Anyone tried WLP585 Belgian Saison III yet?

I just picked up a vial of WLP585 Belgian Saison III at the LHBS. Has anyone tried this yet? I understand it is a new platinum strain, so I figure it may not have a lot of play yet. I was drawn to it by the White Labs description, which included "Produces beer with a high fruit ester characteristic, as well as some slight tartness." I am planning on brewing a Moteuka-based saison, and thought the yeast might combine well.

Any feedback appreciated.

Just picked this up as well for a small table saison. I can't wait to try it but am also wondering what it's like. It has been released before, though. It's supposed to not attenuate as crazily as the popular saison yeasts, so I think that may be good for my lower gravity beer. I just had a sample of some 566 saison (high gravity) and it's still super green and yeasty even at 6 weeks. Pretty bummed about that one but I'll give those another chance. I may just not like that yeast for saisons.

Unrelated questions- is there a 3711 white labs equivalent? Is that the 566? If not, where is 566 from if 565 is the dupont strain?

3711 has no White Labs equivalent. 566 is a different Dupont strain.

By coincidence, I also have a high gravity fermentation going with 566 as well. I brewed on 7/29, and due to a series of brew-day mishaps, I wound up with the ridiculous OG of 1.113. Unfortunately, one of the screwups was I did not take a reading off the sample I pulled until after I pitched, so I couldn't dilute down to a more reasonable gravity. I took a reading last night, and assuming my refractometer conversion software is correct, the gravity is down to 1.036. I fully expect it's going to stall at some point, but it's still really early. I may zap this one with brett later, and see what happens.

I'll keep you posted on the 585, I'm hoping to brew it this weekend.

daksin said:

Just picked this up as well for a small table saison. I can't wait to try it but am also wondering what it's like. It has been released before, though. It's supposed to not attenuate as crazily as the popular saison yeasts, so I think that may be good for my lower gravity beer. I just had a sample of some 566 saison (high gravity) and it's still super green and yeasty even at 6 weeks. Pretty bummed about that one but I'll give those another chance. I may just not like that yeast for saisons.

Unrelated questions- is there a 3711 white labs equivalent? Is that the 566? If not, where is 566 from if 565 is the dupont strain?

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Marchborne said:

By coincidence, I also have a high gravity fermentation going with 566 as well. I brewed on 7/29, and due to a series of brew-day mishaps, I wound up with the ridiculous OG of 1.113. :

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Umm, did that mishap involve doubling your grain bill. :cross:

Ramitt said:

Umm, did that mishap involve doubling your grain bill. :cross:

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Or fell asleep during the boil?

A little bit of both. Multiple boilovers, didn't balance DME to water ratio afterwards, general mayhem.

On the positive side, my thought is now to finish this monster off with a Brett-C secondary. I used citra in the original "saison," this was supposed to be, with an anticipated dry hop with more citra. I was wondering how that might play out with a brett-c addition, and lo and behold, I was listening to an older BeerSmith podcast discussing brett, and the group decided a brett-c and citra hop would be good. Hey, validation.

passedpawn said:

Or fell asleep during the boil?

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I have a vial of 585 I'm planning to use soon. I'm leaning towards pairing it with Calypso, but I'm open to other options. I guess I was hoping to hear other people's success stories and cautionary tales before I fired up the propane burner.

Anybody know the brewery that's supposed to be the source?

The description sounds like it could easily end up being my favorite saison strain. Was planning to pick it up at the LHBS on Saturday anyways, but now I'll definitely be doing so.

My buddy just kegged a saison w/ the Platinum strain. It went from 1.050 to 1.003 in 3 days (stir plate starter), and it smelled unbelievable!!! Floral & citrus notes, plus a light sweet/tartness. Can't wait to try it. Plus, he washed the yeast and gave me half--so mine'll be on the way next week. Score!

It's supposed to be from Dupont, according to Drew Beechum, but They say the same thing about 565, 566 and bottle dregs, none of which seem to really work the same. Maybe someone smarter than me can do some microbiology work and figure out what's what. A Dupontgate burglary and yeast harvest may be required.

