wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan Weizen vs 3638 Bavarian Wheat

I've used 3638 and liked it. What's the diff between this and the more common 3068?

I don't know, but I'm familier with Weihenstephaner beer and their Weißbier and they rock, so I use their yeast 3068 and have been very happy with it. My Bavarian Hefe is as close as it gets.

I'm chillin a double batch right now.

Is 3068 very bubble gummy or is it more a banana clove thing.

3638 is banana/bubblegummy with fruity flavors.

I've never noted the differences, I just consider it Hefe Weizen. I'm still using my WLP351 from 2 years ago...

Maybe I'll try both (again) and try to take better notes.

the whole bubble gum, banana, clove thing depends on the temperatures that you ferment at. the higher you ferment the more bubble gum and banana flavor/aroma you'll get. if you ferment at lower temps you'll get more cloves. and if you do an acid rest you'll also get more clove flavors. i ftry to erment at around 63 and it gives me a good balance.

also i heard something about a 30 degree celsius rule on the jamil show where you pitch your yeast at around 16 or 17* celsius and let it ferment at 13 or 14* degrees celsius higher so that would be pitching at around 54* f and fermenting at around 62.

Resurrection. Just wanted to chime in on Wyeast 3638. I brewed 3 or 4 batches so far with repitched 3638. I get a lot of vanilla from it and my friends say they get a lot of apple. I have fermented with ambient temps ranging from low sixties to high seventies depending on season and have gotten excellent results either way. I have tried 10-15 different commercial hefeweizens but so far none have been similar to my 3638 version.

I carefully spin the yeast into suspension before serving. This seems to increase the aromas and flavors nicely.

I use 3068 for all of my hefeweizens. I ferment around 67 and ramp it up to 72 when activity starts to slow. This gives me pronounced banana esters (but not at all overpowering), minimal clove, minimal bubblegum, breadiness and a hint of vanilla in the finish. I have heard that this yeast will throw more clove and less banana if you ferment it in the lower end of its temp range. This is not really a yeast that tends to give you much bubblegum.

Denny's Evil Concoctions said:

Is 3068 very bubble gummy or is it more a banana clove thing.

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Banana and clove, with just a touch of a tart fininsh. VERY nice.

I have a bit of a headache right now due to too much fresh Dunkelweiss made with 3068.

When I made my Hefe. My wife said initially it had a pork and beans flavor

It later on mellowed out, my thinking was my fermentation temp was way too high. Like 78 dgrees.

I am curious about 3638. I have always used 3068. I have been happy with it and that yeast can really be manipulated for different flavors via pitching rate and temperature.

Maybe I will brew my next hefe with 3638???

I've used the 3068 and really liked it.

Whatever you do, don't use wyeast 3333 (german wheat). Mine came out... dare I say savory? I can't put my finger on what it did to my dunkelweizen, but it's strange. It's also one of the clearest ales i've ever brewed despite the wheat, I have to swirl it or it looks like a munich dunkel in the glass. I was looking for a weizen yeast strain that wouldn't give me a lot of banana or bubblegum (Erdinger is the brewery I like if you've tried it, I've since found out they use a german ale yeast for a more malt-foward hefe), but it was the most bizzare tasting weizen yeast i've ever tasted. Anyone else try that one?

Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I so far do not enjoy the 3638. I have a batch I just finished, a lemongrass wheat. It gives this mineral finish that I just cant enjoy in a beer (now a nice red wine, that is a different story). Combined with the bubblegum I just don't know if I will even use it again. But then again, I like nice "clean" finishing wheats, so I will probably next time lean towards something will a less estery finish (maybe even mix in an ale yeast).

I will give this beer a little more time before I pass final judgment. As this is one of the first glasses I have poured, I will wait to see if, when I get past the yeast and debris at the bottom of the keg (didn't get to do a cold crash), the flavor changes. Perhaps my homebrew group would like my stash of 3638 (probably 6 vials) from my yeast bank...

If you haven't used 3638 and wonder what it is like...closest thing I have tasted/smelled to it is the Great Divide Colette (Colette uses 4 yeast strains so I cant say for sure, I just think the nose/taste are similar)

markg388 said:

I've used the 3068 and really liked it.

