Safale BE 134 review

[chewyheel]

I just used this yeast for a blackberry saison, and so far so good. OG 1.048, FG 1.006 for 87% attenuation. I fermented on the cool side, keeping it between 60 and 65 for a week then moved it to a warmer spot to finish up. I wanted to keep the esters restrained a bit to allow the blackberry to come through more. Took a sample while racking into the keg today, very crisp and refreshing just like you'd expect from a saison yeast. I would certainly use this again.

 

[Ninoid]

I use this yeast for Saison on 31'C and beer is very tasting. Before this I use M29 and think that BE-134 is more clear and, for me, better.

 

[Desertbrewer]

Is this yeast more on the fruity estery side or on the peppery phenolic side, or balanced? Curious because I really like the DuPont strain WY 3724, I think... some speculate that this yeast is closer to DuPont than say the Belle Saison dry yeast

 

[Ninoid]

Little peppery, but less than M29.

 

[Ninoid]

Today I pitch BE-134, without rehydration, and airloch is activated after less of 3 hours. This is really fast.

 

[pgibney]

I used this in a honey saison and it kept cycling through flavors. It was undrinkable for the first week and just before I dumped the keg, it turned into the saison braggot you never knew you wanted. After two more weeks, I noticed a little funk developing and a week later, it was undrinkable again. Two weeks after that it settled into a tasty saison, then funky again, and finally it tasted like an orange saison braggot (which was amazing). At that point, I quickly polished off the keg to avoid seeing what happened next.

I have no idea what caused that sort of flavor cycling and am sort of interested in seeing if it ever settled in; but I'm not sure I'm going to try it again any time soon.

 

[Ninoid]

I just drink my Saison with the BE-134 fermented for 12 days and 6 days in bottles and it's great. This fermented below 20'C and, unlike beer that fermented above 30'C with this yeast, has a sweet taste like FG is much higher than 1.004. My experience with this yeast is great. I use it a lot, especially in the summer, because I do not have control of fermentation temperature and now I wanted to try it at lower temperatures. Recommendation.

 

[Dland]

Does anyone know what the equivalent of BE-134 is in liquid strain? Am trying to learn more about it but there is less info out there on dry pitched stains.

 

[thehaze]

There is no liquid equivalent for this dry yeast and also, nobody knows where it might come from. From experience, this yeast is very attenuating, dry, relatively fast and produces a saison, which is a bit more complex/amped up than Belle Saison, although Belle Saison is also OK.

 

[Ninoid]

New Saison with BE-134. This beer fermented on 32'C and is also great, but with drier mouthfeel. Ten days in fermenter, five in bottles on warm (above 30'C) and three on fridge.

 

[Miraculix]

I brewed a low gravity saison with it, og of 1.026. it was very clean and lager like. But for the low fg, it was still not too thin, I like the yeast although I would have loved some peppery notes.

 

[Ninoid]

I like this yeast because work well with 32'C fermentation temperature and produce clean and dry beer.

During the summer, if you do not have the temperature control of fermentation, I recommend this yeast.

 

[Miraculix]

I like this yeast because work well with 32'C fermentation temperature and produce clean and dry beer.

During the summer, if you do not have the temperature control of fermentation, I recommend this yeast.

Yes, i can definitely see why!

 

[brewbama]

Does anyone know what the equivalent of BE-134 is in liquid strain? Am trying to learn more about it but there is less info out there on dry pitched stains.

It is Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. diastaticus so after use, if you don’t want diastaticus in future beers, your equipment should be deep cleaned. As stated, not sure of origin.

 

[Dland]

Well, I guess I'll have a opinion on it in a month or three, got two batches of it going now. It is an active critter, and seems to make some interesting flavors.

 

[dmtaylor]

Does anyone know what the equivalent of BE-134 is in liquid strain? Am trying to learn more about it but there is less info out there on dry pitched stains.

Wyeast 3711 should get you almost identical results. Lots of info on dry yeast origins on my doohickey here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CEl1_Fb8CgQcAqbFNETgOwH5BWx3bTqEt0kEpV-O5OM/edit?usp=sharing

 

[Ninoid]

It is Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. diastaticus so after use, if you don’t want diastaticus in future beers, your equipment should be deep cleaned. As stated, not sure of origin.

I wash fermenter with hot water after any bottling and use OXI only after ten or more batches. I not see any problem with US-05 that I use after BE-134. After washing the fermenter I do not see any remains of the last batch either under a strong light.

 

[Dland]

Well, my first batch is finished working, been a month since brewed, reached SG of 1.005, fully spunded and no activity for a week now, I guess I'll crash to clear and see.

On another note, the batch of ale I brewed last week with US-05 looks like it is super attenuating and going sour too. I did a very thorough wash of fermentor with 180F PBW solution, then a strong dose of Starsan. Any recommendations on how to completely clear this stuff? I'm assuming no other sanitation issues, as I have been down that road and am now quite careful.

 

[brewbama]

Bleach bomb

 

[Dland]

I'm thinking bleach is not good for the stainless conical, I was hoping idophor or similar would do the trick.