Actually, I have no clue the sourcing of Saison III. I begged and cajoled and tried to wheedle it out of Neva when she gave me a vial of it for my NHC talk last year and no dice. She's tough.

The yeast - is awesome. Out of all the strains we poured that day - it was number two. Number one was the ECY Saison Brasserie strain.

4 posts and suddenly he's an expert! The slideshow of his presentation is linked below. No audio, but it has the recipe and tasting notes for about 20 strains.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/110008193/A-Saison-for-Every-Season

I just bottled an american saison with this strain (split w 550 and 644 too), I was in a rush tho so didn't really sample too much of it. It fermented a bit further down (88% vs 85% attenuation) than the 550 and was a bit fruitier, didn't notice any tart unfortunately. I blended the 3 in a keg, but kept the bottles the individual strains so i can give an update in a few weeks

kingwood-kid said:

4 posts and suddenly he's an expert! The slideshow of his presentation is linked below. No audio, but it has the recipe and tasting notes for about 20 strains.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/110008193/A-Saison-for-Every-Season

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Haha! Yea! Who is this guy? I mean, Zymurgy lets just about anyone write articles, right?

Drew, thanks for chiming in. I'll be getting either the ECY or 585, whichever I see first. BTW, I really enjoyed your saison article. It gave me a lot of ideas for my pumpkin saison.

I got a vial for my next batch. What temp are you guys fermenting at? I try to keep wlp565 at ~80 but I'm not sure if that's too high for wlp858. Want to get that distinct Belgian flavor. Sorry if I'm a little off topic.

Not off topic at all! I'm brewing up the 585 this weekend, and happy to get any input. My basement is around 77 most of the time, even at night (but has crept up around 79-80 during some of the heat we're getting in Virginia). I am hoping that should be just about right for the 585.

Thanks to Drew and all posters, much appreciated. DCP27, please keep us posted how it turns out.

Just an update: The 585 took an OG of 1.072 down to 1.009 in two weeks. I brewed on 8/12, and the gravity was at 1.009 as of last night's reading. Definitely has a fruity taste so far, but my sample was too small for a good tasting! Next stop, dry-hopping with Moteuka.

The temps in my basement came down to 75 for the last week, so hopefully it was hight enough for thr first few days of fermentation.

White Labs says optimal temps are 68-74. Of course, they say the same thing about 565. So 77-80 was okay? Not hot, no fusels,not a phenol bomb?

Marchborne said:

Just an update: The 585 took an OG of 1.072 down to 1.009 in two weeks. I brewed on 8/12, and the gravity was at 1.009 as of last night's reading. Definitely has a fruity taste so far, but my sample was too small for a good tasting! Next stop, dry-hopping with Moteuka.

The temps in my basement came down to 75 for the last week, so hopefully it was hight enough for thr first few days of fermentation.

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If it's like WLP565 crank that heat and you can get it down to like 1.005. I've done that twice with 565 great results both times.. but this isn't WLP565. Brewing a simple saison to pitch my 585 into today... Excitement!

What are you guys fermenting at for this yeast? I have a saison sitting at 72* and want to know if you this I should heat up?

Just brewed my saison last night. Airlock started to bubble this morning. Internal temp is at 80 now. I'm cool with warmer though get some nice fruity tootie going on maybe.

laxsoccerguy said:

What are you guys fermenting at for this yeast? I have a saison sitting at 72* and want to know if you this I should heat up?

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I pitched & held at 68 for the first 36 hours or so to try to prevent fusels, now it's in a warmer closet that should range up to 80F at the very most but likely average around 75. I've done this 6-8 times with 3711 and 530 and gotten to 1.008 or less without cranking into the 80s.

kingwood-kid said:

White Labs says optimal temps are 68-74. Of course, they say the same thing about 565. So 77-80 was okay? Not hot, no fusels,not a phenol bomb?

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I don't get any fusels, but I started with relatively cool wort, and let it warm up to the 77 in the basement naturally. I think I pitched with the wort at 65, but I don't have my notes in front of me.

