I’m planning on making a moderate gravity (~1.055 likely) saison within the next two weeks and I’m looking for opinions on what yeast to use. This is going to be a pretty simple saison – just Belgian Pilsner, Wheat Malt and a touch of Vienna. I will be making a 6 gallon batch split into two 3 gallon batches with each batch receiving a different yeast. The first yeast will be WL565 as I have experience with that one. So the considerations for the second yeast are:
(1) It will undergo the same fermentation temp profile as the 565 (I follow Drew’s saison primer pretty closely for this and it works out well for me).
(2) It should play well with 565 as I blend a gallon of each finished beer together to get three beers out of two batches (565, 565+other, other).
(3) It’d be nice if it offered a significantly different flavor than 565.
(4) A bit down on the list but I plan on repitching both of these into a higher gravity saison immediately after I’m done with this one and doing the same blending procedure.
3711 is the recommendation you will get the most. It is fine fermenting into the 90s. It will give more lemon/pepper than the more complex Dupont strains. 3726 is also floating around this summer which is the Blauges strain. It’s like Dupont but far fruitier.
saisonstein monster is another choice to consider. Supposedly a hybrid between two strains, comparable to Wy3711 and Wy3724. I have used it in a saison and it makes an enjoyable beer.
I did the open fermentation suggested by Drew and started at 68* for three days, then let it free rise. It ended at about 81* (I think it was).
Yeah, that’s a nice one. I tried it last year for the first time and picked some more up recently. Need to use it soon. I found it pretty peppery and a little fruity. Differences in temp I’m sure.
I have been using Belle Saison dry yeast for the last several batches of Rye Saison. It gives a nice fruity, funky flavor and aroma. My Rye Saison is a simple malt bill like yours. Sometimes less is more.
WLP 585 Saison 3 (commercially available since people bugged them!)
fruit driven nose, lactic (yogurt), ginger, sweetest perceived finish
A crowd favorite
It’s just a wonderfully different Saison yeast that fills in other things not seen from Saison Yeasts and of course, I love ginger, so…
Also, I just saw that my LHBS is currently carrying WL560 (Classic Saison Blend) for a limited time. Anyone have experience with this or know what it’s a blend of?