Back to the BE 134, I have to admit I'm not sure I've ever tried drinking a saison, are they supposed to be sour? I tasted earlier and it was and it was spicy, on the clove side, kind of like a wheat beer, and though it was not finished, pretty good. Now it has been finished off and crashed a couple of days, it tastes a little astringent. I'll give it some time of course, but I'm not sure I like it and wondering if this is normal.

Any suggestions of a store bought saison that would have character similar to BE=134 I could try? Where I live there is not much in the way of local innovative brewing, and store selection limited too.

 

[dmtaylor]

I'm thinking bleach is not good for the stainless conical, I was hoping idophor or similar would do the trick.

Back to the BE 134, I have to admit I'm not sure I've ever tried drinking a saison, are they supposed to be sour? I tasted earlier and it was and it was spicy, on the clove side, kind of like a wheat beer, and though it was not finished, pretty good. Now it has been finished off and crashed a couple of days, it tastes a little astringent. I'll give it some time of course, but I'm not sure I like it and wondering if this is normal.

Any suggestions of a store bought saison that would have character similar to BE=134 I could try? Where I live there is not much in the way of local innovative brewing, and store selection limited too.

The stainless itself wouldn't be contaminated. Consider whether replacement is needed of any plastic or rubber including valves, o-rings, and hoses. Replacement of these soft pieces will work way better than any attempts to sanitize chemically.

Saisons are sometimes but not always sour. Can you get Belle Saison or 3711 yeast? Those shouldn't sour. One or more of these yeasts were originally sourced from Saison DuPont, if you can get that beer. I'm not much of a saison guy but I like these yeasts, but most the USA-sourced commercial versions of the style do seem to be soured, and too much and too often IMHO -- I am sure almost all USA versions are adding Brett or Lacto or both or oak on purpose. It's optional to do so, but we Americans seem to love to overdo everything. But anyway..... if your saison is soured a bit, yes, that's "normal", at least now in the 21st century. Wasn't in the 20th century, but now, yes.

 

[brewbama]

I'm thinking bleach is not good for the stainless conical, I was hoping idophor or similar would do the trick.

Good point. I wouldn’t use it on stainless either. ...just everything else.

Iodophor might work. It is a killer.

 

[Dland]

What a difference a little cold crashed conditioning time makes. I have two batches brewed a week apart, and they beginning to taste quite good.

One that was 4 weeks in cellar before crashing got a little sour, one I crashed after 3 weeks did not sour as much, neither is too sour. Both are well spunded and have been crashed about a week.

I like them both. As noted, am far from saison expert, but is good, fresh tasting ale. Fair amount of clove, but not overwhelming.

 

[snarf7]

Just pitched this on what will become a Belgian Golden Ale...the documentation lists quite a temperature range (64-82F) so I'm wondering what I should target for this. The hops I'm using with this have citrus and banana notes so I feel like some esters wouldn't be a bad thing here. I'm seeking balance though, I want the hops to come through, but not be in-your face...thoughts?

 

[Ninoid]

Just pitched this on what will become a Belgian Golden Ale...the documentation lists quite a temperature range (64-82F) so I'm wondering what I should target for this. The hops I'm using with this have citrus and banana notes so I feel like some esters wouldn't be a bad thing here. I'm seeking balance though, I want the hops to come through, but not be in-your face...thoughts?

I used the BE-134 quite well (mostly on above 30'C) and it was fairly neutral, especially compared to the M29.
In my beer with plenty of citrus hops at the end of boil, the hop is prevalent. It's almost the same as when fermenting with US-05.

 

[Miraculix]

What a difference a little cold crashed conditioning time makes. I have two batches brewed a week apart, and they beginning to taste quite good.

One that was 4 weeks in cellar before crashing got a little sour, one I crashed after 3 weeks did not sour as much, neither is too sour. Both are well spunded and have been crashed about a week.

I like them both. As noted, am far from saison expert, but is good, fresh tasting ale. Fair amount of clove, but not overwhelming.

The souring sounds like an infection to me, especially with the clove. My 134 beer wasn't sour at all and had zero clove... Sounds like you caught some wild stuff!

 

[Miraculix]

I used the BE-134 quite well (mostly on above 30'C) and it was fairly neutral, especially compared to the M29.
In my beer with plenty of citrus hops at the end of boil, the hop is prevalent. It's almost the same as when fermenting with US-05.

I had exactly the same results with this yeast. A little bit of fruity esters, but just a touch, it was remarkably clean. Maybe a good candidate for a brut IPA without the need for additional enzymes?

 

[Dland]

The souring sounds like an infection to me, especially with the clove. My 134 beer wasn't sour at all and had zero clove... Sounds like you caught some wild stuff!

What temperature did you ferment at?

 

[Miraculix]

What temperature did you ferment at?

Room Temperature without control... So probably around 24c.

 

[Ninoid]

What temperature did you ferment at?

I live in warm climate and use this yeast for ferment beers without temperature regulation on room temperature above 30'C without any problems and esters.