Just purchased a couple of packs of this prior to the end of Sept. deadline for later brewing this fall/early winter. I have never used this strain before and was wondering if anyone had any experiences (positive or negative) with it? I sure do enjoy a nice malty, dry biere de garde when they are brewed properly…
I’ve used it many times. You won’t be disappointed. I have one that I brewed two months ago that is going on tap this week. I’ve found that it takes that long for it to come into its own. I fermented it in the low 70s. I’ll let you know how it came out in a couple of days.
Do you remember what temp you pitched at? I am looking for a somewhat clean fermentation profile vs. an overly fruity one. Thanks in advance…
I pitched at 68F and let it rise naturally over just a few days. I left it in primary for three weeks and conditioned it in the keg for another month or so.
I tried it tonight, and it is malty and dry as it should be, but the alcohol is a bit hot. It might need a little more time, though it is quite strong at 8.6% ABV. If it’s anything like other bieres de garde that I’ve brewed, it will continue to improve for the month or so that it lasts. It is not fruity at all.
I have used this yeast and like it a lot. I too pitched at 68F and I kept it there for 24 hrs. before raising it eventually to 75F or so to finish out. The yeast is malt accentuating as advertised. I did find it to have a very pleasant but mild spicy estery quality to it. I noticed no phenolics either time I used it. I would call it a mild saison yeast. If you want clean I would recommend to ferment colder than 68F or try a cleaner yeast. WY2124 or maybe WLP011. WY3725 also has an initial sweetness just as Wyeast describes. It will finish dry however. This yeast is indeed highly attenuative. Beers of 1.069 and 1.075 mashed at 154F and 152F respectively both finished at 1.007.
My attenuation numbers are similar to yours, hence the 8.6% ABV. I agree with your flavor/aroma description, but I would put an emphasis on the mild. In my experience/opinion, there is something with this yeast that you don’t get with the European ale yeast (WLP011), or with a lager yeast. Maybe it’s the spicy/saison type flavor you mention–but to me, it’s slightly different, something you only get in the French ale, either the Wy3725 or the WLP072.
Wow! Good to know that it can really dry things out. How dextrinous were your grain bills on those 152-154F mashes?
Good question. The 1.075 beer was a had a pound (6%) of C80 but also a pound (6%) of D-45 candy syrup. Mashed at 152F
The 1.069 beer had no crystal and no sugar adjunct and was mashed at 154F.
Again both finished at 1.007. Hope that was what you were looking for.
Thanks. Just looking to settle in on a good mash temp for the recipe that is still a work in progress (in my head right now). I just won some 5 SRM Gold liquid candi syrup from a local comp that I might be incorporating into my amber biere de garde.
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Just an update after pitching this strain for everyone.
Brewed a 1.069 amber biere de garde with brunwater amber malty profile and hit a 5.4 mash pH (room temps of course). Pitched a decanted 2.5 qt starter (stir plate) with 2 packs from August and chilled the wort to 65F.
Within 4 hrs there was active fermentation which was maintained at 65F via temp controlled fridge. Next morning, a small krausen had formed and fermentation was moving along nicely.
I get home from work today (just over 24 hrs after pitching) only to find the small krausen had pretty much dropped back into the wort already and the temp had dropped to 64F (was only in cooling mode, no heater attached). Fermentation seemed sluggish at this point.
Raised the temp to 69F to see if that would help pick things up. By far one of the most finicky strains I have ever worked with. After reading the Wyeast specs they do have a ferment temp listed at 70-84F, but I was hoping to ferment cooler on this one to minimize esters and phenolics for a cleaner malt profile to come through.
Have you checked the gravity? How much wort was pitched with your starter? Sounds like you had a lot of yeast raring to go. I wouldn’t be surprised if you find that fermentation is complete. I have heard of it working just fine at ~65F but have never used it under 68F myself. Let us know what you find. I have been fond of this yeast the few times I have used it. Any more info about it’s behavior would be helpful.
I did not take a gravity reading, and I really don’t think that within 24 hrs at 65F a 1.069 beer could be dropped to 1.010-1.015 with (not pitching on a yeast cake).
It is moving along slowly at about 25 bubbles/minute in the airlock at 69F. So much for no “sluggishness” on the wyeast specs. In all fairness, they do say to ferment at 70F, but I just didn’t want to ferment at 70F straight out of the gates with a stronger OG beer. Will keep you posted.
How big was the batch? I way overpitched a 1.072 Weizenbock with WY3333 a few years back and a 24 hr ferment is exactly what I got. That and acetaldehyde. I think its worth checking the gravity.
I have slowly bumped up the temps 1degree/day and fermentation has picked up a tad and been fairly steady even without much of a krausen at all. This strain must just be pretty temp specific with it enjoying temps more on the warmer side than I am used to fermenting my biere de gardes at. Looking forward to seeing what profile this yeast strain produces and how close to a true biere de garde it really is. Right now, I would say that it probably is more suited to saison production, but the finished product will tell the whole tale.