Safbrew WB-06

So Im brewing BM's Lighthaus Wheat which calls for SafAle 05. Well my lhbs was out of the 05 but they had the Safbrew WB-06, so I decided to give it a shot. Anyone have experience with this yeast? I really don't want anything too estery...

Well, Safale 05 is a neutral yeast and from the reviews on the WB-06, it really is not what you would expect from a liquid wheat yeast,never tried it but there is a lot of diifference between the dry and the liquid. But since it is a wheat beer you should be fine.

I'm not a fan of the WB-06, really clovey.

You could try White Labs WLP001 California Ale (liquid) or Danstar's Nottingham (dry) instead of Safale US-05.

wyzazz said:

I'm not a fan of the WB-06, really clovey.

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man, it sounds like I need to get something else. They had 04 but I just saw the one for wheat beers and it made sense. Im not huge on the clovey taste...

K-97 is great for American wheats. Its clean with very low flocculation.

Is Coopers yeast fairly neutral? I have some for backup but have never used it. Brewing today thanks for the help

I use WB-06 quite often. Its not a neutral yeast like US-05, but it also doesn't have the same level of esters as a Hefe yeast either. I think it makes a nice wheat beer (although many on this forum disagree). If you haven't used it before, I say give it a try and judge for yourself.

Jumbo82 said:

I use WB-06 quite often. Its not a neutral yeast like US-05, but it also doesn't have the same level of esters as a Hefe yeast either. I think it makes a nice wheat beer (although many on this forum disagree). If you haven't used it before, I say give it a try and judge for yourself.

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+1. For an American Wheat it'll be fine, and will make a decent beer. If you really want to minimize any clove flavors, try to keep your fermentation temps low - though TBH when I've used it, I didn't notice much in the way of flavor contribution from the yeast anyway, so you should be ok.

+1 to WB-06
+1 to the last two posts (Jumbo82 and Danek)

Made a Honey Orange Hefe (honey malt, not actual honey) and it fermented around 62. Excellent flavor profile; it fit perfectly for the American Wheat style. One thing I noticed was that it flocculates much more than other wheat/hefe yeasts I've used in the past. But that's okay as the last 1/4 of the keg was a krystalweiss. Two beers in one!

Huh, I find WB-06 pretty versatile. Keep it cool and I quite like it for American wheats. Warmer, and it does very well for Belgians.

Brew day went really good. Pitched theWB-06 at 64F. It sits in my garage that stays at 60F

Every thing I've read says WB-06 puts out clove. Any clove in an American wheat is considered a flaw.

I found that at a higher temperature WB-06 puts out alot of the banana smell, but if you lower the temp the clove dominates. It isn't the same as a classic hefe yeast, but turned out a decent beer.

Conroe said:

Every thing I've read says WB-06 puts out clove. Any clove in an American wheat is considered a flaw.

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If you are trying to win competitions, there are definitely better yeasts out there that will help you remain true to style. If you want to make a good beer, WB-06 does that.

Conroe said:

Any American wheat is considered a flaw.

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There. Fixed your quote for ya.

It's just that misinformation like what is in this thread makes a forum like this useless. It is not good in an American wheat and probably not even good in a German one. It's a category 23 yeast.

Conroe said:

It's just that misinformation like what is in this thread makes a forum like this useless. It is not good in an American wheat and probably not even good in a German one. It's a category 23 yeast.

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Well Conroe, the thing is opinions are like a**holes. Everybody's got one and everyone else thinks everyone elses stinks.

So you've got a different opinion of this yeast. BFD. Many of us have very real-world experience with this yeast. I wouldn't consider that "misinformation".

Sorry if you don't like the guidelines. Take that up with the BJCP.

If it makes beer or not I don't care. I have a pack I bought before I read anyone's experiences with it. I still have it and have no idea what to make with it (bread?) It's getting old now. I want better beer if possible. I'd rather use the old (but not near as old) jar of unwashed WLP-300 I have. Practically anything not for German Weizens or from Belgium would be better in an American wheat.

American wheats have a large range going from nearly light lagers to APAs. All are fairly clean. WB-06 is simply out of place there.

If you like it fine but don't call it an American wheat. That's as bad as calling an American wheat a hefeweizen. It's wrong.

Care to point out where BJCP dictates the yeast used?

Wander over to ProBrewer, where the big boys hang out. They're using WB-06 for Hefes, Weisses, and more. They do seem to be tweaking ferm temps to get MORE esters, not less...

It's also interesting you feel the OP should honor your opinion on WB-06 (after admitting you've never even used it) over those of us who use it extensively.

BJCP said:

Ingredients: Clean American ale yeast, but also can be made as a lager.

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http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style06.php#1d

Here is one for the pros.
http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/beer_styles1.html

Not sure how this turned into a debate over style guidlines but just I just want to make good beer to drink. I know, radical concept. But if your the guy arguing against it because it's against style guidlines AND you've never tried it, you seem to be looking for confrontation. Anyway, thanks for the help to those who did. And for those who just got in the way good luck to you

Well said HoppyDaze. Be sure to let us know how it turns out!

I've used it in 2 beers and its got a weird clove-spice flavor for sure. I know that pro's use it to good effect, but they've got temp control and pitching techniques that aren't easy to produce on homebrew scale. There's also different comments and what flavors come out at what temps.

