Has anyone used WLP720 Sweet Mead instead of Wyeast 3463 Forbidden Fruit?

[Awfers]

Hi all,

Where I am, Wyeast 3463 is no longer available for purchase (the importer has stopped carrying it) which is a real pain as I use it in one of my "house" beers.

I have read online that White Labs WLP720 Sweet Mead may be a substitute, but has anyone already tried it? I ask as the local homebrew suppliers can only order a full box for me, which is rather expensive.

Thanks!
Awfers

 

[Northern_Brewer]

3463 is a Private Collection strain so it's not so much to do with the importer as Wyeast just releasing it periodically.

If you still have a bottle you could harvest from it?

Or if you want to harvest from the original, it looks like Forbidden Fruit is kinda hard to find in the UK at the moment, but Cafe Metro have it, just off the Walsall junction of the M6 if you ever go that way.

Otherwise it looks like Fermentum FM23 Magic Garden is a knock-off of it, Malt Miller have some short-date stock.

Alternatively, it's a close relative of WLP410 Belgian Wit II and WLP510 Bastogne, which are both core strains for White Labs so you could try those?

 

[MickDundee]

WLP720 is a mead/wine yeast according to MaltMiller so would be an unusual substitute for a witbier yeast wouldn’t it?

 

[Awfers]

Thanks guys! I will try to get my hands on some FM23.

I agree, the WLP720 does sound an odd substitute, but Google shows it as a result when searching for a substitute for WYeast 3463, and hence why I asked the question here.

I'm not sure just any witbier yeast will do, as the Forbidden Fruit leaves some impressive fruit characteristics and ferments out extremely dry. I haven't seen another described as such.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

WLP720 is a mead/wine yeast

There's not really an "official" cider/mead yeast, historically people tended to just use wild yeasts and so these days all sorts of yeasts get used to ferment them. But I can imagine a characterful yeast with a complex but not overwhelming ester profile would probably work quite well for mead.

I'm not sure just any witbier yeast will do, as the Forbidden Fruit leaves some impressive fruit characteristics and ferments out extremely dry. I haven't seen another described as such.

Well I wasn't just selecting random witbier yeasts, 410 and 510 are the closest based on genome sequencing. Which doesn't always mean they come out the same - think of a mother and son - but given that historically White Labs and Wyeast tended to get yeast from similar sources, you'd kinda expect White Labs to have a "Hoegaarden" one and a "Forbidden Fruits" one like Wyeast.

Just to compare the official blurb for 3463 "This yeast will produce spicy phenolics which are balanced nicely by a complex ester profile. The subtle fruit character and dry tart finish...72-76 Attenuation"

with WLP510 "a dry beer with a slightly acidic finish. While fruit forward, this strain is mild on spice-like phenols...Attenuation: 74.00-80.00"
and WLP410 "A fairly clean strain with medium intensity and spice-like phenol production. With up to 75% attenuation, this strain produces a residual malt character. It helps balance any adjuncts resulting in increased drinkability. Slightly lower resulting pH than English or American ale strains, it creates a slightly tart refreshing beer...Attenuation: 70.00-75.00"

You can take the absolute values for attenuation with a bit of a pinch of salt as they depend on what wort and what conditions are used, but it suggests that 510 is at least as dry as 3463, some of the perceived dryness may be acidity?

 

[Awfers]

Thanks, I was doing the research on those strains probably as you were typing your response :-)

Will take a look at the 510, might be the way to go!