Whatever you do, don't use wyeast 3333 (german wheat). Mine came out... dare I say savory? I can't put my finger on what it did to my dunkelweizen, but it's strange. It's also one of the clearest ales i've ever brewed despite the wheat, I have to swirl it or it looks like a munich dunkel in the glass. I was looking for a weizen yeast strain that wouldn't give me a lot of banana or bubblegum (Erdinger is the brewery I like if you've tried it, I've since found out they use a german ale yeast for a more malt-foward hefe), but it was the most bizzare tasting weizen yeast i've ever tasted. Anyone else try that one?

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I normally use WLP380 for my Weissbiers, but I am going to do a 10G batch and use 3333 for 5G and WLP380 for the other 5G. I noticed the starter of 3333 is very flocculant. When I turned the stir plate off it was already clumping. Both will ferment at 63 degrees.

I finally decided to try the 3068 and fermented it warm but steady at ~72f because I don't have a good setup for temp control (I know Jamil says 62f but that will have to wait for winter).

Was in primary for 2 weeks and bottled for 1 week. First samples are surprisingly good and I think I do prefer it over the 3638. Lots of aroma and not too clovey, slightly sweet and tart/tangy.

On the other hand the 3655 Belgian Schelde is even better and drinks very well even when it is young.

Just brewed a 10gal batch of a Bavarian Hefeweizen using 3638. I wanted to try something different than the 3068 so I'll post my reply in here when the beer is done. For now, here's my recipe.

I just brewed a hefe and used 3638 and kegged it tonight. I've always used 3068 for hefe's and this is my first try with 3638. I tried a sample of it tonight after taking the FG (1.052 down to 1.011 in 12 days). I fermented pretty consistently at 62/63F and then let it rise to my basement ambient temp of 65F. When I've done 3068 there is more of a tart clove aroma/flavor. This 3638 is more of a sweet pils/banana/bubblegum aroma/taste. I personally like this flavor/aroma profile better than clovey profiles. We'll see what happens once it carbs up. So far so good.

Woah! I guess I never replied to this!

Anyway, I have brewed twice since with the 3638 and I really like the yeast.

After drinking a few of the final product I gotta say I prefer 3638 over3068. I did some blind tastings with. Friends and mine beat a lot of great traditional versions including weinstphaner.


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EdWort said:

I don't know, but I'm familier with Weihenstephaner beer and their Weißbier and they rock, so I use their yeast 3068 and have been very happy with it. My Bavarian Hefe is as close as it gets.

I'm chillin a double batch right now.

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Just recently tried Wihenstephaner, love their Hefe and Weizenbock (Vitus), I've captured (Stole) their yeast and will def be running it on my next batch.

3638 is the same strain as the platinum WLP351. It produces nicely balanced clove phenolics and bannana esters. I first used the stain in 2005 and it has been my favorite Hefe strain ever since. I won a dunkelweizen competition with it (small, club competition, but it was still the winner.) Since weiss bier is really just about the fermentation, I think this is the most important ingredient in the style.

I've made 4 hefeweizens this year, 2 batches 3638 and two batches 3068 and I prefer 3068 it really punches me in the nose to announce itself.

Let's dust off this old but useful thread; I started out with 3068, fermented it at ~67 and didn't get nearly enough banana or clove. My LHBS suggested I try 3638 and a ferulic acid rest, so I'm rebuilding my recipe around that. I'm adding a pound of flaked wheat for body and head retention, then mashing down around 153 to dry it out. My last batch was mashed at 158 which resulted in an FG of 1.019, I'd like this next batch to finish a bit dryer with implied malty sweetness and ample banana aroma.

BrewSavage said:

I've made 4 hefeweizens this year, 2 batches 3638 and two batches 3068 and I prefer 3068 it really punches me in the nose to announce itself.

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Just wanted to ask what temp you fermented the 3068 at to get the aforementioned punch in the nose.

I brewed my first batch with 3638 today, it's sitting at 77 right now with a ferm wrap, tomorrow I'll drop that to 70 (ambient) and let it free rise with the insulating jacket. Hit my target 1.054 and bittered with opal hops, let's see how this turns out.

Jayjay1976 said:

I brewed my first batch with 3638 today, it's sitting at 77 right now with a ferm wrap, tomorrow I'll drop that to 70 (ambient) and let it free rise with the insulating jacket. Hit my target 1.054 and bittered with opal hops, let's see how this turns out.

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How did this turn out? Did you do the acid rest as you mentioned above.

