Howdy,
I posted to this thread back in 2009 and I finally got around to brewing this.
I sent an email to the brewery asking about the BYO article and recipe, and my concerns over the wlp550 kicking out penolic flavors that I didn't notice in the commercial example. They responded quickly and stated the recipe is the same as they use and that was that.
I brewed the recipe as written, scaled up to a 12 gallon batch to be separated into three carboys of four gallons, each getting a different yeast. The yeasts were WLP550, WLP072 French Ale and WY3725 Bier De Garde. Single vial/pouch pitched direct. Fermented at 66* Doing this allows me to taste what each strain brings to the table. I also used a 15 minute mash that I've heard Two Brothers uses on their beers.
This was brewed on May 28. I'm not doing a secondary and will move this right to bottles (bottling stinks!) and cellared until fall.
Here are the tasting notes from when I took a gravity sample/taste..
As of 6/12/11....
WLP072- 8.4B/1.013 Smell- earthy, yeasty , savory, hint diacytal Taste- vineous, yeasy, mild spice and a bit hot.
WLP550- 10.2/1.024 Smell - Very spicy,typical Belgian strain smell, pink buble gum, yeasty. Taste - typical Belgian spicy flavor, mild Phenolic, more body and a hint of sweetness.
WY3725- 7.3/1.005 Smell - Earthy, Woody, yeasty , tart. Taste - Tart dryness, earthy, bit of spice, hot alcohol on tongue.
You can see the 3725 worked the hardest and finished the lowest. It was also the freshest of the three. The 550 has now slowed down and I'll take another reading soon.
When I bottle, I want to take a portion from all three and blend them together for a fouth different beer.
Sorry for the long winded post. I'll post more soon.
Cheers,
Bob