The pro brewer that I talked to about it said ferment at 68-70, FYI.

The first beer I used it on was a weizenbock and it was bad, just ... weird. Clove flavor, but not the normal clove you get from cold fermenting hefe yeast. It got better over time, but it took several months.

Jumbo82 said:

I use WB-06 quite often. Its not a neutral yeast like US-05, but it also doesn't have the same level of esters as a Hefe yeast either. I think it makes a nice wheat beer (although many on this forum disagree). If you haven't used it before, I say give it a try and judge for yourself.

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I agree. I just tried this stuff for the first time on an all grain Munich style weisse. I'm drinking it for the first time right now. It has some nice clove and banana flavors but is slightly different than I expected. More like an American wheat than a German. It is also quite cloudy compared to safale 05, 04, or Notty. I would certainly use this yeast again but probably only for American style wheat beers. Another thing to consider is that it leaves the beer fairly cloudy. IMO it is NOT interchangeable with the more neutral yeasts but certainly does not deserve the criticism it has received in this forum.

I should also mention that I fermented mine around 64f but also that it is very drinkable after 3 weeks in the primary and only two days cold conditioning in the keg. Maybe my low ferment temp is why it came out so well. FG was 1.008.

HoppyDaze said:

Brew day went really good. Pitched theWB-06 at 64F. It sits in my garage that stays at 60F

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Awesome! Let us know how it turns out!

I have another question here:

So this is basically an American Wheat that used SB-06...If I were to put it in a competition should I still enter it as an American Wheat? or should I enter it as a Wit? any other suggestions?

HoppyDaze said:

Is Coopers yeast fairly neutral? I have some for backup but have never used it. Brewing today thanks for the help

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Actually, since it did not seem like this has been answered yet, I actually quite like coopers yeast on occasion. Every single all grain batch of beer I have made with coopers turned out great. It is nowhere near as clean as US-05 or Notty, but it attenuates well. My terminology may be wrong, but I believe coopers gives a bit of ester (or is it diacetl?), but not very much. Actually, in an ale that is not supposed to be dry, coopers is generally a good fit especially if you are using floral hops IMO.

Mind you this is only my opinion, but I personally have never been dissapointed using this yeast. Just make sure you cool down the wort properly.

I was at my LHBS recently and the owner said that his distributor is no longer supplying WB-06 because production on it has stopped. Take it with a grain of salt, but I would start looking for alternative yeasts.

Last weekend I used WB-06 for the first time:
6.6# Bavarian Wheat LME
2# honey
1oz Saaz hops

Keeping the temps low-mid 60's in my swamp cooler rig.
Hope it turns out.

I mixed the 06 with the 05 -- 50/50-- for my brothers wedding of 100+ people. It was the first beer blowing dregs out the taps. Pretty impressive since I had an IPA, pale ale, and pilsner on tap as well...

The 06 comes through and is dulled just about 50% I would say.

Done it several times since then as well. Good yeast. Everyone considered it an american hefe. Good beer.

A brewery in flagstaff AZ uses it or something damn similar for their american hefe...

Update: my WB-06 weizenbock that wasn't so great at first scored a 37 & a 40 at a local competition. So it definitely hit the style.

Having said that, I'm not crazy about WB-06. I had to dump out the dunkelweizen I did with it. Fortunetly that was a split batch with WLP320 and WB-06. The WB-06 side was undrinkable at 3 months and the WLP320 was one of the best beers I've ever done.

However, some folks are able to get it to crank out decent American Hefes. So I say experiment with it.

I too was very disappointed with this yeast. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but it just isnt my style. I bought a belgian wit at the store for like $6 and it tasted exactly the same as this recipe. That make me think that I did most everything right, or at least I didnt totally screw it up. I just don't like the esters this yeast produces. the aftertaste is just too yeasty.

ghpeel said:

I had to dump out the dunkelweizen I did with it... The WB-06 side was undrinkable at 3 months and the WLP320 was one of the best beers I've ever done.

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What were your mash/fermentation temperatures? Made a dunkleweizen with WB-06 (beta-glucan/protein rest @120*F for 30 min, sacch rest @150*F for 60 min, fermented at a solid 65*F.) After initial fermentation slowed I didn't worry so much about maintaining proper fermentation temperatures and let it warm to room temp (~70*F) which I felt would help warm the yeast up and make them a bit more active to clean up. Tasted great when racking to a keg after 2.5 weeks.

I finally used mine in some cider. It's so tart it's like green apple. It's good.

I thought I would resurrect this thread. Just made a 10 gallon batch of the American Wheat in the HBT database. One batch with 05 and the other with the 06.

The 06 is in a room that's 64 and the 05 is at 60.

I'm looking forward to trying this yeast.

Both are bubbling away nicely less than 24 hours after pitch. (No rehydration)

brewprint said:

I thought I would resurrect this thread. Just made a 10 gallon batch of the American Wheat in the HBT database. One batch with 05 and the other with the 06.

The 06 is in a room that's 64 and the 05 is at 60.

I'm looking forward to trying this yeast.

Both are bubbling away nicely less than 24 hours after pitch. (No rehydration)

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There are whispers in hushed corridors that WB-06 makes a better hefe than Wyeast 3068.