TOPIC:

Anyone know where I can buy the French Saison yeast strain or a Saison blend in Ireland?


The only thing I can find is the NOTORIOUS WLP565 strain and I really don't want to wait for a month of fermentation when this thing stalls out at 1.020-1.030...

I bought the WLP565 because its the only saison strain I could find but I'm going to need a second strain to pitch after 3-5 days when it stalls out and gets lazy.

Noobru seems to not exist anymore and HomeBrewWest and HomeBrew.ie seem not to carry liquid strains; TheHomeBrewCompany is just out of everything except WLP565.


Adam

If you think WLP565 will take too long, consider using a second strain to speed up the attenuation.
I used Wyeast 3724 (same as or similar to WLP565) in my last Saison, and a while after pitching I added some WLP550, which completed the attenuation down to 1.003 in reasonable time.

"MAF":1wbyi37k wrote: If you think WLP565 will take too long, consider using a second strain to speed up the attenuation.
I used Wyeast 3724 (same as or similar to WLP565) in my last Saison, and a while after pitching I added some WLP550, which completed the attenuation down to 1.003 in reasonable time.[/quote:1wbyi37k]

That's EXACTLY what I was looking for except I was hoping for a second Saison strain. 3724 is the same strain so it has the same issues.

I don't like super phenoly strains like the Belgian wit strains -I won't even brew a Wit with Wit yeast again. (I was hoping to find an alternative Saison strain but I'd be willing to use a trappist strain; then I could make a starter and pitch half of it into this saison to finish it and repitch the other half into another starter to do a Dubbel.) -Crud, I wonder if I can still add to my previous order and avoid a 2nd shipping charge just for another vial of yeast...

Adam

The only thing that makes me wary of trying to finish this thing with WLP500 is that you're supposed to finish a Saison at high temps, but WLP500 at high temps produces loads of banana. I don't really want a banana Saison; that would NOT make me happy.

I'm looking at my travel schedule and I'm going to be gone for 3 weeks so just letting WLP565 do its thing for 3 weeks might actually work out ok.

I REALLY don't want a banana saison, so I think I'll actually just be patient with it; I'll just use WLP565 at elevated temps for 3 weeks and then if it's not down to at least 1.010 by then, I'll pitch the dregs from a couple of orval bottles stepped up a few times and let it sit in a corney keg at room temps for another month or so letting off excess pressure every 2-3 days until it gets down in the 1.008. WLP565 plus 4 points of consumed sugar from the Orval Brett strain should make it nice and Saisony/Musty like I like. -I'm also using Sorachi Ace hops for this one which to me tastes like moldy lemons so I think sticking with the Saison strains and even a tiny bit of Brett is more in line for what I'm trying to accomplish. The trappist/abbey/generically "Belgian" strains just make me afraid I'll end up with a banana bomb.

-I'll do this one "the old fashioned way", although next time I definitely want a Saison blend or the FRENCH Saison strain. This Belgian strain is such a PITA, I almost don't think it should exist.

Adam

Adam,

Can you not culture from a bottle of the real thing??

Will

"Will_D":2hmf7v1b wrote: Adam,

Can you not culture from a bottle of the real thing??

Will[/quote:2hmf7v1b]

Not by Friday. And I don't know what strains the major Saison brands use except obviously for Saison Dupont which is probably the only saison I can pick up in a pinch; Dupont is the 565 strain which is what I already have on the way anyway.

I have no idea where the Wyeast "french Saison" actually comes from.

Adam