Blue Chimay Clone Yeast Substitute

[Sophist73]

I was interested in brewing a Blue Chimay clone, and I pulled a recipe off of the Brewfather app that called for Wyeast 1214. I have one package of BE-134 Belgian Saison yeast in my fridge and was wondering anyone's thoughts using this instead? I don't have plans for this yeast and didn't want it to go to waste.

If I did go w/ the 134, would you change the ferm temps? This is what the recipe listed:

• Primary — 59 °F — 4 days
• Secondary — 68 °F (5 day ramp) — 7 days
• Tertiary — 73.4 °F — 3 days
• Cold Crash — 35.6 °F — 3 days

I'm using an Anvil fermenter w/ their pump/chiller tube, but only ice water, so I'm not sure if I can get that low on the cold crash (only have 1 brew on this setup so far).

Thank you for the feedback!

 

[Franktalk]

The 134 is a saison yeast. Lalbrew Abbaye is supposedly the Chimay strain and compatible with Wy 1214 and WLP 500. A cold crash is not a hard and fast recommendation for any yeast AFAIK. And most homebrewers here don't even bother with a secondary let alone a tertiary fermentation.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I have not used BE-134 myself, but while a "French Saison" might make a nice beer, it will likely not have the dark fruit/cherry characters that I get from the Chimay strain. Also, 59F seems very low for any Belgian strain if your goal is yeast character. Using WLP565 Saison or WLP530 Trappist I have had the best luck if I push fermentation into the low 70's during active fermentation. I think WLP500/Chimay is known to provide more character at a lower temp (say 66F).

 

[Sophist73]

Thank you - you answered my question, b/c if I lose that dark fruit/cherry taste, I wouldn't want to go that direction. Agreed too on the yeast temps; I'm not super experienced but from what I understood they seemed all low to me. I might try that WLP500 then since you both mentioned it. I appreciate it!

 

[DuncB]

That WLP500 is fab, I used it in a Stone IPA clone and made a really tasty " belgian IPA". Made a lot of krausen and fermented for a lot longer than some of my other brews.
I will be going for a chimay blue clone at some stage with a big starter and a lot of oxygen.