Wyeast 3864

I gather this was released as a special strain. Its the Canadian/Belgian Ale strain used by Unibroue. The yeast they use for bottling is reportedly different from their fermentation strain. Does anyone know where I can get a hold of this strain? Thanks very much!

noisy123 said:

The yeast they use for bottling is reportedly different from their fermentation strain.

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What do you mean? How do they use a yeast for bottling?

They filter and use a different strain for carbonation (which are two parts of their "triple-fermentation" - I don't know what the third is). I think they have to filter since 3864 is not very flocculent.

I just heard back from Wyeast and the Unibroue strain will be available for the first quarter of 2009 as part of the VSS program. Whoo-Hoo!

so can you use it for primary fermentation

Hi Syd. This would be the primary fermentation strain. I imagine it would carbonate just fine as well.

BTW: Triple fermentation just means the primary+ secondary fermentation resulting from sugar added after primary fermentation (boosting abv) + bottle conditioning.

*bump*

I was just talking to my LHBS guy about cloning their Maudite since we can get this strain soon. He said they use brett in some of their beers? Does anyone know if this is true, and which ones? Certainly not in their Maudite or Trois Pistoles. If they do, it's a subtle strain...

noisy123 said:

They filter and use a different strain for carbonation (which are two parts of their "triple-fermentation" - I don't know what the third is). I think they have to filter since 3864 is not very flocculent.

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Do they?

The Bar Towel - The Beers of Unibroue

Not sure. They do filter. And the 3864 strain has been reported as not very flocculent. The article you cited does not explain "triple fermentation." Unibroue does imply they filter their beer.
La Fin Du Monde

Just to update. I have brewed a Maudite clone, and a JZ's Belgian Pale ale with this yeast. The Maudite clone was Ky's Maudite clone.

The Maudite clone is aging. The pale ale is fricken wonderful. Nutty, spicy and a bit hoppy with those fantastic Unibroue esters (but without the knock you down ABV). I'm very happy with it. The yeast does not show tremendous flocculation, but a couple of days in the fridge seems to solve that. My only regret is that my kegging setup was not finished in time for the pale ale. (The Maudite is already in a corny ).

Since I started freezing yeast, I just thawed one out and will by trying this yeast on an Impatient Man's Framboise. I have no idea how this one will go, but I thought it would be interesting and the yeast is free!

great.. Im a huge fan of Maudite.

My favorite by far is Chambly Noire.. but I can't find anyone with a clone for that. By far the best beer in the world imo.

I heard the head brewer at Unibroue speak once. He used to be a respected brewer at Chimay, and reportedly brought some Chimay yeast strains to Unibroue. Maybe this is such a strain?

That's the lore Aspera. Rumor has it that the Unibroue yeast is a mix of Chimay and locally captured and cultured wild yeast. I think its clear from tasting Chimay and Unibroue that the yeast strains are different. Rumor also has it that Wyeast 1214 is the Chimay yeast. I guess I'm not super sure why the breweries will not admit this. ( I don't really see how it affects their bottom lines, but I'm kind of a dullard when it comes to business).

I'm posting in this thread to bump it, as this is the strain I'm using in my first batch (a Belgian blonde extract kit with specialty grains).

OG was around 1.045 (at 70F). It developed a nice frothy kraussen and was having quite a party in the carboy, but after 5 days it's looking more like a quiet evening of old movies hunkered down on the sofa. (crusty bits of hop pellet residue on the sides of the carboy, little fluffy floaty bubbles on the surface, little or no activity from the airlock - which I understand is perfectly normal).

The instructions call for 2 weeks in the primary, then 2 weeks of bottle conditioning.

I'm wondering what personal experience folks have had with this yeast, understanding that it's a little on the sleepy side. I wasn't even going to measure it with the hydrometer until it's 2nd week was up. Want to get the most out of this yeast, being a big fan of Unibroue.

Here's what the yeast is eating:

SPECIALTY GRAIN (20 minutes at 160-170F)
- 0.75 lbs Belgian Cara 8
- 0.25 lbs Biscuit Malt
FERMENTABLES
- 3.15 lbs Pilsen malt syrup
- 2 lbs Pilsen DME

Will 3 weeks in the primary add to the flavor? longer? I've also read that bumping the temperatures up a bit later in the fermenting cycle helps with this yeast.

I've seen a few threads where folks have talked about using this yeast in a recipe, but I haven't seen any follow-up about how it turned out.

