Wyeast 3822 PC - Dutch Castle

Has anyone used it?
I am a bit intrigued by the description:

Spicy, phenolic, and tart in the nose. Very tart and dry on the palate. Phenols and esters well balanced, with a very dry and complex finish. High acid producer.

Origin: Ingelmunster, Belgium
Flocculation: Medium
Attenuation: 74-79%
Temperature Range: 65-80F, 18-27C
Alcohol Tolerance: 12% ABV

They recommend it for either Belgian Dark Strong Ale, Flanders Brown Ale/Oud Bruin, or Saison, which I think is strange. It seems that some people believe it's from Kasteel, but these beers seem to be described as sweet and thick.

Umoyk

If you try it let me know how it turns out. I'm really interested in this yeast but haven't had a chance to get it

Where are you seeing this yeast?

I have never seen it and am interested intrying it out. I like trying new yeasts and Belgians and Saisons are some of my favorite styles to brew.

beergolf said:

Where are you seeing this yeast?

I have never seen it and am interested intrying it out. I like trying new yeasts and Belgians and Saisons are some of my favorite styles to brew.

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http://www.wyeastlab.com/PC3rdq2013.cfm

Although I dont know where he got the "Dutch Castle" part from. I see it listed as "Wyeast 3822-PC Belgian Dark Ale"

NcBrewer35 said:

http://www.wyeastlab.com/PC3rdq2013.cfm

Although I dont know where he got the "Dutch Castle" part from. I see it listed as "Wyeast 3822-PC Belgian Dark Ale"

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Ahhh That explains it. I was just looking at the name not he number.

Here is where I found the name:
http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=66

yeah, I don't understand why it has different names. Even the descriptions and the styles listed are different. This is the second one:

Wyeast 3822-PC Belgian Dark Ale

Beer Styles: BBelgian Strong Dark and Golden Ales, Belgian Quadrupel, Oud Bruin/Flanders Brown, Fruit Beers, Belgian Specialty Beers
Profile: This unique Belgian ale yeast is a high acid producer with balanced ester and phenol production allowing a good expression of malt profile, especially the strong flavors of darker malts and sugars. High alcohol tolerance. Spicy, tart, and dry on the palate with a very complex finish.

Alc. Tolerance 12% ABV
Flocculation medium
Attenuation 74-79%
Temp. Range 65-80°F (18-27°C)

I'm brewing a dark-strong with it now. Tasting at transfer to secondary was amazing - some peppery phenols, some esters, a hint of acid. I cannot wait for it to be done.

FWIW, this yeast has been released by wyeast a number of times, under the names "Dutch Castle", "Ingelmunster" and the current "Belgian Dark" moniker. I'm not sure why the name (and to some extent, the description) changes, but the yeast remains the same.

Bryan

EDIT: At least in my beer, this yeast was a beast. Kraussen fell within four days, gravity at transfer to the secondary was 1.003!

Just added this to what is basically a Rochefort 8 clone. Not sure I'm going to be able to keep it as warm as it might like or present it with much of a challenge attenuation-wise. My OG was a mere 1.085 and this thing reads like it is a horse. Picked it up because the LHBS didn't have the Belgian Abbey II that I was looking for.

I just pitched it into some 1.053 Belgian Stout wort. Using it as a starter beer for a BDSA I'll be brewing next. The descriptors sounded like it might be good in a Stout, we shall see..

Subbed.

Looks like a pretty happy camper about 24 hrs later.

Updating: Pitched this on the 27th of October to a 1.085 Belgian Dark wort. I've gone to kegging earlier this year but want to bottle condition this beer to hand out for the holidays. I also wanted to avoid tying up one of my few cornies for six months or more. Normally I would have bottled last Sunday since that marks the magical third week of primary. However there is still a thin crop of yeast floating on top and the airlock continues burbling away.

The recommended minimum temp for this is 65F but my cellar averaged 62F - 64F for the first two weeks. I moved it upstairs where the temps are more generally 68F this time of year for the last week. The yeast up top had looked like it was ready to cash in and drop right before the move to a warmer room but once I got it upstairs it developed a healthy/creamy looking but thin tan krausen that remains to this day.

I haven't taken a gravity reading since there appears to be active fermentation going on between the krausen and airlock activity. I can't imagine there's much left to digest even with the wort having spent the first two weeks at a slightly cooler temp. I'd left it down there for that long since the fermentation was relatively vigorous--a 3 to 4 inch krausen at its peak--but am starting to get concerned about getting a sufficient bottle conditioning period prior to handing out at the end of next month.

At any rate, it looks and smells delicious still. I'm having a hard time letting it ride because, while I've fallen in love with Rochefort 8, I find it increasingly difficult to justify the $5.99 per .33l bottle price. The long term solution is, undoubtedly, to hurry up and get another going in the pipeline. I could even pitch on top of this one's yeast cake if I time it correctly.

I finally bottled this yesterday even though it was ready to go last weekend. Slow but steady, it hit its final gravity of 1.020. There's no sign of infection but sampling the dregs from the bottling bucket there is a strong hint of sour to the flavor to go along with the stone fruit and malt tastes. Very excited to see where this lands after bottle conditioning wraps up.

Going to brew a second batch of this today and drop it on the yeast cake since it's there and I'm still loving dark Belgians.

Mines been in the keg a bit now - still a little green, but its already a great beer. The yeast provides a noticeable peppery note, and a very dry finish. Unlike a lot of the belgian strains, there is no noticable clove character. Lots of fruity esters as well, although muted compared to some Belgian strains.

I really like how it balanced with the sugar and malt flavours of the beer. The plum notes of the candi sugar come through nicely, as does the dark malt flavours. The flavours of the yeast really complement and fill-out the flavour of the beer, instead of dominating it completely.

This yeast is a keeper!

Bryan

I also kegged my Belgian Stout yesterday, finished at 1.004 from 1.053 and I brewed a BDSA and pitched onto the cake. It's blowing off like crazy now 14 hours into fermentation. I can't wait til the Stout is carbed up and ready to drink, tastes fantastic as it is, man I'm loving this strain!

Has anyone out there used WLP545 as replacement for WY3822? Curious if they will produce a similar beer?

gm4162 said:

Has anyone out there used WLP545 as replacement for WY3822? Curious if they will produce a similar beer?

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Sorry, I'm not familiar with the Wyeast strain, so I can't answer your question. I did just post in another thread that I've.had trouble getting WLP545 to cooperate, but still have a slant of it. If you do use it, would you mind posting the fermentation profile and results?