It’s been a minute since I’ve brewed anything mostly due to the numerous days of record breaking 105+ high temps in Nashville. That’s enjoying the beer I already brewed weather in my book! I am planning a few brew sessions later this month since I acquired a 15 gallon Rye Whiskey barrel from Corsair Artisan Distillery. I’m very much looking forward to sharing the beer this winter.

What I wanted to talk about is 2 offerings from Wyeast that I absolutely love using: Wyeast 3191 Berliner Weisse Blend and Wyeast 3726 Farmhouse Ale. Both of these are available right now through September as part of their Private Collection series.

Wyeast 3191-PC Berliner-Weisse Blend

Beer Styles: Lambics, Geuze, Fruit Lambic, Flanders Red Ale

Profile: This blend includes a German ale strain with low ester formation and a dry, crisp finish. The Lactobacillus included produces moderate levels of acidity. The unique Brettanomyces strain imparts a critical earthy characteristic that is indicative of a true Berliner Weisse. When this blend is used, expect a slow start to fermentation as the yeast and bacteria in the blend is balanced to allow proper acid production. It generally requires 3-6 months of aging to fully develop flavor characteristics. Use this blend with worts containing extremely low hopping rates.

The WY3191 is a killer blend that includes the perfect amount of Sacc, Lacto and a tiny amount of Brett. I’ve won quite a few awards with my Berliner Weisse using this blend, even advancing to the mini BOS at the National Homebrew Conference in 2011. I’d highly recommend grabbing this blend while you can, it’s bullet proof for your Berliner. *Side note: I do wish this blend was released earlier in the year so we could have the beer ready now for the hottest part of the summer. If you feel so inclined to message Wyeast, here is the contact form.

The other strain released is Wyeast 3726 which is long rumored to be the Brasserie Blaugies strain. This release doesn’t have any Brett or bacteria, but is fantastic on it’s own as a sole strain. It’s my go to Saison strain over WY3711 and WLP565. I’ve never had any attenuation problems with this strain, with most of my fermentations finishing almost as quickly as WY3711.

So here’s the wild/funky part(s)…Using this strain as the base with Brett Brux has given me one of my favorite “Brett Saisons”. I’m still a fan of WLP670, but something about the intense dry, tart, black pepper characteristics WY3726 lends blends so well with Brettanomyces Bruxellensis. If you wanted to get funky with this strain I imagine it would be a great one to use along with your favorite Brett variant and some Lacto. I’d skip the Pedio.

I know this was a short post, but I’m such a fan of these strains. I didn’t want anyone to miss the opportunity to use them. If you’ve used either of these strains in the past and enjoyed them send Wyeast a thanks for bringing them back. I’ve got 2 pieces of very exciting news I hope to share with you later this month! One still needs to be confirmed and the other just needs to happen. Stay tuned for those! I also should have another Q&A very soon…the interview won’t happen until next week, but it should be a good one with some great technical advice. Until then thanks for the support and keep spreading the good word about sour/wild beers!

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