New Lalbrew Farmhouse yeast

[DevilsCups]

I use a small amount of Munich in my recipe. It seems to round out the flavors more.

Truth be told, I tend to enjoy a small amount of Munich in any recipe lol

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Truth be told, I tend to enjoy a small amount of Munich in any recipe lol

No secret there, I do the same. I use Briess Bonlander Munich.

 

[Miraculix]

Truth be told, I tend to enjoy a small amount of Munich in any recipe lol

I agree. Except for English bitter, in those I prefer about 5% medium to dark crystal instead.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I use a small amount of Munich in my recipe. It seems to round out the flavors more.

I agree. I usually add something like 6% Munich or maybe 3% Aromatic Malt. My understanding is that Saison Dupont is 100% Pils malt (maybe with some sugar?), but it is darker and with more malt character than I would get with that grain bill. I think they get some malt character from their direct fire kettles.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I agree. I usually add something like 6% Munich or maybe 3% Aromatic Malt. My understanding is that Saison Dupont is 100% Pils malt (maybe with some sugar?), but it is darker and with more malt character than I would get with that grain bill. I think they get some malt character from their direct fire kettles.

I patterned my Saison from DuPont but it has changed over the years to be my own. I like it now, about what I think of a good Saison. This years recipe has some 40L for a little extra color - a fall version. Base is pils and wheat.

 

[Miraculix]

Just to keep you guys updated, this one turned into a really nice beer.

It is what I expect from a saison. It is dry, it is thirst quenching, it has a little bit more acidity than an ale or lager (not a sour beer!) and all of it works really well with 20 Ibus.

I like it and I will brew this one again! I might add a bit of munich or something else that will introduce a bit more malt character, but nothing that the yeast has a big influence on.

Both thumbs up for this yeast!

I must add that I made a 2l starter from 3g of the yeast, so I have woken it up from its sleep prior pitching. This might actually make quite a difference.

But no temperature control whatsoever, this is the beauty of a saison yeast. Just put it in your room. It is warm? doesn't matter. It is not so warm? Fair enough.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Just to keep you guys updated, this one turned into a really nice beer.

It is what I expect from a saison. It is dry, it is thirst quenching, it has a little bit more acidity than an ale or lager (not a sour beer!) and all of it works really well with 20 Ibus.

I like it and I will brew this one again! I might add a bit of munich or something else that will introduce a bit more malt character, but nothing that the yeast has a big influence on.

Both thumbs up for this yeast!

I must add that I made a 2l starter from 3g of the yeast, so I have woken it up from its sleep prior pitching. This might actually make quite a difference.

But no temperature control whatsoever, this is the beauty of a saison yeast. Just put it in your room. It is warm? doesn't matter. It is not so warm? Fair enough.

Congrats on your new beer!

Sounds really encouraging with that yeast. I'm going to note that on my recipe for next time.

 

[Ninoid]

Farmhouse yeast is to replace Belle yeast, which they stopped producing (at least in the small 11 gram packages). Belle has been my yeast of choice for years, and I'm not sure Farmhouse yeast can completely replace it, especially the temperature range.
So far I've managed to build up a couple of years worth of Belle yeast, but I'll have to think about this or some other yeast that could give me a good beer in the summer, at 33'C, without temperature control, which Belle did without a problem.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Farmhouse yeast is to replace Belle yeast, which they stopped producing (at least in the small 11 gram packages). Belle has been my yeast of choice for years, and I'm not sure Farmhouse yeast can completely replace it, especially the temperature range.
So far I've managed to build up a couple of years worth of Belle yeast, but I'll have to think about this or some other yeast that could give me a good beer in the summer, at 33'C, without temperature control, which Belle did without a problem.

Mangrove Jack M29 is repacked Belle.

 

[Ninoid]

Mangrove Jack M29 is repacked Belle.

I've tried it several times, but it doesn't give the beer the same taste (it's too dry), and it's not good below 25'C. In my personal experience, it is not the same as Belle.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Farmhouse yeast is to replace Belle yeast, which they stopped producing (at least in the small 11 gram packages). Belle has been my yeast of choice for years, and I'm not sure Farmhouse yeast can completely replace it, especially the temperature range.
So far I've managed to build up a couple of years worth of Belle yeast, but I'll have to think about this or some other yeast that could give me a good beer in the summer, at 33'C, without temperature control, which Belle did without a problem.

