Has anyone used it? How does it compare to Belle Saison or WY3711?
I'm planning on making Drew's Springtime in Amarillo saison, and whilst I can source the the MJ yeast at my LHBS, I'd have to order online for the WY3711.
I
just brewed a saison with that about three weeks ago, pitching two packets into a five gallon batch and fermenting at 80 degrees. Grain bill was 86% pilsner, 7% Munich, 7% white wheat, and a touch of Carafa Special III, with a single infusion rest of 149 degrees with batch sparge.
Fermentation was fast, vigorous, and otherwise uneventful. It attenuated out as far as predicted by my software and given my grain bill and mash parameters. I kegged the beer after 8 days, and have been drinking it for a few days now. In my first impressions, the beer has a nice fruity flavor and aroma, with a pleasant tartness alongside.
I brewed with WLP565 (White Labs Belgian Saison I) previously; my recollection is that it had more of the spicy and fewer of the fruit notes as compared to the MJ strain. That said, I don't know how MJ would behave differently at a lower temperature (in the mid-70's, say, rather than the lower 80's). Anyone have experience with different fermentation temperatures on that?
Details on the recipe are here:
https://andybrews.com/2017/05/12/thumbspike-saison-2-0/and preliminary impressions are here:
https://andybrews.com/2017/05/28/big-batch-update/