Safbrew abbaye

[Hanso]

It's possible you missed the krausen entirely. This one takes off like a rocket. The 3787/530 is a much slower fermenter.

Ah, I hadn't considered that. It was only 2.5 gallon batch... I forgot to mention that i brewed in the morning and before I went to bed it did have some krausen. Next morning it was gone. Only 1/2 inch ring around the carboy above the surface. Clearly it was active early in but quickly settled down after only a couple of days.

 

[NavalBrew]

So far as the overall flavor profile, I'd give this yeast a pretty solid thumbs down. It just doesn't feel "Belgian" at all. I'd pitch T-58 into a tripel or a dubbel way before I pitched this. Performance-wise, it's an outstanding yeast, but the flavor profile is just all wrong to me. I was hoping for a refined sort of T-58 closer to WLP500/530. This is not that yeast. It's way out of left field. I'm not going to be using it again. For anything.

 

[ratfunc]

Hi guys,

My first time using this Safbrew yeast. Planning on making a delerium tremors type clone from "beer captured" book.

Made a 1L starter yesterday at SG 1.040 with dry malt extract powder. It was fermenting within an hour. Today I added some more wort (1L @ 1.120). During the process I noted quite a strong sulphur odor.

Looking throught this thread it seems that this suphur smell is not uncommon and probably will mellow out. Any thoughts?

I once made a pumpkin wine with some old halloween pumpkins.... the sulphur smell from that just kept getting worse until I through it out. The whole house stunk for days... just want to make sure there's not something wrong with the starter before I pitch it into a perfectly good wort.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[sablesurfer]

Wow, seems you all got much better results than I did with my first try.

This went into RIS back in Oct. Just moved it to secondary. OG 1.105 and current G 1.028. That gives me 72% or something attenuation. Not at all what I expected. This was areated, not O2'd, but it did get yeast nutrient. Fermentation started at 65F, ran up to about 68F I think as I bumped it up in last couple days.

Also, how did anyone do with flocculation? My sample at 4weeks was the cloudiest I have ever seen, like chocolate milk until I left that glass in fridge over night. Moving to secondary yesterday, about 6week mark at about 62f (basement temps) the yeast cake was this thick creamy dense thing of 3-4" depth at bottom of my bucket. It clogged my siphon twice. The literature says high flocculation, but I got the fluffiest, cloudiest suspension I have ever seen.

 

[jlconnor]

I've been looking for a more economical alternative to White Labs recently and this yeast sounds like the ticket.

I really appreciate everyone in this thread posting such detailed information about the fermentation and tastes of the beers you've brewed with this yeast.

I've seen a lot of comparisons to Chimay yeast (WLP500), but from the fermentation and flavor descriptions, I'm will to bet this is actually Westmalle yeast (WLP530).

Strong fermentor, large krausen, Iso Amylacetate (banana), sulphur (especially at higher temps), more phenols (pepper), less fruit are all characteristics of Westmalle.

I'll definitely give this yeast a try. Cheers!

 

[andrewmaixner]

I've been looking for a more economical alternative to White Labs recently and this yeast sounds like the ticket.

I really appreciate everyone in this thread posting such detailed information about the fermentation and tastes of the beers you've brewed with this yeast.

I've seen a lot of comparisons to Chimay yeast (WLP500), but from the fermentation and flavor descriptions, I'm will to bet this is actually Westmalle yeast (WLP530).

Strong fermentor, large krausen, Iso Amylacetate (banana), sulphur (especially at higher temps), more phenols (pepper), less fruit are all characteristics of Westmalle.

I'll definitely give this yeast a try. Cheers!

I have plans to do a comparison between chimay, fermentis abbaye, lallemand abbaye, and chico as a control... may as well add in the westmalle slurry in the fridge also.

 

[NavalBrew]

I've been looking for a more economical alternative to White Labs recently and this yeast sounds like the ticket.

I really appreciate everyone in this thread posting such detailed information about the fermentation and tastes of the beers you've brewed with this yeast.

I've seen a lot of comparisons to Chimay yeast (WLP500), but from the fermentation and flavor descriptions, I'm will to bet this is actually Westmalle yeast (WLP530).

Strong fermentor, large krausen, Iso Amylacetate (banana), sulphur (especially at higher temps), more phenols (pepper), less fruit are all characteristics of Westmalle.

I'll definitely give this yeast a try. Cheers!

This is not Westmalle at all. I've made some great Belgians with that yeast, this yeast is in a totally different category.

 

[griffi]

I would not use this yeast in a tripel. But, I made a surly cynic saison clone recipe with it and it was very good for that purpose. It attenuated very low and had a peppery funkiness that worked with that recipe.