Hmmm...I don't recall hearing this about Belle before. It seems like an odd decision as this is a very popular Saison yeast. I enjoyed the one batch I made with Farmhouse, but I have also enjoyed using Belle.

I see from https://sbi4beer.com/en/lalbrew-belle-saison/

"Recently, machinery utilized for the packaging of the 11g LalBrew Belle Saison™ sachets was reallocated to a new location. Lallemand has made the difficult decision to discontinue the pack size, rather than package it on the same line as the other LalBrew® yeasts. They believe that this decision aids in maintaining their high levels of quality assurance, which they promise our customers."

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I've tried it several times, but it doesn't give the beer the same taste (it's too dry), and it's not good below 25'C. In my personal experience, it is not the same as Belle.

All I can say is that's the story I've had, from someone who would know.

 

[Ninoid]

Hmmm...I don't recall hearing this about Belle before. It seems like an odd decision as this is a very popular Saison yeast. I enjoyed the one batch I made with Farmhouse, but I have also enjoyed using Belle.

I see from https://sbi4beer.com/en/lalbrew-belle-saison/

"Recently, machinery utilized for the packaging of the 11g LalBrew Belle Saison™ sachets was reallocated to a new location. Lallemand has made the difficult decision to discontinue the pack size, rather than package it on the same line as the other LalBrew® yeasts. They believe that this decision aids in maintaining their high levels of quality assurance, which they promise our customers."

I believe that this is due to the fear of its Diastaticus property, which has recently become quite widespread, Although, in my experience, unjustified (the standard disinfection procedure solves that problem, as well as many others). The factory is afraid that the other yeasts in the same production line are not 'infected' with diastaticus.

 

[TwitchellBrew]

Thanks to all who contributed here. I figured I’d add some recent experience with this yeast. I pitched 1 pack at about 75 degrees into 1.055 wort. I left it in my house which is a steady 76 degrees and let it free rise to 84 degrees. It fermented angrily for about 3 days and then it seemed pretty well done. Hit FG in about 5 days then I left it to clean up for another 5 days. Fg was 1.005 for 91 percent attenuation. My recipe does have about a pound of honey in it and was mashed at 150. I have to say: I absolutely love this beer and so does everyone who’s tried it. I hopped it pretty lightly to see what this yeast can do. Just 2 oz of Motueka. I’ve used belle a lot. I think the character of this is much more to my liking. I do get some of that wit flavor that some have mentioned but it’s much more complex. Plenty of phenolics and funk fermenting at this temp. This might be my favorite saison yeast outside of wlp565. And it’s much easier to work with.

 

[Halfakneecap]

Thanks to all who contributed here. I figured I’d add some recent experience with this yeast. I pitched 1 pack at about 75 degrees into 1.055 wort. I left it in my house which is a steady 76 degrees and let it free rise to 84 degrees. It fermented angrily for about 3 days and then it seemed pretty well done. Hit FG in about 5 days then I left it to clean up for another 5 days. Fg was 1.005 for 91 percent attenuation. My recipe does have about a pound of honey in it and was mashed at 150. I have to say: I absolutely love this beer and so does everyone who’s tried it. I hopped it pretty lightly to see what this yeast can do. Just 2 oz of Motueka. I’ve used belle a lot. I think the character of this is much more to my liking. I do get some of that wit flavor that some have mentioned but it’s much more complex. Plenty of phenolics and funk fermenting at this temp. This might be my favorite saison yeast outside of wlp565. And it’s much easier to work with.

I've switched to dry from liquids for british ales and now lagers, but still use Wyeast for saison. I might have to give this one a go.

 

[TwitchellBrew]

I've switched to dry from liquids for british ales and now lagers, but still use Wyeast for saison. I might have to give this one a go.

Same here. I almost never use liquid anymore. Just too busy plus it’s way easier to get a proper cell count. I think fermenting hot is the key with this. If you can get it over 80, I’d recommend.

