Looking for a yeast similar to hill farmstead yeast

[YOpassDAmike]

I love hill farmstead beers. Their saison Anna is one of my favorite beers. In the past I collected the dregs from multiple bottles of Anna and added them to a saison I brewed. With time and age, my homebrew saison developed similar characteristics to Anna, not nearly as good but some similarities. Unfortunately, when I saved the yeast cake I didn't use it soon enough, trying to use the yeast again I created a yeast starter that was a butterscotch bomb, diacetly like none other so I dumped it. I know hill farmstead uses local yeast and water so their house yeast strain isn't sold on the market. I have been looking at saison yeasts on the market with similarities to hill farmstead yeast which I think has some barn funk, little sourness but pretty clean overall, not really any Belgian yeast taste characteristics or peppery flavor. I have been looking at yeast bay yeasts, they have numerous saison yeasts. Yeast bay has wallonian saison yeast, saison blend yeast, saison blend II yeast, farmhous sour ale yeast and saison brett yeast. Has anyone used any of these yeasts I listed, if so can you give me a little review on the yeast you jave tried. Does anyone know any other saison yeasts by other manufacturers that is similar to hill farmstead yeast? Thanks.

 

[hottpeper13]

I think your on the rite track with The Yeast Bay. Our club did a Saison Extravaganza using a bunch of their yeasts. I believe by your description the best are Saison Blend and Blend II. Very fruity with little funk and spice. Just split a batch with 5 gal on each of those,I did the Blend II and it was more fruity then last years one with the Blend. My buddy needs to keg his , mine will be on tap in a couple of weeks(must wait in line with all the others)

 

[tagz]

I haven't had Anna, so I won't be a ton of help but the funk/sourness sounds like a mixed culture. Brett can break down the spiciness of saison yeasts which also matches your description.

 

[YOpassDAmike]

I think your on the rite track with The Yeast Bay. Our club did a Saison Extravaganza using a bunch of their yeasts. I believe by your description the best are Saison Blend and Blend II. Very fruity with little funk and spice. Just split a batch with 5 gal on each of those,I did the Blend II and it was more fruity then last years one with the Blend. My buddy needs to keg his , mine will be on tap in a couple of weeks(must wait in line with all the others)

Did your homebrew club try using the farmhouse sour ale or the saison brett yeast. If so I am curious how these turned out, thanks.

 

[hottpeper13]

Yes they did. I can't give you a good answer because Saisons are difficult for me to drink. When they (7) were passed around I could pick out the Blend yeast because it was the only one I like, the others were either too funky or sour for me.

 

[specharka]

I've got cultures of Dorothy and Arthur on hand. I've used Arthur dregs and they will quickly sour a beer -- I am not sure what Brettanomyces strains they used, but I've gotten a lot of fruity notes and less funk in my first generation pitch. I would lean towards Bruxellensis Trois Vrai (WLP648) over traditional saison blends for that one. On the other hand, Dorothy is much cleaner, but is still slightly more complex than your typical saison. I would suggest Farmhouse Ale yeast (WY3726) over Belgian/French saison yeast (3711/3724), as it's going to provide more of that earthy, peppery note you're looking for.

I hope this helps.