 

[filthyastronaut]

I just bottled my second Belgian Pale Ale with this yeast. I refined my recipe with Vienna, C 60, small amounts of Belgian Aromatic and Melanoidin malt, more late addition Saaz, and rehydrating the yeast this time. The results are actually quite consistent with my last batch, with a fast fermentation, high flocculation, a sulfur smell that stuck around for a week, and somewhat clean maltiness with just hints of that Belgian yeast funk. Upfront it's maltiness and figs, with a little pepper, fruity esters, and a little bit of wet dog hair (not in a bad way, as odd as that sounds). It's practically the exact yeast flavors I had in the other batch, but with a maltier and more balanced foundation. My first recipe was my first all grain venture, and I screwed up by adding too much crystal and biscuit malt. It was liked by multiple people, but it was a little off to me and I wanted to give the same style another go. Seems like a success.

 

[brewbama]

I brewed a Belgium Amber with this yeast using 5-lbs.-Belgian-Pilsner-malt---2-lbs.-German-Munich-Malt---2-lbs.-German-Dark-Munich-Malt---0.50-lbs.-Victory-Malt---0.50-lbs.-Breiss-Crystal-60 which turned out delicious

 

[sablesurfer]

Trying this yeast a second time today, want to see if the attenuation is any better this time. Kind of a kitchen sink beer of left overs, but since it will be 50/50 rye wheat the pepper notes should go well...I think.

 

[A2HB]

I'm thinking of using this yeast in a Raging B' clone recipe. This or T-58 not sure which yet, does anyone have any recommendations?

 

[fuzzypennel]

I've tried it on an extract Duvel clone and on a darker Belgian clone (made from left over speciality grains).
Both are ready for drinking now. The Duvel is great. Really what I expect. The darker brew is pretty good, but not what I wanted. I think I fined it too early and lost some of the flavour profile .
One thing I would recommend with this yeast is to keep the temperature at the lower end of the range.

 

[rockdemon]

What would you guys Think about using this yeast in a stout? I have two packets left and Im thinking it could be a good yeast for a belgian stout. Just make a russian imperial stout with noble hops and then use this yeast. Good idea?

 

[Baja_Brewer]

So the sulfur smell on this is something else. I pitched the whole package on 3 gallons of a Belgian Blonde, trying to do a direct comparison to WLP530. They both took off like crazy - the WLP 530 had had a starter and it ended up blowing off - the Abbaye Ale ... smelled like farts for two days, its fading though. Makes me not want to seal it up any time soon!

 

[rockdemon]

So the sulfur smell on this is something else. I pitched the whole package on 3 gallons of a Belgian Blonde, trying to do a direct comparison to WLP530. They both took off like crazy - the WLP 530 had had a starter and it ended up blowing off - the Abbaye Ale ... smelled like farts for two days, its fading though. Makes me not want to seal it up any time soon!

Yeah its quite overwhelming, usuallly the smell in the room where i keep my fermentation buckets smells really nice of yeast and hops, but with the abbaye yeast i dont even want to open the door...

 

[andrewmaixner]

Interesting, I've used it several times on a dubble, temperature 65-68F, and have not had sulfur (2-row, wheat, D-180 syrup).

 

[ratfunc]

I had the same experience. I made a delirium tremens clone. The starter and early fermentation smelled awful. lots of sulphur. Even at bottling it was quite 'sulphury'. I just tried it after 3 months of aging. And it tastes awesome. Sulphur aroma gone. The yeast did a great job of mopping up the sulphur even in the bottle.....

 

[hottpeper13]

What would you guys Think about using this yeast in a stout? I have two packets left and Im thinking it could be a good yeast for a belgian stout. Just make a russian imperial stout with noble hops and then use this yeast. Good idea?

Absolutely, it takes the gravity way down but has that belgian mouth feel. When I do mine I use flaked oats, barley and rye, take it from 1.098 to 1.012 and still have that stout feel.

 

[rockdemon]

Absolutely, it takes the gravity way down but has that belgian mouth feel. When I do mine I use flaked oats, barley and rye, take it from 1.098 to 1.012 and still have that stout feel.

Great! Ill guess i mash at a couple degrees higher then, dont want it too dry. thanks!

 

[Erik7494]

I am currently fermenting a brew with these yeast, and unlike what I've read here, I don't get any sulphur at all.

In fact, I get an awesome smell which is sweet slightly peppery with definitely pear and even some cinnamon (although this could partly come from the fact that I have thrown in some crushed cardamom in the recipe).

