wheat beer: keg or bottle?

my friend asked me if it was allright to keg a wheat beer. he heard it was bad because "all of the yeast falls to the bottom of the keg". anyone heard of this? sounds like bulls##t to me.

Yes, its RUBBISH!

It can but just give the keg a shake every once in a while.

I usually drink mine so fast that the yeast never flocs out

Once Hefeweizen season (Spring) comes around up here I'm going to experiment with a long CO2 tube. My thought is that the long tube will keep the yeast in suspension due to incoming CO2 disturbing any settling yeasties.

that is a great idea, dude. the recipe this guy is making calls for the wl german ale/kolsch yeast. will that yeast be as succeptable to cloudiness? or is it mostly the wheat malt that causes suspension?

blackwaterbrewer said:

that is a great idea, dude. the recipe this guy is making calls for the wl german ale/kolsch yeast. will that yeast be as succeptable to cloudiness? or is it mostly the wheat malt that causes suspension?

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NO NO

It cant be a wheat beer without wheat yeast IMNSHO

WB-06 works very nice at 63 degrees

recipe is for Odell's easy street wheat. i thought it was strange that they called for that yeast. i have always used some sort of weizen yeast for wheats, but maybe the kolsch works for this particular beer? it's been a while since i had an Easy street, but i don't think it had the classic hefewiezen fruity, yeast flavor to it.

I always use WLP300 for hefe, I love the banana notes.

I have a wheat right now. I like the idea of the longer line also. I will bottle this batch due to two different carb ranges and one regulator Its all good. I will pack up the bottles for a texas trip

I've been making HWs since 1994 and I'm here to tell you yes the yeast in HWs can fall out and produce a clear beer.

Have you ever poured a HW into a glass and stopped pouring half way? Was the beer clear? Yes. It was.

This is one reason why most HWs are better bottled so you can ADD the yeast that's fallen to the bottom.

YES, I also keg some HWs. BUT I have learned that I periodically need to lift the keg off its base and give it a nice quick kick on the bottom to re-rouse the yeast. A small up/down or twisting shake also works.

During the 3 years I spent in Germany, I don't recall ever getting Hefe from a modern keg. At any fest, or biergarden.....and I drank A LOT of Hefe. Hefe always came in a bottle far as I remember, with the exception of a Volksmarch I did near Garmisch up to the top of this monastery. They served their Hefe in big wood kegs that were not hooked to CO2, but directly tapped. That was pretty good. I don't think true Hefe would "feel" or taste right from a modern keg, unless maybe if you naturally carbed it and used an airpump instead of CO2??? Or naturally carbed it, but ran your CO2 really low, just enough to push it out, and gently shook the keg once in a while.

It seems to me that you would either end up with a glass of foam, or a beer with no yeast suspended with the normal CO2 pressures.

Of course, this is depended on the yeast you use. Something like the WL300, which seems to produce the closest I've ever tasted to a true Hefe, probably would not produce a good keggable beer. Some of the Belgian Wit yeasts, or other's, that produce a clearer beer would probably be better for kegging.

babalu87 said:

NO NO

It cant be a wheat beer without wheat yeast IMNSHO

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I do not agree. It cannot be a German-style hefeweizen without German hefeweizen yeast.

blackwaterbrewer said:

recipe is for Odell's easy street wheat. i thought it was strange that they called for that yeast.

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This beer is an American-style wheat. This style calls for a clean fermenting yeast. Kolsch yeast is an excellent choice. Also, clean American ale yeast is a good choice too (wlp001, 1056, US-05). These may or may not served with yeast in suspension (Odell's suggests rousing the yeast and pouring it in). Personally, I would chose to try to clear all the yeast before serving.

If you are trying to keep the yeast in suspension for a German-style hefeweizen, I would do as HB_99 suggested and give the keg a kick before pulling a pint.