WLP590 Saison

[snarf7]

I'm interested in hearing some feedback from folks who've used this strain and liked the results.

I'm shooting for light to medium levels of fruit and spice (something that brings to mind apples, pears, honey with a little spicy kick to it). I want to shy away from the big punch of clove and pepper you can get from some Belgian style saisons if I can.

My grain bill will look something like this

70% Pilsner
13% Vienna
13% Wheat
3% Honey Malt

Also White Labs recommends a fermentation temp of 69-75F for this strain, which is lower than I see a lot of folks on here recommending (usually you see 80-85F range). I have temp control so I can dial in the temp, though I don't like to keep it tied up too long on one thing. Thanks

 

[snarf7]

Bump...

 

[TomBruin]

I'm going to watch this thread, I'd like to know more as well. Next brew is a rye saison and I'm hunting for the right yeast.. hopefully someone comes along with some insight!

 

[catdaddy66]

I love saisons but have never tried wlp590. I have used Belle Saison, wy3711 and just recently bought wlp565 (but have not used it yet). I am very interested in seeing others experience.

 

[snarf7]

Quick update, this yeast took off like crazy, it was bubbling away within 12 hrs. It's been at 74F for 8 days now, didn't seem to be bubbling when I initially checked so I pulled it out to take a gravity reading. I think the movement shook things up a bit because when I got back with my hydrometer it was bubbling regularly every 20-30 secs so its got work to do yet!

I specifically chose to make this one more of a sessionable saison, shooting for 4.5-5% range, so my OG was 1.046 but I have a feeling it's going to finish lower than my targetted FG, we'll see, I'll keep you posted

 

[brownni5]

A Saison at 1.046 is almost always going to be 5.5% ABV or better. If not, well it's probably not dry enough to be considered a Saison!

Really though, is there that much difference between 5 and 5.5? Nah, just enjoy it and let us know what you think about 590.

 

[snarf7]

A Saison at 1.046 is almost always going to be 5.5% ABV or better. If not, well it's probably not dry enough to be considered a Saison!

Really though, is there that much difference between 5 and 5.5? Nah, just enjoy it and let us know what you think about 590.

I suspect you're right, I checked on it yesterday and while it's slowed, you'll still get a bubble come up every couple mins. I can't wait to see how dry it winds up

 

[snarf7]

16 days in primary before it really seemed to have finished, it just kept chugging along so I let it do it's thing. I then cold crashed it for about 36 hrs and racked it up.

FG came in at 1.004 which is 6 pts lower than what it estimated so @brownni5 called it, it finished at 5.51% ABV. Tastes yummy already, can't wait till it hits it's prime. It's peppery without being overly spicy with soft fruit flavors, close my eyes and it reminds me of an autumn fruit salad...pear, apple, apricot/peach. It's weird because unlike most ales at this point I don't notice the green-ness and flatness much so i'm eager to see what it turns out like after it's carb'd up and conditioned a bit.

Here's a photo of it. It's my first saison so I didn't mess around with anything funky, just tried to get out of the way and let the yeast do it's thing. IBUs came in at 32, I used Sterling, Saaz and Lemondrop.

 

[brownni5]

Glad you like it. The flavors that can pop in a Saison can be really special. I'm still trying to find the right balance of yeast and hop character, when really I should just be cloning Dupont.