I am brewing a leftovers beer with mostly pilsner malt, 10% wheat, 10% carabelge and a few oz of special B, oats and candi syrup as well as a few cardamom seeds, o.g at 1.072 and fermenting at 70F

 

[sweetcell]

any experience with fermenting this yeast hot?

i lost control of my heating. i pitched on sunday at 68, put some heat on it on monday, and by tuesday morning it was up to 80*F. woopsies. as one might expect, the fermentation was ragin'. i took the heat off and it has fallen to the low 70. fermentation was just about done by tuesday evening, very few signs of activity.

some people have wondered if this yeast is a saison instead of a abbey/trappist... for the sake of my beer, i hope so. this beer is meant to be soured, but if it tastes horrible i'm not going to risk having a hot sour in a year's time.

 

[sweetcell]

Used abbaye on a quad a few weeks ago. Pitched 2 rehydrated packs at 65F into 1.090 wort. Fermentation took off within 8 hours. I let the temps free rise from 65F to 78F over ~1.5 days, then dropped it to 65F for 5 more days, where it finished at 1.018.

The beer still needs time to condition, but shows strong esters, a touch of fusels, and loads of malt. Great yeast!

hi - how did this beer turn out, once conditioned? per my previous post, sounds like your temp regime was similar to mine. did you get any fusels?

 

[BUCKNUTS]

I brewed a hoppy tripel 3 weeks ago and pitched a rehydrated packet of this yeast and it throws off more sulfur than any yeast I've ever used. The sulfur smell is still present 3 weeks in but is dissipating. In the future I'll stick to liquid Belgian strains.

 

[sweetcell]

Beer notes from first time trying Safbrew Abbaye (also first all-grain batch):

09AUG2015 Belgian Single

11lbs Belgian Pilsner malt
0.5lbs US Aromatic
1.5lbs table sugar
2oz Hallertau (3%) (60 min)
1 packet (11.5g) Safbrew Abbaye
0.5 tsp Irish Moss (15 min)
0.5 tsp WLN1000 yeast nutrient (10 min)

Mashed at 145F 1 hour
Batch sparge
Split boil (90 min) 7 gallon
5 gallon batch

Pitched rehydrated packet at ~80F
Ambient temperature: 72F
Peak fermentation temp: ~82F

Original Gravity: 1.060
Final Gravity: 1.002
Apparent Attenuation: 96%
ABV: ~7.6%

10AUG2015: fermenting vigorously, removed bucket lid to allow for open fermentation
12AUG2015: replaced bucket lid
13AUG2015: krausen dropped, racked to secondary. S.G.: 1.004. *extreme* pepper notes. Tastes like someone dumped a shaker of black pepper into beer, with strange "Lucky Charms" aftertaste
23AUG2015: bottled with 3/4 cup table sugar for priming. F.G.: 1.002


29AUG2015: Peppery notes have all but faded, leaving a very clean, pear taste to beer. Still vague peppery aftertaste. Very dry. Pleased with the outcome. Interested to see how beer will change at 30 day bottling mark.

i'd love to hear about it too! how did the beer age out?

 

[ColoHox]

hi - how did this beer turn out, once conditioned? per my previous post, sounds like your temp regime was similar to mine. did you get any fusels?

A year later...pretty good.

I bottled this batch about 6 months after pitching (it was in a keg a room temp for 4 of those months). The early bottles definitely had fusel notes. This beer tends to be "hot" for a long time anyway, so the ethanol/fusel flavors overpowered the malt and esters for a long time. However, now the batch is well balanced, and maybe even a tad too much banana. The remaining fusels may be enhancing the isoamyl acetate flavors, along with the overabundance of esters from the high ferm temps anyway. I'm not convinced that the fusels will dissipate or convert to esters, especially in an old, high gravity beer with very little active yeast remaining. I know they supposedly can, though, so maybe some of that fusel->ester conversion happened. My take away from this batch is that I won't let it free rise, and will probably hold somewhere <75F.

An ester heavy batch makes for a great sour, in my experience. You may be in luck.

 

[sweetcell]

ColoHox, thanks for your response.

An ester heavy batch makes for a great sour, in my experience. You may be in luck.

this is my hope, that the beer is very estery and not too fusel'y. fingers crossed. i'll give it a taste some day soon.

 

[rhys333]

Just ordered a pack of Safbrew BE-256 to try in a belgian. I understand it's the new name for Safbrew Abbaye, but not sure. Just wondering if this strain really produces Belgian flavor and aroma, or if it's more like Belle Saison that makes saisons but not really.

 

[andrewmaixner]

Just ordered a pack of Safbrew BE-256 to try in a belgian. I understand it's the new name for Safbrew Abbaye, but not sure. Just wondering if this strain really produces Belgian flavor and aroma, or if it's more like Belle Saison that makes saisons but not really.

