US-05 yeast for a Hefe?

Anyone use US-05 for a hefe or wheat beer with good results?

American wheat yes, it would be fine.

Hefe means roughly yeast in german. The yeast character is supposed to the be main flavor in the beer, so for a "hefe" S-05 would be wayyyyyyyy to clean.

Maybe and american wheat, but I don;t drink/like that style so I couldn't chime in there...

Negatory. US-05 is too clean, too flocculant. A Hefeweizen's flavor profile hinges on the yeast strain.

You would likely end up with a crisp & clean wheat beer, with none of the esters associated with a hefe. Unless you ferment at 85°F or so, and steep some bubble gum, cloves and banana peel!

I bet it would be good...just nothing like a hefe.

BlindLemonLars said:

You would likely end up with a crisp & clean wheat beer, with none of the esters associated with a hefe. Unless you ferment at 85°F or so, and steep some bubble gum, cloves and banana peel!

I bet it would be good...just nothing like a hefe.

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+1. I would use a hefe yeast. I like 3638 for a german hefe.

BlindLemonLars said:

Unless you ferment at 85°F or so, and steep some bubble gum, cloves and banana peel!

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I soooo hope someone does this.

I did my very first wheat batch with US-05 and it was a disappointment - it did not have any of the familiar hefeweizen character I was after. I'd strongly recommend getting a hefe yeast if you want it to taste like a hefe. Lately I've been more into the bavarian style (banana esters) so I've been using White Labs WLP300 yeast, but if you prefer more of an american style then you'd want their WLP320. Wyeast has equivalents of these but I don't know the exact strains, my LHBS sells mostly WL vials.

Using the US-05 will make beer, but it won't be a hefeweizen.

How about T-58 or WB-06?

ol' rummie said:

How about T-58 or WB-06?

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T-58 is more of a "standard" ale yeast, with a peppery character.

WB-06 really isn't the best wheat beer yeast. I have gotten good results with WB-06 in a Weissenbock, but I would not use if for a hefe.

If you want to make a hefe with a dry yeast, try Danstar Munich. Though, for a really good hefe, you will probably want to go with liquid yeast.

This is my first post on these forums, but I use US-05 for my go to summer wheat beer and it turns out fantastic every time.

If your after the banana/clove/bubblegum character of a hefe, you won't get it with this yeast, but it will produce a nice clean crisp beer.

For beers whose flavor profiles are absolutely dependent on yeast character, there just isn't a substitute for liquid yeast, IMO.

Hefes, Wits, Belgians of all sort, Saison, etc.

It really depends on what you mean by hefeweizen.

In a traditional German hefeweizen, the yeast would be a no-go.

In an American wheat beer (AKA Widmer hefeweizen), it might work. Personally, I think it wouldn't have that cloudy characteristic that even Widmer has, but it should make a decent wheat beer.

I use Notty in my Minute Wheat, which is an American Wheat beer, and it comes out crisp and clean tasting, with a mild amount of cloudiness that I attribute to the wheat DME. It looks great, and tastes refreshing. Much like, as McKBrew says, Widmer Hefe.

Cpt_Kirks said:

If you want to make a hefe with a dry yeast, try Danstar Munich.

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I used it in a wheat with a touch (1/2#) of rye and wasn't real happy with it. I've not really liked any dry wheat yeast to be honest.

flyangler18 said:

For beers whose flavor profiles are absolutely dependent on yeast character, there just isn't a substitute for liquid yeast, IMO.

Hefes, Wits, Belgians of all sort, Saison, etc.

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This

I recently did a side by side where I brewed 10 gallons of Hefeweizen and put Munich in half and WB-06 in the other half. The Munich has a slight banana character and the 06 has a very slight clove...but neither one of them will give you the authentic character you are looking for. That said they are really refreshing and I have been enjoying them quite a bit...but they are by no means the same as the liquid yeast equivalents.

bakins said:

I used it in a wheat with a touch (1/2#) of rye and wasn't real happy with it. I've not really liked any dry wheat yeast to be honest.

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Well, like I said before, you are best off with a liquid yeast for a real hefe.

I don't use Munich for hefe's, I use it for American style wheats, fruit wheats and have made a pretty good Dunkelweiss with it. Watching an American wheat made with Munich bubble as I write this.

I just did a classic Hefe with Danstar Munich, and its not even close to what I was after. no cloves, no banana, no nothing. Really clean, and boring. I won't be using the Danstar yeasts again.

Like everyone else said before....you will not get a hefe, but you can make a good wheat beer IMO. I use it for my Agave Wheat and my Summer Ale where I don't want the yeast to over shadow the other delicate flavors/aromas that I put in the beer. So go for it if you want a clean flavor profile more along the lines of an American Wheat. But stick with the traditional yeast strains for a hefe if that's your goal.

I agree. Hefe is yeast. I made an American Wheat with WLP002 (English Ale), but it doesn't have nearly the same profile as using hefeweizen yeast.

You would obviously end up with a wheat beer, since you made beer from wheat.

I've fermented a variety of beers with us-05 and I've always been pretty happy with it. I tend to like Hefeweizen for the mellow, clove/banana flavors so I wouldn't use anything other than an actual hefe yeast, but it doesn't mean you wouldn't make a great tasting beer.

My experience is that 05 tends to accentuate the fruit notes of a beer pretty well. If you were going to make a wheat beer with it you might wanna consider some fruit addition or at least some specialty grains above and beyond the standard pils/wheat