WLP670 - American Farmhouse Blend

[Tiroux]

A brewed a 1058 OG hoppy amber-ish saison with this yeast 6 months ago, and just bottled it. It is just amazing, I have to tell everybody


In 6 months (all primary, no transfer), it took the gravity down to 1.000, even if I mashed pretty high. Even, when I bottled, there was still bubbling every few minutes. Never saw a pellicule because the brett just always kept doing his job and pushing co2 out. I primed it to low carbonation, so I can continue to age in bottle.

It is fruity, funky, spicy and dry but with a great mouthfeel. It is not boozy, regardless its almost 8%. I have funk but no sourness nor tartness.

I have now a 1050 apricot saison fermenting with that same yeast, I can't wait!

Please share us your adventures with this yeast!

 

[Calder]

I think the Farmhouse blend is just a Saison yeast and Brett. I wouldn't expect any sourness (despite what the White Lab site says).

Sounds like you have a good beer there.

 

[Tiroux]

I think the Farmhouse blend is just a Saison yeast and Brett. I wouldn't expect any sourness (despite what the White Lab site says).

Sounds like you have a good beer there.

It is a saison yeast and brett, indeed, and I neved expected any sourness..

 

[inflictor-of-grimness]

Back in June I made an extract honey rye farmhouse ale using a pound of raw local honey (at flameout) and Northern Brewer's Rye Malt Syrup. After about 2 months, I dry hopped it with an ounce of Saaz and an ounce of Styrian Goldings. two weeks later I bottled. FG was 1.005 and seemed fairly stable, but just to make sure I went very moderate with the priming sugar (considering how much carbonation is supposed to be in a saison.)

At two weeks the brett character was there, but fairly mild. I was initially a bit disappointed with the beer. Now, a couple months in the bottle it is really solid. Strong, funky, "barnyard" character. Nice spicy phenols. A touch of aromatic, floral, spicy hop character. I'm very happy with it. I think it would have been better if I had let it ride a bit longer before dry hopping and bottling, but oh well. I save my patience for the long term sour beers. It's fun being able to taste the beer once every couple weeks as the brett character develops.

 

[Tiroux]

I have to brew a beer for next october (an event with homebrewed aged strong beers), and i'm thinking pushing this recipe a little bit more and touch 9+%. I'm wondering how far this yeast can go...

 

[brentx3]

will making a starter with this yeast make the beer get funkier faster?

i assume not, but figured i would ask anyways. planning on using this yeast for my next saison. tried it once before on a rhubarb saison and had similar experiences - got very good after time, about 4-6 months.

 

[inflictor-of-grimness]

will making a starter with this yeast make the beer get funkier faster?

i assume not, but figured i would ask anyways. planning on using this yeast for my next saison. tried it once before on a rhubarb saison and had similar experiences - got very good after time, about 4-6 months.

A lot of people actually advocate under-pitching brett to get more funk, so I would say the starter won't help.

 

[Tiroux]

A lot of people actually advocate under-pitching brett to get more funk, so I would say the starter won't help.

I always make a starter... and I don't see why, just because there's brett in the mix, I should not do a starter.

The funky level and nature are determined by what types of food the brett eats.

 

[nicklepickles]

I made a blonde and a stout about 8 months back, both fermented with wlp 670. Just bottled the blonde last on monday, and holy cow did it taste good! nice, light fruity tones, crisp body, and crystal clear. Didn't get too much funk, but im not too surprised by that, as ive recently heard brett needs to be added in the secondary for a really intense funkiness.
Also, interestingly, the stout developed really nice looking pellicles about a week after transferring to secondary, while the blonde did not. I have no idea why this happened, but i'm all for it! Gonna be bottling the stout this weekend.

 

[TomRep]

i had a golden strong stick on me at around 1.051. OG was 1.082. i added wlp670 to it to bring it down over time. in the meanwhile, the second carboy of the golden strong that did ferment out was bottled. yeast used in the second half was wlp545. i took the "bugged" half and racked it onto the wlp545 cake. so now i have a blend of stalled 1388, wlp545, and wlp670. i tasted it saturday night while brewing and it wss down to 1.012 and still pretty sweet. this is after about two weeks. my question is, do you think one vial of wlp670 was enough to pitch into a beer with that high a gravity? i'm wondering if i should pitch another vial or three? thoughts?