees and it always comes out great.  I have won several gold medals with it.  One of my professional brewing friends near Columbus, Ohio preaches that the temp can never get high enough for a saison and his is delicious.  Not sure I want to let it go that high with a tripel, maybe high 70’s or so since it is a bit more of a delicate beer.  Never made one before so this will be an experiment. The beer has been requested by my quality control expert (my wife).  :slight_smile:

BTW, thanks to all for thee input.  3787 has won the yeast contest for me.

All my beers with 3787 get pitched at 64F and then have no temp control applied. My basement has an ambient temp of about 66F in the winter and summer months so I typically see a peak of about 74F by day 5 or 6. Temp usually does not exceed 66 in the first 24-36 hours.

I have difficulty getting 3787 at my brew shop, or I’d use it more. Love it. It takes a while to settle out (I only bottle). However, the way it ages over the longer term (over 6 months) is fantastic, in my limited experience.

Once I get the bottles to cold conditioning (2 ish weeks) they drop pretty clear for me.