What strain of yeast is Fermentis BE-134?

Question

The spec sheet says:

The SafAle™ BE-134 is a Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. diastaticus and is characterized by a particularly high attenuation. This typical yeast strain is recommended for Belgian Saison-style beers. It gives fruity aromas with a slight spicy character (POF+) such as clove notes. This strain will bring highly refreshing and drinkable beers.

It seems like none of the yeast producers makes claims as to equivalence between their yeast and the alternative producer, but there are some cross reference charts that seem somewhat reliable (and a few 'substitution' charts that aren't as useful). I was trying to find a reliable reference that contained this particular yeast, but came up empty.

With today's ability to do genome sequencing and end point polymerase chain reaction (PCR), it would seem that a definitive source would be available, and would contain the equivalency information for BE-134.

Answer 1

Wow, they are selling diastaticus by itself?! Many breweries are having problems with that strain, there was even a lawsuit from Left Hand against Whitelabs because they sold yeast that also had diastaticus in it.

https://www.goodbeerhunting.com/sightlines/2017/12/11/its-fairly-widespread-yeast-contamination-in-the-wake-of-left-hands-lawsuit

Answer 2

According to the Milk the Funk Wiki, reporting on BE-134 they once said that "This might be the same strain as WY3711", but the linkage between BE-134 and WY3711 was removed after I asked the wiki owner's about it. Unfortunately, there was no other linkage offered.

When BE-134 was introduced, there was speculation that since this was a "Belgian Saison" yeast, it might be the same as the Dupont variety. I have not seen any indication that this is true, though.

All these yeasts have been determined to be of the diastaticus variety, but that is quite common among commercially sold yeasts. For instance, that same wiki confirms that "Belgian Golden" (Duvel) yeasts, such as WLP570 and "Belgian Saison" (Dupont) yeasts, such as WLP565 and WY3724, all are of the diastaticus variety. The "Milk the Funk Wiki" page currently lists 14 yeast strains from White Labs, Wyeast, Lallemand, and Fermentis (those are the brands easily available to me) that are of the diastaticus variety. This variety is considered a problem in commercial breweries at low cell count when unintentionally introduced.

As more information is obtained, I hope to update this answer because the information obtained so far only allows for speculation.