WYeast 3864 Canadian/Belgian no longer available?

[rypalmer]

I ordered ingredients for a Unibroue La Fin du Monde clone a few weeks ago, and suspected I'd just get the yeast directly from Island Wine Kitz since they stock WYeast products (some a little far from the production date, but I digress). It's a very special strain that Unibroue uses a lot, apparently.

I received an email from Island Wine Kitz just now indicating that they spoke to WYeast and that "they are not stocking 3864 anymore". Bugger.

Anybody know if there's any 3864 floating around in Atlantic Canada or online, or if there's a reasonable substitute to try? PEILCC doesn't even stock any Unibroue products I could harvest yeast from.

[jeffsmith]

I think Unibroue uses a different strain for bottle conditioning anyway. I'm sure that Wyeast's Belgian Ardennes strain would be a fine substitute.

[mr x]

That strain is a vss, not always available. It's pretty unique in flavour, hard to sub closely, but you should still have good beer. And iirc, Jeff is right about bottling with a different yeast.

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[rypalmer]

Thanks for all the tips. I ended up buying two strains and will split the batch: Wyeast 3522 - Belgian Ardennes, and White Labs WLP570 Belgian Golden Ale Yeast. I'll try to remember to report back on my findings!

[Tim Gregory]

I've got a jar of 3864 in my fridge that's been there since the winter. If you want to try to coax it back to life its all yours.

[rypalmer]

I've got a jar of 3864 in my fridge that's been there since the winter. If you want to try to coax it back to life its all yours.

Heh, cool. I might try to grab it if I'm in Halifax at some point. I have a big order from EBS coming down the pike, perhaps next month sometime.