Bumping this again...

I just made a 1.8L starter of 3684 and pitched it at 65 into the Tripel recipe on the forums #65560.

I will allow the temp to raise in the fridge somewhere around 80, maybe a touch more over the next 5 or 6 days. I usually go three degrees a day until it wont go on its own and then put it on the heater. I have never used this strain before but I have had several other Belgian strains go to the mid 80's on their own with no heater.

I will post my results.

VulgarCelt said:

Bumping this again...

I just made a 1.8L starter of 3684 and pitched it at 65 into the Tripel recipe on the forums #65560.

I will allow the temp to raise in the fridge somewhere around 80, maybe a touch more over the next 5 or 6 days. I usually go three degrees a day until it wont go on its own and then put it on the heater. I have never used this strain before but I have had several other Belgian strains go to the mid 80's on their own with no heater.

I will post my results.

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Ok this strain took off like a rocket. I have some seriously active fermentation going on. Carboy looks like its being stirred inside, vigorously!
Not a huge krausen though, decent size but not a blow-off concern.

I'm at 3 days now and I have allowed the temp to climb to 69. I will probably bump it another couple of degrees tomorrow. I still haven't needed the heater at all. I am cooling to maintain temp.

Hey VulgarCelt, how'd the brew come out? I've used 3864 in my tramp stamp clone and it came out amazing.

Hernando said:

Hey VulgarCelt, how'd the brew come out? I've used 3864 in my tramp stamp clone and it came out amazing.

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Well the short answer is amazing. I love this yeast so much I washed and re-pitched it right away into a competition beer I am fermenting now.

I pitched at 64/65 each time. I added 2 degrees a day'ish to the temp control until I got to 74 about day 7, give or take. It went there all by itself with no heating of any kind. I did a final ramp to 78/79 (using a heater) over the course of the next week. At this point it was very clear so I moved it to bright and dropped to 65 to drop the rest out. After a week I crashed to 45.

This sucker literally looked as though someone was aggressively stirring it from within. Although I got a very nice krausen I was never anywhere near a blow-off, the tube never even got dirty. I don't remember ever seeing so much activity in my fermenter before.

I had wonderful strong banana aroma during fermentation. Now I have a very mild spiciness in the background and an utterly smooth banana that reminds me of vanilla maybe? Tough to describe other than to say "creamy banana" maybe? Its wonderful.

My second pitch with this went into a Belgian Pale Ale which is fermenting as we speak. I intend to keep the temps in the low to mid 70's at most on this one to see what character the yeast takes at lower temps. Try and get a little less banana and see what spiciness I can eek out.

This is a beautiful yeast. I make Belgians predominately and this yeast is quickly moving its way to the top of a list I thought was untouchable. I would put this (IMHO) easily up with 3522, 1762. Sort of like the North American cousin, lol.

VulgarCelt said:

Well the short answer is amazing. I love this yeast so much I washed and re-pitched it right away into a competition beer I am fermenting now...


This is a beautiful yeast. I make Belgians predominately and this yeast is quickly moving its way to the top of a list I thought was untouchable. I would put this (IMHO) easily up with 3522, 1762. Sort of like the North American cousin, lol.

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I agree, 3864 has produced some of my best beers I have ever brewed and I absolutely love it. I have not tried the 3522 or 1762 but I will give them a go off your recommendation. I brewed two this past weekend. one a belgian blonde using the 3864. the other a french saison using the 3711 (which I haven't used before) and it is amazing to see the difference in activity. the 3711 is just slowly doing it's thing while the 3864... you know


Well cheers and I wish you the best in your competition. I'll post once the blonde is done.

Well I may have stalled it...

I pitched at 64 and very slowly ramped it to 75 over 3 weeks this time. I has been in primary since 3/15 and my 1.072 OG is now 1.020. Not quite low enough. Activity seems to have slowed to a crawl if any. I am going to ramp this to 80 today and see if I can kick start anything in there...

On the bright side it tastes marvelous...

This yeast really seems to like the warmer ferment with a little faster ramp like I did the last time.

Does anyone here still have any 3864 stored away somewhere?

Pr1meCu1ture said:

Does anyone here still have any 3864 stored away somewhere?

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FYI it's back on in the April - June 2016 private collection! I just ordered one.

Thanks for the heads up rshortt. In the mail. Can't wait.

Any ideas when this is being released in 2017?

Bump for 2017