BE-134 In The Brewery

Earlier this summer, the Rahr Technical Center Brewery had a chance to trial the new SafAle BE-134 yeast.

How did the yeast perform?

Performance-wise, I think the yeast did very well: the beer was mostly fermented after 5 days and continued to slowly dry out over another 4.

How would you describe its kinetics?

I would say the yeast is very highly attenuative, we have not used anything else quite like it. This beer finished at 1.5°P, probably due to the 10% Caramalt used in the grist.

And the sensory aspects?

From an organoleptic standpoint, the yeast delivered what it promised: lots of esters and phenols one would expect from a Saison, plus a low final gravity.

Overall I’d say I am pleased with the yeast and would recommend it, but would remind brewers to plan for high attenuation when using this strain.

SafAle BE-134 will be available from BSG in late summer 2017.