 

[worlddivides]

I just did a beer with this that I fermented at 79F and I just tried the first bottle of it (carbed but still very young) and it's amazing. I was a bit worried that it might taste more like a wit or hefeweizen than saison because of the banana amyl acetate smells coming out of the airlock during fermentation, but it's straight-up saison. Love the esters and just the way everything blends together. It's such an appealing flavor. I definitely plan to use this again. In the mean time, I expect the flavors to continue to develop in the bottles. In my case, my final gravity was 1.007 and it does taste pleasantly dry.

 

[Halfakneecap]

I ordered 2 packs. I will try my regular spelt saison and give it a go at the same warm temps, and bottle as i normally do with saison.

 

[Miraculix]

In the meantime, I've mixed this one with lallemand abbaye in a dubbel-ish type of beer. I did a split batch, half of it is fermented with abbaye only. I clearly prefer the abbaye only beer. So don't mix this one into a higher abv Belgian to spice things up. Doesn't work well.

 

[TwitchellBrew]

I ordered 2 packs. I will try my regular spelt saison and give it a go at the same warm temps, and bottle as i normally do with saison.

I have to say, I don’t miss bottling BUT I’d love to see how this tastes in a bottle conditioned beer where you can really crank up the carb.

 

[TwitchellBrew]

In the meantime, I've mixed this one with lallemand abbaye in a dubbel-ish type of beer. I did a split batch, half of it is fermented with abbaye only. I clearly prefer the abbaye only beer. So don't mix this one into a higher abv Belgian to spice things up. Doesn't work well.

Yeah at the temp I fermented, this yeast is straight up saison. I’d agree that Abbaye is more suited to a dubbel.

 

[Halfakneecap]

I have to say, I don’t miss bottling BUT I’d love to see how this tastes in a bottle conditioned beer where you can really crank up the carb.

I only bottle saison in champagne bottles with high levels of carbonation. I think its definately worth the hassle of bottling

 

[gaviga]

Couldn't you just keg carbonate at a higher volume?

 

[Unicorn_Platypus]

Couldn't you just keg carbonate at a higher volume?

You can absolutely keg carbonate at high volumes you just need longer lines with more restriction

I prime all my kegs with sugar nowadays and prime my Belgian ales around 3.2 volumes

Honestly for this style I don't even mind if it pours foamy. Normally if I pour a saison out of a bottle it foams up in my glass anyway

Foam is something I love about saisons

 

[gaviga]

You can absolutely keg carbonate at high volumes you just need longer lines with more restriction

I prime all my kegs with sugar nowadays and prime my Belgian ales around 3.2 volumes

Honestly for this style I don't even mind if it pours foamy. Normally if I pour a saison out of a bottle it foams up in my glass anyway

Foam is something I love about saisons

That was my thought, except I just carbonate a little higher without longer lines.

 

[TwitchellBrew]

Couldn't you just keg carbonate at a higher volume?

For me it’s complicated lol. I have 3 taps. 2 of which have 1 pressure valve and the other has another pressure valve. But I keep the separate one on seltzer since it requires a higher pressure. So I’d need the higher carbonated keg to be at a lower serving pressure. I do carb saison higher but eventually the carb reduces a little. But also, I anecdotally think there’s a difference with bottle conditioning.

 

[Halfakneecap]

Couldn't you just keg carbonate at a higher volume?

I think they age better in bottles. Flavour develops. I don’t drink them for a month, usually 3

 

[Unicorn_Platypus]

For me it’s complicated lol. I have 3 taps. 2 of which have 1 pressure valve and the other has another pressure valve. But I keep the separate one on seltzer since it requires a higher pressure. So I’d need the higher carbonated keg to be at a lower serving pressure. I do carb saison higher but eventually the carb reduces a little. But also, I anecdotally think there’s a difference with bottle conditioning.

Try keg conditions with priming sugar

Similarly effect to bottle conditioning but no O2 pick up from a transfer

 

[Wuggly Ump]

Today I kegged a 1.053 OG hoppy saison with Farmhouse (Amarillo and HBC 735 in the WP and DH, respectively) and it finished at 1.008. In the little sample I tasted it was hard to distinguish the yeast character with all the hops there, too, but it was very tasty. I’ll try to update once it’s carbed up, but so far I’m pleased!

 

[gaviga]

Try keg conditions with priming sugar

Similarly effect to bottle conditioning but no O2 pick up from a transfer

Warning - you won't need as much priming sugar!