I am planning on doing just about the same. Acid rest at 113F for 20 minutes, pitch at about 65M cells/ml/°P pitch rate, pitch at about 63F and ramp it up to 70F over the next 48hrs.

Me and a couple friends are attempting a banana bomb on Sunday. Seams like every wheat we do is tasty, but too clovey and little to no banana. Even fermenting in the 70's and no starter. Typically, i'll do a 20 minute rest at 113, 20 minute at 122, and 60 minutes at 150-152.

This time we are going almost full banana retard. No acid rest. Mid to high 70s fermentation with 3068. No starter. 122/20 and 154/60 mash. 60% white wheat, 35% German pilsner, 5% CaraFoam. Targeting 5.4 to 5.5 pH and an OG of 51 to 52. 11 IBU's of Mittlefreu at 60min. The other option would be an 86-144 glucose decoction, mixing back at about 104, but i would rather not deal with that.

Jtk78 said:

How did this turn out? Did you do the acid rest as you mentioned above.

I am planning on doing just about the same. Acid rest at 113F for 20 minutes, pitch at about 65M cells/ml/°P pitch rate, pitch at about 63F and ramp it up to 70F over the next 48hrs.

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I had scorching issue again. It was drinkable and had some decent banana but wheat-heavy grain bills seem to be a challenge for my setup if I do any sort of step mash or acid rest. When the elements fire up after a rest the elements are buried in break material and run at 100%; unless I'm right there ready with the whisk it seems to happen in seconds. I swear to christ this time just a simple infusion mash at 150, disarm the elements and wait 60 minutes, then when it beeps for the ramp-up to mash out I'll stir like mad before flipping the switches back on.

My controller is an Auber DSPR310 EZ-BOIL but it has the v1 firmware that lacks a power-level setting in mashing mode that would probably tame the scorching problem. They will flash it with the latest firmware if I ship it back to them I just haven't gotten around to pulling it out of my control panel.

Jayjay1976 said:

I had scorching issue again. It was drinkable and had some decent banana but wheat-heavy grain bills seem to be a challenge for my setup if I do any sort of step mash or acid rest. When the elements fire up after a rest the elements are buried in break material and run at 100%; unless I'm right there ready with the whisk it seems to happen in seconds. I swear to christ this time just a simple infusion mash at 150, disarm the elements and wait 60 minutes, then when it beeps for the ramp-up to mash out I'll stir like mad before flipping the switches back on.

My controller is an Auber DSPR310 EZ-BOIL but it has the v1 firmware that lacks a power-level setting in mashing mode that would probably tame the scorching problem. They will flash it with the latest firmware if I ship it back to them I just haven't gotten around to pulling it out of my control panel.

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That sucks. I've seen quite a few of your posts but didn't know you were having scorching issues. Send that sucker back to get the update done.

I bought my yeast today, and they were out of 3068, so I went with the 3638. I was hoping you could give me some feedback before I brewed mine. I'll try to update here to let you know how mine comes out.

I just used 3638 for the first time in a couple batches. Very very mild character. Maybe I should have done an extended ferulic acid rest. But I've used other yeast in the past without this rest and they had way more interesting character. I haven't tried 3068 yet so maybe that one will be good to try.

dmtaylor said:

I just used 3638 for the first time in a couple batches. Very very mild character. Maybe I should have done an extended ferulic acid rest. But I've used other yeast in the past without this rest and they had way more interesting character. I haven't tried 3068 yet so maybe that one will be good to try.

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How long did u do the acid rest? What temperature did you ferment at? How was your pitch rate, under, over, right on?

Jtk78 said:

How long did u do the acid rest? What temperature did you ferment at? How was your pitch rate, under, over, right on?

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Ferulic acid = zero minutes.
Pitched cold like 58 F. Brought up to about 68 F on day 3 or so to finish.

This was a pitch rate experiment, too, actually. One I pitched "normal" per mrmalty.com, the other I pitched only 1/4 as much. Didn't matter. Couldn't taste a difference between the two batches at the end anyway.

dmtaylor said:

Ferulic acid = zero minutes.
Pitched cold like 58 F. Brought up to about 68 F on day 3 or so to finish.

This was a pitch rate experiment, too, actually. One I pitched "normal" per mrmalty.com, the other I pitched only 1/4 as much. Didn't matter. Couldn't taste a difference between the two batches at the end anyway.

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Thanks for the info.