Which Belgian Beers Can I Save The Yeast From?

[crozdog]

hi guys,

I dropped a few hints that I'd like a few Belgian beers for xmas. Well I must have been good as the Mrs gave me 18 beers, 16 of which are Belgians!!

Can any of you advise which ones I can save the yeast from?

I received the following:
Kwak 8%
Chimay Blue 2006 9%
Chimay Tripel 8%
Forbidden Fruit 8.5%
Delerium Tremens 8.5%
Bush Ambree 12%
Leffe Radieuse 8.2%
Belle-Vue Framboise 5.7%
La Chouffe Blonde 8%
Belle Vue Kriek 5.1%
Leffe Vielle Cuvee 8.2%
Bush Blonde 10.5%
la Guillotine 9%
Hoegarden Grande Cgu 8.5%
Chimay 7%
Carolus Golden Classic 8.5%

Trumer Pils 4.9%
Gosser Dark Beer 4.5%

i haven't cracked any yet as I've been away & want to culture whatever yeasts I can from this lot & attempt some clones.

Thanks in advance. Happy new year.

Beers Crozdog

 

[Finite]

some are mentioned here:

http://www.nada.kth.se/~alun/Beer/Bottle-Yeasts/#SeYeasts

cheers, Blake

 

[goatherder]

You wouldn't happen to have a Dan Murphy's near you crozdog?

 

[Finite]

My dan murphys havnt had Carolus Golden Classic for about a year and it was one of the best beers ive ever had. That would be a great beer to clone.

 

[crozdog]

GH, yes Dans is indeed around the corner in Enfield, aparently she picked 1 of each they had. Ya gotta love that.

Finite, thanks for the link & heads up on the Carolus Golden Classic.

Crozdog

 

[Stuster]

Crozdog,

I know that Leffe is filtered and so those ones will be no use to a farmer like you. The Chimays, FF (WY3944), Hoegaarden and the Tripel Karmaliet are all supposed to be fine. In fact, most Belgians will have the yeast. The only problem is that some (especially the higher alcohol ones) can be damaged by time in the bottle, temperature change etc etc. I cultured up some Forbidden Fruit yeast and while it built up a starter which tasted and smelled fine, it pooped out at 1035 leaving a foul smell which I ended up tipping out. Some others like the Belle-Vue may well have traces of their wild fermentations in there. :unsure:

These are the wyeast and white lab Belgian yeasts and where they come from. I've got some Achouffe yeast I can give you. I think DJR might still have some Westmalle.

Wyeast: 1214 (Chimay), 1762 (Rochefort), 3522 (Achouffe), 3787 (Westmalle), 3864 (Unibroue), 1388 (Duvel), 3538 (Corsendonk-Bocq)

White Labs: WLP500 (Chimay), WLP510 (Orval), WLP530 (Westmalle), WLP540 (Rochefort), WLP550 (Achouffe), WLP570 (Duvel)

There's some more info on which yeasts (not only Belgians) can be cultured from in this document.

View attachment Yeasts_from_Bottle_Conditioned_Beers.htm

Anyway, after all that, I think all but the Leffes are definitely worth a go.

 

[DJR]

Yeah i still have some WLP530 Westmalle, might be getting a bit old in the tooth now but i'm sure it will start up OK, i think i have given a vial or two away to people anyway. I got myself a Westmalle Tripel that i may or may not save the yeast from, i can't see much of a point when i have a white labs vial of it.

I know the Hoegarden GC yeast can be cultured up, one of these days i've really got to get around to that.

I wouldn't bother with anything over 9% ABV - the yeast will be pretty tired.

 

[blackbock]

Nice point about the wild fermentation ... Apart from the possibility of permanently infecting your gear with something untoward, "Wild" beers could contain significant levels of acid-producing bacteria, so the beer may end up way too sour to drink, even if starts up. If you disturb the sediment too much the yeast can't keep reproducing as fast as the germs. This probably not relevant for those listed though.