Versatile high-temp Belgian strain

tennesseean_87 · Dec 19, 2011

I have been brewing since the fall and have 3 batches done so far. This time of year is nice for fermenting ales, and maybe even pseudo-lagers in the basement, but summer will come. My plan is to brew a few belgian ales during that time, and am hoping to get away with buying only one or two different yeasts. Are there any that will make a good variety of well-proven recipes? The wiki seems to suggest WLP575 and 500. What are some more thoughts on this?

pohldogg · Dec 19, 2011

3711. This past summer I would let it ride close to 90 and ended up with flavors like 500 fermented in the 70s. Depending in the recipe you could make anything from a saison to a bdsa, it's much more subdued than the dupont strain, plus it ferments well. I've made the mistake of letting 550 get too warm and ended up with 10 gallons of bubblegum.

beergolf · Dec 19, 2011

I have had good luck with 1214 and 3787. However they work best if you can pitch them low (mid to low 60's) and them let them slowly rise. This may require a couple of days of doing something to keep them from getting too warm. After a few days just let them go. You don't want them to get tooo hot too soon.

Saisons are another brew to consider for the summer because they like the heat.

I brew a lot of saisons and Belgians in the summer.

BrewNow · Dec 19, 2011

+1 for the 3711, it is very forgivable when started in the high 60's and letting it ramp up to whatever the summer throws at you. I just finished a Belgian Pale and re-pitched into a Belgian IPA using WYeast 3522 (Ardennes). The temp profile I used was similar to the 3711. If you feel like a funky Saison AND a good all around Belgian, give 3522 a shot. Slightly noticeable banana in the aroma/flavor but nothing overwhelming. White Labs equivalent is WLP550.

ReverseApacheMaster · Dec 19, 2011

I wouldn't use 575 if you want to straight ferment hot. I have 575 and use it but if you ferment it hot it dumps spme serious acetalhyde (sp?). It's ok if you start low and ramp up but you need to give it a start in the low-mid 60s to avoid that metallic taste.