WLP300 vs. WLP380

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WhiskeyR

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Of my 5 batches I have made, my Hefeweizen was by far my favorite. When I made it I used the following recipe with WLP300:

6 lbs. wheat malt extract
1/2 lb. wheat malt grain
1/2 lb. two-row pale malt
1/4 lb. cara-pils malt
1 oz. Hallertauer hops (bitter)

I really enjoyed the flavors in this recipe, especially the banana. It tasted exactly like No Label Brewing Company's El Hefe (from Katy, TX) which I love.

This time around, because my LHBS was out of WLP300 I got WLP380. I read that I should expect more spiciness and less banana flavor. I'm interested to see the difference, but I'd like to know which yeast others prefer and why? What are your experiences and preferences between the two?

By asking which yeast others prefer, I'm mainly asking for those who have tried both (ie. "I always use WLP300 and I like it" is not helpful). I'd like to know others' impressions of the differences, in practice.
 
From WLP380 page:
"Large clove and phenolic aroma and flavor, with minimal banana."
http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp380.html
It seems the exact opposit to what you like.
Next time if your LHBS doesn't have WLP380, maybe you should try Safale WB-06? It's a dry hefe yeast, the most popular hefe yeast in european breweries.


I tried all the hefe yeasts out there and my favorites are:
1. WLP300
2. WB-06
I like the banana flavor in my hefe too, but I do not like too much clove and phenol. BTW, when you go AG, you are able to control those things a little better by applying a special rest schedule in the mashing process.
 
My Hefe was inspired by El Hefe as well. I love the bright orange aroma they achieve.

I used WLP320 for mine, though it's still in primary so I haven't tasted it yet. I'll try to post something on it when I taste it in a week or so.
 
From WLP380 page:
"Large clove and phenolic aroma and flavor, with minimal banana."
http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp380.html
It seems the exact opposit to what you like.
Next time if your LHBS doesn't have WLP380, maybe you should try Safale WB-06? It's a dry hefe yeast, the most popular hefe yeast in european breweries.

That's the impression I got as well (that it was opposite of what I think I is important to me in a Hefe). But as I'm new to this and still learning, I'm going to follow through with this and then do one with the WLP300 as well, to learn the difference and see how they come out. Nothing ventured, nothing gained I guess.
 
My Hefe was inspired by El Hefe as well. I love the bright orange aroma they achieve.

That stuff is brilliant to me. I don't know that I get an orange aroma from it really, but I'm also not the best at describing flavors. Paulaner Hefeweizen used to by my favorite, but the El Hefe and even Rahr & Sons Hefe are much better to me. I think because they are fresher and possess an abundance of the flavors we're supposed to expect from but seem more subtle in a German hefe. My theory is that those are how German hefe's are supposed to taste, when very fresh.
 
That stuff is brilliant to me. I don't know that I get an orange aroma from it really, but I'm also not the best at describing flavors. Paulaner Hefeweizen used to by my favorite, but the El Hefe and even Rahr & Sons Hefe are much better to me. I think because they are fresher and possess an abundance of the flavors we're supposed to expect from but seem more subtle in a German hefe. My theory is that those are how German hefe's are supposed to taste, when very fresh.

I'll let you know in October, I'm headed to Munich on business in September.

I used the 320 specifically because it had no banana or clove esters. I didn't detect them in the sample of El Hefe that I sampled. That being said, I only had a 4 oz sample so I may have missed it. I need to do the No Label tour to try a few more samples.
 
I use 380 almost exclusively and I too love hefs. If you let it ferment warm enough, you will get bananas - perhaps more than you bargained for.
 
WhiskeyR said:
Suggested temp? I usually keep my water bath 62-65.

Water bath? Is that a method for cooling your fermenter? I know I'm off topic here but that is something I'm looking for.
 
I'm guessing he's talking about a swamp cooler. It's something we have to do here in Houston even in the winter. To maintain temps without a dedicated chamber, we put the fermentor in a cooler full of water. We add ice/frozen coke bottles as need to maintain temp. I usually try to keep mine below 66F regardless of the yeast I'm using.
 
Ok cool. I will look for more details on that then. My basement floor is up around 70-72 here in Iowa and it's kinda keeping me from trying my first California Common. Swamp cooler....hmmmm
 
I'm guessing he's talking about a swamp cooler. It's something we have to do here in Houston even in the winter. To maintain temps without a dedicated chamber, we put the fermentor in a cooler full of water. We add ice/frozen coke bottles as need to maintain temp. I usually try to keep mine below 66F regardless of the yeast I'm using.

Yup, just no tshirt or fan. An iced down water bath seems to be enough for me since I ferment inside my apartment, where it is already cooled.
 
Suggested temp? I usually keep my water bath 62-65.

Last week I let mine ferment in the garage and it was probably in the mid 70s. It is perhaps too bananarama for me but that will teach me to not use a water bath. I usually use a temp controlled chest freezer at 68* for wlp 380, but I am laggering in it for the next two weeks.
 
Yup, just no tshirt or fan. An iced down water bath seems to be enough for me since I ferment inside my apartment, where it is already cooled.

I'm actually able to do it my un-airconditioned garage. One frozen coke bottle in the morning and one at night. Keeps the water around 65.
 
Hey Ravenshead, where are you getting El Hefe at? You're further away from Katy than I am. Aside from Houston Beer Fest, the only place I've been able to find it is Liberty Station but they rotate their taps so much there's no luck right now.
 
Suggested temp? I usually keep my water bath 62-65.

Last week I let mine ferment in the garage and it was probably in the mid 70s. It is perhaps too bananarama for me but that will teach me to not use a water bath or some kind of temp control. I usually use a temp controlled chest freezer at 68* for wlp 380, but I am laggering in it for the next two weeks.

Things like this make you realize how much of brewing takes place after the wort production. The same ingredients, made the same way can be like two different beers just by having warmer ferm temps.
 
WLP 380 definitely has some very noticeable banana character if you let it ferment at the higher end of its range (low-mid 70's) I prefer 380 over 300, but from what I've experienced so far (I haven't done experiments to specifically test this) I get a much more consistant taste from 300 across the fermentation temperature range.

This probably warrants some further exploration.
 
I've used WLP300, WLP380, and Wyeast3068. I feel they all make very similar Weizens, depending on how you use them. I use WLP380 on more of a Dunkelweizen I make with a healthy dose of honey malt, so it's a lot sweater and more malty than your regular hefeweizen, as if they weren't sweat enough already, but I like how this yeast balances out the sweat with spicy flavors. It will however, produce some of those same fruity flavors of other hefeweizen strains.

Not only the fermentation temperature, but also the pitch rate will influence the flavor of beer. Overpitching and fermenting cool will produce more spicy characters and underpitching and fermenting warm will produce more banana flavors. Here is a video from someone at Wyeast talking about how to control the flavors of their yeast. It's long, but if you skip to 16:10 you can listen to him talk more about this.

 
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