It's not going to be very close to any of the "well known" strains. My side-by-side tests have Bells Saison being reeeeeally close to 3711, but Safbrew/Fermentis Abbaye did not match up as being even close to the usual trappist strains (westmalle, chimay, duval, ardennes, etc.) It definitely wasn't clean like Chico, and was kind of abbey-ish, but not as good as the liquid strains.

 

[rhys333]

It's not going to be very close to any of the "well known" strains. My side-by-side tests have Bells Saison being reeeeeally close to 3711, but Safbrew/Fermentis Abbaye did not match up as being even close to the usual trappist strains (westmalle, chimay, duval, ardennes, etc.) It definitely wasn't clean like Chico, and was kind of abbey-ish, but not as good as the liquid strains.

Okay thanks. So it sounds like Abbaye is to Belgian like how Belle/3711 is to saison. I'll give it a shot this Thursday. If it comes out more APA-ish than Belgian, I'm okay with that. I'll ferment on the warmer end and see what happens.

 

[rhys333]

Well that packet of BE-256 is still staring at me every time I open the beer fridge. Time to brew something with it. I'm looking to do a session strength Belgian pale or amber ale with some body to it. Reading above I gather low mash temp yields 80-90% attenuation. What can I expect with medium and high mash temp?

 

[dttk0009]

Pitched this into a belgian pale ale recipe and oh boy does it go. Don't think I've ever seen the airlock so busy.

Edit - Day 3 and the sulphur smell is pretty strong. Hope it'll dissipate over time. Fermenting it at 18C.

 

[dttk0009]

Racked this beer to keg today after 10 days in primary. The sulphur had completely disappeared after about 4 days. Instead I was now getting some banana armoa, very pleasant, but somewhat reminiscent of a hefeweizen.

Looking forward this beer conditioning over the next few weeks to see what aromas/flavors develop.

 

[rhys333]

Racked this beer to keg today after 10 days in primary. The sulphur had completely disappeared after about 4 days. Instead I was now getting some banana armoa, very pleasant, but somewhat reminiscent of a hefeweizen.

Looking forward this beer conditioning over the next few weeks to see what aromas/flavors develop.

What was your mash temp and attenuation?

 

[dttk0009]

What was your mash temp and attenuation?

Did a 3 step mash with mashout (20m @ 50C / 30 min @ 65C / 30 min @ 70C / 77C mashout).

OG of 1.051, FG of 1.011. Lower attenuation than I thought I'd get (Beersmith estimated 1.007), but could be due to unfermentables. Was my first time working with a step mash.

Gives me an apparent attenuation of 77.6%. Not bad, but less than I expected with this strain.

 

[rhys333]

Did a 3 step mash with mashout (20m @ 50C / 30 min @ 65C / 30 min @ 70C / 77C mashout).

OG of 1.051, FG of 1.011. Lower attenuation than I thought I'd get (Beersmith estimated 1.007), but could be due to unfermentables. Was my first time working with a step mash.

Gives me an apparent attenuation of 77.6%. Not bad, but less than I expected with this strain.

Thanks. Let us know how it turns out

 

[dttk0009]

Thanks. Let us know how it turns out

Here's how she looks today.

It's definitely getting better with age. As mentioned in the respective thread for the recipe I used, the finish feels very clean to me which really lets the malt shine. As far as yeast notes I get just the slightest hint of banana, so not really many phenols, if any.

I also screwed up my recipe and underhopped, so it's fairly sweet, but definitely drinkable! The yeast probably workes better with higher gravity beers.

 

[rhys333]

Here's how she looks today.

It's definitely getting better with age. As mentioned in the respective thread for the recipe I used, the finish feels very clean to me which really lets the malt shine. As far as yeast notes I get just the slightest hint of banana, so not really many phenols, if any.

I also screwed up my recipe and underhopped, so it's fairly sweet, but definitely drinkable! The yeast probably workes better with higher gravity beers.

Looks good. Based on your experience, I may try fermenting on the warmer side to see if I can push the yeast character. Thanks for the update.

 

[rhys333]

Well I FINALLY got around to using my BE-256 yeast yesterday. I made a bastardized Belgian ale using mixed base malt, some Victory and a touch of black. It's been warm here and my temp control consists of putting the fermentor on the basement floor, so I got it started at 66F and it's chugging along now at around 68-70F. I'll wait a day or so and then move it to a warmer location and finish at 75F. Fermentis says to get it off the yeast as soon as possible to preserve yeast character, so I'm planning to package in 7-10 days if possible.

 

[rhys333]

Bottling today after entirely too long sitting in primary. Zero Belgian yeast character. In fact, it's totally clean. Here's hoping it picks up some yeast character after bottle priming.