Which Farmhouse/Saison yeast - more fruit, less clove

I'd like to brew up a saison-type beer and am looking for advice on which yeast to use. My LHBS carries white labs strains and I would love to try wlp585, but it's a platinum strain and won't be available until after July 4th. I don't think I can wait this long considering I'm not sure if I'll have a window to brew then. So, what strain would you suggest if I'm looking for something more on the fruity side and less on the clovey side?

I just did a farmhouse ale with wyeast biere de garde that is absolutely amazing. Very very little clove.

I used the blend, wl568

blakelyc said:

I just did a farmhouse ale with wyeast biere de garde that is absolutely amazing. Very very little clove.

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Interesting idea. What flavors did you get from that yeast. I thought biere de gardes were pretty clean. Did you get any esters from it?

sinisterkid said:

I used the blend, wl568

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White labs description indicates that this could be a pretty clove-y yeast. How did yours turn out?

I have a Saison with the 568 and neither my wife or I noticed clove.

JLem said:

Interesting idea. What flavors did you get from that yeast. I thought biere de gardes were pretty clean. Did you get any esters from it?



White labs description indicates that this could be a pretty clove-y yeast. How did yours turn out?

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My only other experience with a Saison yeast is 3724, and they are very different. The biere de garde yeast is 3725-pc. On 3725, I did get some ester production, but I would say that wyeast's description of it being "subtle esters" and "tilted towards the malt" are accurate. It isn't a malty yeast at all, thought. I added a pound of honey to help it dry out, and I would say that the mouthfeel characteristics are pretty spot on for a Saison, but the flavor characteristics are more subdued. All in call, I would describe it as a "pleasant" yeast with some structure and subtle complexity, with killer balance. I my beers it is definitely less spicey than 3724.

Fwiw, I pitched at 68, fermented at a constant 64 for two weeks, and by the end of the third week environmental conditions had it back up to 68. That is fairly cool for the yeast, but i currently dont have a convenient way to raise fermentation temps. Attenuation was good... Took an OG 1054 to FG 1005.

If you want fruit and little or no clove or pepper, just use an abbey or trappist strain.

3711 is very fruity

WLP500, (Chimay), or WLP510 (Duvel).

Thanks all. Turns out another weekend has come and (pretty much) gone and I didn't have a chance to brew, so maybe I'll just wait for the wlp585 to be released at this point.

WLP565, the Dupont yeast. I've used 3724 from Wyeast, which is their Dupont yeast, and the flavors were great when I fermented at 88F. Orange, lemon and Juicy Fruit bubblegum for fruits. Dry and peppery, too.

As of now I have a saison sitting in secondary on Brett B that was primary fermented with Wyeast 3522. I tasted a sample during the transfer to secondary and it was amazing. You get some fruity flavors as well as a little spiciness plus I got a hint of bubblegum in the nose. I can't wait for this one to finish up.