Brewed mine today, a 1.045 amber saison hopped with calypso and saaz. I figure I'll pitch in the low 60's and let it go from there. Now I just have to wait and hope.

Any more info on this strain? Looking at a brew with this yeast in a few weeks and was thinking about reusing the yeast on a Belgian Dark Strong and Triple.

Thank for the help.

BW

I brewed mine and split it between 585 and 3726. Could barely tell a difference between the two beers. The appearance and attenuation were identical, both went from 1.045 to 1.006. I'm not wowed by the beer, but it's not bad. Light, a little tart, lacking the earthiness I like in my saisons. I'll probably try both yeasts again on a different recipe to see if I like the results any better.

I tried a Saison brewed with it at NHC last June and loved it. I brewed my first Saison with it last month. A 5 gal 1.058 OG which included 1.5 lbs honey. Left in primary at 74F for 3weeks because I rode out to Sturgis during ferment. It dropped to 1.002! Phenomenal attenuator. Light ,fruity, floral nose more champagne than beer. One tap is now dedicated to it

My Table saison came out well. A little more watery than I wanted but that has nothing to do with the yeast. Reused some of the yeast cake in some cider. It smells awesome. I'll give an update after that gets bottled and is ready to drink.

I brewed a 1.056OG saison which had 2.5#s of amber candi sugar and used WLP585 at the end of august. It attenuated to 1.000 in about 10 days!!! I'm not a fan of saisons, but this is absolutely fantastic. Fruity, estery, not much funk, nor sourness, but bold and delicious. Glad i farmed 4 more batches out of it...

B-Dub said:

Any more info on this strain? Looking at a brew with this yeast in a few weeks and was thinking about reusing the yeast on a Belgian Dark Strong and Triple.

Thank for the help.

BW

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Well, it should handle the higher gravity. I have a honey-wheat saison, with Williamette and Citra, that had on OG of 1.070. My last reading on 10/12 had it at 1.008, with my basement holding fairly steady at 72-74. I'm going to give it another reading tonight, and see what happens. Nice taste from the sample, the yeast goes nicely with the honey malt and white wheat malt.

Bumping an old thread in lieu of starting another one....

Has anyone fermented a larger beer with this yeast? I plan on doing a Saison d'Hiver maybe this weekend with it. I'm wanting it to come out around 1.080 or so. I'll do a starter for this before I pitch but I just haven't seen many folks use this yeast with a larger brew. The tasting notes seem great for a Hiver.

I used it on a 1.065 Amber-ish Saison and it finished bone dry at 1.002 so I dont see why it wouldnt work a little bigger then that. I say give it a try, it sounds great to me.

Coff said:

I used it on a 1.065 Amber-ish Saison and it finished bone dry at 1.002 so I dont see why it wouldnt work a little bigger then that. I say give it a try, it sounds great to me.

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Thanks! I'm definitely going to give it a go. I'm going to do a starter tonight and let it spin 48 hours or so to get good propagation. I may keep 2 gallons separate to add some bugs to to get a dark, sour saison and secondary the rest with the vanilla bean and cinnamon. I'll keep it updated as it goes.

So... I made up a 1L starter with this yeast and pitched it into a 1.070 wort. Originally it was to be around 1.080 but I left some sugars out and halved the Candi syrup just to attempted not to over stress the yeast. I pitched Saturday afternoon and have yet to see any rigorous fermentation. I even planned to switch to a blow off tube if needed. Does this yeast just not ferment hard? I can tell it is fermenting but barely any visual evidence. I know not to rely on visual but, I'm just used to seeing those bubbles.

Any input is appreciated.

Saison III is a beast. Bet it'd eat through just about anything. I keep my Belgians light so I don't know personally with larger beers. I'd say it's a fairly safe bet. I posted to this thread over a year ago and have brewed 4 beers and 2 ciders with this yeast. It is one of my favorites. Fermented high or low you will get good results.

Does anyone have any of this left laying around or know where I could order some? I made a really nice dark saison with it last year and would like some more. Mine was all eaten by brett b though.

GTG