Raspberry Wheat Yeast?

Hey everyone,
I'm about to brew an AG American Raspberry Wheat for my cousin's 21st birthday. She wants something sweet and not too hoppy, so I thought Raspberry Wheat would be the way to go. My question to you is, what type of yeast would you use and why? I usually use smack packs, but have considered using something like S-04 for this.

For smack packs I was thinking about these possibilities:
Wyeast 1272: American 2
Wyeast 1098: British
Wyeast 1318 London III-

This will be my first Raspberry Wheat and I want the malt and berries to shine through. I'm very comfortable as an AG brewer, but I really have no idea which yeast would be best for this project. I'm looking for a refreshing, effervescent, but chewy style of American Wheat if that helps. Thanks in advance!

I would use S-04 or S-05 because IMHO with a fruit beer, the yeast should take a back seat. Both s-04 and 05 are clean yeasts and won't play a starring role.

I've used Wyeast 1010 american wheat before and it turned out pretty good.

+1 to s-05. I have made a couple RW's with that yeast and it has turned out very good. In fact, most of my beers I use 05 lately. It is consistant, forgiving, and has a very clean finish.

Thanks for the input. I was thinking along the exact same lines of using the S-04 or S-05 yeast and having it take a back seat. I just want a clean, crisp, beer that showcases the malt and berries. I have never used dry yeast before. Do you guys rehydrate it first? Is there a need to make a starter, or is there plenty in the dry packet? Like I said, I'm used to using smack packs.

I'm thinking my next brew will be a Raspberry Wheat and I was thinking of using the American Wheat yeast, which is one of the yeast recommended by JZ for his Apricot Wheat. I guess I'll have to think about this a little more...

MacGruber said:

Thanks for the input. I was thinking along the exact same lines of using the S-04 or S-05 yeast and having it take a back seat. I just want a clean, crisp, beer that showcases the malt and berries. I have never used dry yeast before. Do you guys rehydrate it first? Is there a need to make a starter, or is there plenty in the dry packet? Like I said, I'm used to using smack packs.

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There is no need to make a starter. An 11.5g pack contains more than enough viable yeast. I usually don't rehydrate S04-5, but some swear by it. In general, it is always better to rehydrate, just might not be necessary per se.

That is a second for 05 sarafale made a raspberry red ale didn't take away from the raspberry flavor I'm assuming u are using extract flavoring not real fruit.

sjbeerman said:

I'm thinking my next brew will be a Raspberry Wheat and I was thinking of using the American Wheat yeast, which is one of the yeast recommended by JZ for his Apricot Wheat. I guess I'll have to think about this a little more...

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i think the american wheat yeast might be ok for you. but for the op, its for his cousin, and it seems like he wanted to have more of the fruit flavors come out, so a cleaner yeast would be better. side note. i've never been big on fruit beers, so generally i don't order them, but i recently was talked into a raspberrry wheat and really enjoyed it. not my first pick, but really good! i think the key is to not over do it with the fruit. showcase it, but don't have it be overbearing (*cough*SA cherry wheat *cough*)

rycov said:

i think the key is to not over do it with the fruit. showcase it, but don't have it be overbearing (*cough*SA cherry wheat *cough*)

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This is exactly what I'm going for- I want the raspberry obviously noticeable, but I don't want it to taste like a Mike's hard anything. I mean, I'll have to bite the bullet and drink a case of this stuff too . I haven't decided on real frozen fruit or fruit extract yet. There's always the option of Raspberry liquor too. I'm thinking that the frozen fruit may be the best option - throwing some in during the last 15 minutes of the boil, then the remainder as soon as I begin cooling - should help cool it faster as well.

In my experience, you'll lose a lot of the nice fruit flavors if you add the fruit in the boil, and then even more during fermentation. I'd let the beer mostly ferment out, then add your fruit.

I did a cranberry wheat beer last year for Thanksgiving. I started with a Blue Moon clone based on Wayne1's advice in this thread. After 1 week in the fermenter, I coarsely chopped 4 lbs of cranberries, raised them to 160F for 20 minutes to reduce the bacterial load, and put them into the carboy. I let that go for a few weeks and bottled it. It turned out great!

Oh, I should mention, I put the cranberries through several (4?) freeze-thaw cycles in the week before adding them to the fermenter. This helps break up the cells and gets more of the flavor into the beer.

I did a pomegranate/blood orange witbier using Ommegang's house yeast, similar to WL 550 from what I've read. It's only 4 days in the bottle, but it tastes freaking AMAZING. While I do like belgian yeasts in their classic styles, in lighter beers the ester profile is much more subtle and with fruit really do some magical things.

I also just used cran/pomegranate juice and the zest of the blood oranges added with 5 minutes left to the boil. They both come through perfectly.

Thanks for the advice kwantam, I'm going to follow it. Did you raise the raspberries in water? I'm thinking about adding in some honey now as well. That could be overkill by that point thought.

honey tends to ferment out kinda dry, i think you mentioned that she wanted it somwhat sweet. just a thought. if your (she's) looking for more fruit flavor then as it has been mentioned add the fruit after initial fermentation is complete and let it sit for a little while on that. as far as fresh frozen or extract. i would do either fresh or frozen. the fact that you used real raspberries is that much cooler in my view. not that extract flavoring couldnt make a great beer too, it just seems more authentic to use real fruits, (if thats what your into) wether they be fresh or frozen.

I agree ry, I'm not going to use honey. It was a passing thought as I was considering using the berries as kwantam had suggested.

i'm sure it would still be good. just putting that thought out there. good luck with these brew's! i'm sure everyone will love them. i've never had anyone not appreciate a good home brew.

I used frozen whole raspberries from the store, and did the freeze/thaw cycles by just taking the bags out of the freezer, letting them thaw for a while, then sticking them back in.

I guess I should add, I used a food processor to do the coarse chopping, but there's no reason you couldn't just do it with a knife if you were patient enough to do a few pounds that way.

Here's some more info on raspberries you might find interesting.

"Raspberries - 0.25 to 3 lbs per gallon.

The easiest fruit from which to make beer. Their intense, single-minded character hangs in there forever and cuts through almost any other flavor present. As little as 0.25 lbs per gallon will give a pleasant flavor in lighter, frothy beers, but 0.5 to 1 pond per gallon is a better rate for serious brews. Usually the fruit provides enough acidity, but taste before bottling and add acid if the fruit tastes dull. Red raspberries seem to have a better flavor in beer than black."

from Radical Brewing by Randy Mosher, p. 174

crlova2 said:

I've used Wyeast 1010 american wheat before and it turned out pretty good.

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I tried this strain for a strawberry wheat and found it to be less than ideal.

First, it ferments so quickly, with such a thick krausen that I needed a blowoff for 5gal of OG 1.042 extract wheat in an ale pail. Then, after primary, when I added 8lbs of frozen strawberries (thawed then pureed) I lost over a gallon through the blowoff. Most of the lost volume was strawberry puree.

The more important reason I didn't like this strain for the fruit beer is that it tends to produce a slightly tart beer, which is tricky when you are adding fruit. Fruit can often become tart after the sugars are fermented, so a combination of this strain and fruit that is not at the pinnacle of ripeness makes a beer that is too tart.

Oh yeah, and the 1010 strain also attenuates well, leaving little residual sugar. Add the increased perception of dryness that you get once you carbonate and this can make an off-balance, tart beer.
For those of you who are thinking acetobacter infection, rest assured, I am talking about a very clean ferment with no contamination.

IMHO, wy1010 is great for a nice, hoppy american wheat, but not a good choice for a fruit beer.