Wyeast 3711

[drchernus]

Mashed 11 lbs of Belgian Pilsner at 149 for 90 minutes. 90 minute boil. O.G. 1.060. Pitched a smack pack to 5 gallons at 75 and held temp. 2 week low krauesen.

Over 5 weeks after brew day, that yeast is still eating. Here are my gravity readings:

2/17 - 1.006 (90% attenuation)
2/26 - 1.005 (92%)
3/8 - 1.001 (98%)

It tastes great. This yeast is blowing my mind.


David Chernus
Husband, Father, Brewer

 

[BreezyBrew]

What temp did you ferment at?

 

[drchernus]

Low to mid 70s (according to fermometer). I don't have any great temp control, so I just wrapped the carboy in a fleece blanket. We keep our house at around 67, generally.

 

[BreezyBrew]

Nice! That thing seems to chew through it all. I've only used it once at 68 (Cottage House Saison Recipe) and the yeast profile was awesome.

 

[drchernus]

What was your attenuation like at 68 degrees? I'm wondering if I needed to encourage attenuation at all, or if 3711 will just eat and eat regardless. I've heard reports of 90+% even with more dextrinous wort.

 

[BreezyBrew]

I think it was about average. Next time I'm definitely going to ramp it up more. It was on the cleaner side of the profile and I would like more Funkyness.

 

[drchernus]

Mine tastes very clean too. And dry. Low spiciness, but still there. I think that's on par for 3711. Other saison/Belgian strains will give you more spice and funk. Or you could always use some Brett.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I just brewed what I'm calling a Belgian Christmas Ale (Belgian Specialty 16E) with pilsner, munich, caramunich and special B. I did a late addition of bitter orange peel and coriander and used 3711 to enhance the funky/spicy profile. OG was 1078. Fermenting at 68F for 2 days then ramping up to 76F over 5 days. Checked gravity yesterday (1 week) and it's at 1008 - 90% attenuation so far! The sample tasted great. Warmth and nice spice. I think the higher temps have definitely added to the spice factor. I'm loving this yeast.

 

[drchernus]

The company line from Wyeast: "it can be an overachiever."

 

[MikePote]

When I was looking into making my saison pretty much everybody said to use that yeast and that it was an absolute monster

 

[BreezyBrew]

Anyone use this for a wheat beer?

 

[drchernus]

 

[Tribe Fan]

Thought I would tack onto this thread rather than start another one.

I brewed a munich based wort with some flaked rye and special B. Mashed in high at 158, but was shooting for 156. Started with an OG of 1.058.Hopped with Williamette to 29 IBU.

Day 12 of primary in the cellar at 66F ambient and it's at 1.008 and still going. It went crazy the first 72 hours.
Sample out of the fermentor was not that great. This may not be the best recipe for this yeast. Dry, bitter and sour. I don't think there is anything wrong with it, like contamination, more like the yeast just chews through everything and what it leaves behind does not compliment the wort. Instead highlights the dark bitter roasty side of the malt.

Still really early and yeasty samples out of the fermentor mean little. I was thinking about oaking some of this, but after this sample that sounds like a really bad idea. I may dry hop with some Centennials and see if I can get the citrus to compliment the sour notes. I'm definitely going to let this one condition for at least a couple more weeks.

I can see why a cleaner pils based wort would go well with this yeast.

 

[Comfort_Zone]

Well it IS a diastatic yeast, and a very eager one at that.

 

[Tribe Fan]

Well it IS a diastatic yeast, and a very eager one at that.

First time using one. Big difference between mashing a dry ale and this.

 

[Tribe Fan]

I seriously think I screwed up the mash on this one. I cold crashed a sample of this non-carb'd. Nice forward malt, followed by a pleasant lemon tang from the yeast which then turns into this dominating back of the palette bitterness that gets astringent. Very much reminds me of the hard water problems I had before I switched to RO. It's pretty much undrinkable.

I have a pale ale with a similar grain bill that I did just two days later using the same process and it is wonderful. The only other possibility is I somehow mislabeled the hops and unknowingly used a high alpha instead of Williamette.

I'm gonna bottle 12 of these and see if it mellows over time and re-pitch some slurry into a milder, low mash temp recipe.