noob question on hefe

zachatola · 05-16-2008, 03:58 PM

long story short im trying to gather some info about how to brew a Widmer Brothers clone hefe. Biggest thing i like about the WB hefe is the lack of banana flavor present in their hefe. Being that im not a huge fan of banana, i was hoping you guys could shed some light into how i could clone this style of beer, without introducing the presence of that banana taste that always seems to be present in hefes?

Im still new to the brewing experience so im thinking of going something along the line of an AHS kit that could give me good results, with quality ingredients, and was thinking about going down the DME, but am completely open to suggestions.

yea yea, i know go AG. I will soon enough Wanna learn the basics first.

**bradsul** · 05-16-2008, 04:00 PM

Hefe is all about the yeast so I'd go with WLP380 (as opposed to WLP300) and keep the fermentation temperature down. These should both cut way back on the banana flavours.

TwoHeadsBrewing · 05-16-2008, 04:02 PM

I'm by no means an expert on this but for hefe yeasts:

Check out this link from White Labs on Hefe yeast: http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp300.html

The other thing I've noticed is that if you ferment on the high end of the temperature range you'll get more banana. If you ferment on the lower end, you'll get more clove and spice.

blacklab · 05-16-2008, 04:09 PM

Widmer has cultivated their own strain of yeast which is designed to keep the beer as cloudy as possible, and cut back on the banana and clove esters as much as possible. Might be tough to get an exact clone for that reason, you can probably get close if you use an American Hefe yeast and keep the temps low as Brad suggested.

Heard this from a guy who works there.

**BierMuncher** · 05-16-2008, 04:13 PM

I wonder if their primary fermentation yeast is present in the bottle.

One might be able to cultivate.

**bradsul** · 05-16-2008, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwoHeadsBrewing

...Check out this link from White Labs on Hefe yeast: http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp300.html

He'd be happier with this yeast that I mentioned due to the large reduction of banana esters.

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp380.html

zachatola · 05-16-2008, 04:37 PM

Thanks for the info guys, i figured i wouldn't be able to get an exact cone, but something close is good too. Thanks for the inside info blacklab. Thats cool to know someone working for them. Widmer is probably my drink of choice when it comes to buying hefes, and its semi local. I guess ill try the 380 strain, and keep the temps on the low end. As far as low end temp for the 380 i see its 66°, should i try to keep it in that area or do i chance a stuck fermentation?

zachatola · 05-16-2008, 04:42 PM

what do you guys think about this kit, then i could subsitute the 300 for a 380 white lab??

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_452_42_163&products_id= 318

**bradsul** · 05-16-2008, 05:45 PM

You shouldn't have any trouble at 66F with that yeast, I've used it as low as 62F with no problems at all (ferment took longer but no sticking). The kit doesn't list the base grains or type of extract but I would assume it's wheat extract (which is usually ~60/40 wheat/barley) so it would work well as the base.