Hefeweizen fermentation temp

[boxer.luur]

Just brewed my 1st beer 48 hrs ago. The yeast I'm using (safbrew wb-06) says ferment between 64°-75°. The kit says ferment between 62°-64°. I have my fermenter in a water bath. Water temp is 62° and stick on thermometer says 64°. I'm getting plenty of yeast action. Constant bubbling thru blow off tube. Krausen is only about 1"-1 1/4" thick. So what info do I use? Yeast temp or recipe temp? I just really want this batch to turn out good (it's for my sister's wedding). Any advice, even if it's telling me to stop stressing lol, is appreciated

 

[Buick Beer Gardens]

Your temp is fine. Yeast working like mad. Will probably ferment quickly like my hefeweizen do. Let it go for two weeks.

 

[boxer.luur]

Your temp is fine. Yeast working like mad. Will probably ferment quickly like my hefeweizen do. Let it go for two weeks.

Thank you. Over thinking I know lol

 

[DVCNick]

It's made good tasty wheat beer for me at 68 internal temp, so measuring the outside you probably aren't too far off from that.. but don't worry if it creeps up a couple degrees from where it's at.

 

[McKnuckle]

WB-06 is a spicy/clove biased yeast, suspected to be more Belgian than a classic weissbier yeast. If you want banana, you need to push it much warmer, into the 70s (Fahrenheit). You also want to under-pitch and not aerate if you're hoping for more of these esters.

This being said, you aren't going to ruin anything fermenting in the lower 60s. I suggest just letting the temp rise to whatever it will achieve naturally. Alternately, you can move the fermenter to a 70º room and call it a day. At 48 hours in, you're nearly past the point of influencing flavor anyway. Expect attenuation in the 84% range with this one.

See this thread on the pro brewing forum: https://discussions.probrewer.com/showthread.php?9018-fermentis-wb-06

 

[ncbrewer]

Lots of brewers use WB-06 without problems, but it is a diastaticus yeast. If your cleaning isn't sufficient, and you leave some of this in the fermenter (it doesn't take much), it could cause some late attenuation in future brews. It can lead to bottle bombs if you bottle. So I suggest a VERY thorough cleaning after emptying the fermenter.

 

[McKnuckle]

Thanks for the warning. I've used WB-06 in two weissbiers of late, both kegged, so no worries about explosions with those. However, I do have some harvested in a mason jar... I'll need to make sure the lid isn't jammed on too tightly!

 

[jrgtr42]

From what I understand, Hefe yeasts throw off different aromas and flavors depending on the temp, more or less banana or clove flavors if the fermentation temp is higher or lower (I don't remember which is which.)
IIRC from the times I brewed Hefes, which was a while ago, the yeast are very forgiving of temps, even to the mid 70s or even above - again ,giving different flavors.
It's not as critical to keep it at a specific temp, unlike some other strains which can be very finicky about temps.

 

[Schecter]

Hi Boxer,

Congrats on your first brew!

IIRC, like jrgtr42 touched on, your hefe yeast will output different flavors based on fermentation temperature. Think of a sliding scale with lower range temperatures putting out clove-like flavors, and higher range temperatures putting out banana-like flavors. I'm not familiar with your specific yeast but I assume it will behave similarly. If it is indicating the lower range temperature, then I would think the kit is geared more to a clove-like flavor.

From Safale's own TDS, it says the yeasts' optimal temperature range is 64-75.

Online comments on this yeast also indicate low banana flavors, and some even ferment as high as 78.



Advice - definitely don't stress. Your temperature seems spot on, if we were talking 10 degrees higher we may have concern.

Welcome to the community, we're happy to have another to cheers with.

...Cheers!!

Schecter

 

[boxer.luur]

Hi Boxer,

Congrats on your first brew!

IIRC, like jrgtr42 touched on, your hefe yeast will output different flavors based on fermentation temperature. Think of a sliding scale with lower range temperatures putting out clove-like flavors, and higher range temperatures putting out banana-like flavors. I'm not familiar with your specific yeast but I assume it will behave similarly. If it is indicating the lower range temperature, then I would think the kit is geared more to a clove-like flavor.

From Safale's own TDS, it says the yeasts' optimal temperature range is 64-75.

Online comments on this yeast also indicate low banana flavors, and some even ferment as high as 78.



Advice - definitely don't stress. Your temperature seems spot on, if we were talking 10 degrees higher we may have concern.

Welcome to the community, we're happy to have another to cheers with.

...Cheers!!

Schecter

Thank you. I'm glad to be part of the brew-munity!! I'm going to just follow the kit and keep the temps low. Still have the blow tube in. Krausen has fallen but I'm still getting an air bubble every 2-3 seconds. Put airlock back in or just leave blow tube in until fermentation is done? I don't plan to check fg until about day 12 or so

 

[McKnuckle]

A blow-off is just a more elaborate airlock. There's no reason to switch one for the other unless you have a space issue where the fermenter is located. So, just leave it alone. And good for you on not checking gravity til it's nearly certain to be done anyway.

 

[DVCNick]

You also want to under-pitch and not aerate if you're hoping for more of these esters.

Never tried this before, but figured why not... Made a ten gallon batch of my normal wheat beer on Saturday and pitched around midnight. Used half of a regular size starter of WB-06 in each carboy and didn't aerate. It blew off about 15 hours later still.

Also, I just now (Sunday evening) dosed one carboy with a couple oz of vodka soaked, then strained, fresh orange zest... we'll see how that goes. Soaked it for about 24 hours, and then just made a vodka tonic with the vodka (very tasty) so I hope all my flavor didn't get left in the vodka.

Also I'm fermenting in the low 70's which is a little higher than I've done with this yeast before.
Hopefully not changing too many variables at once.

 

[mashpaddled]

The range of yeast temperatures listed by yeast labs are optimum temperatures. Yeast work outside of those temperatures but below can start to get sluggish and above can throw esters and higher alcohols you may not want. Any yeast will ferment at 95F you just might not like how the beer tastes. A lot of yeast will work in the 40F range but may take a long time to ferment and may not ferment as fully as they would at higher temperatures. The ranges given are to help people brew within the expected yeast attributes and get a decent beer. They are good guidelines but not black and white rules that must be followed.

 

[Nate R]

Just brewed my 1st beer 48 hrs ago. The yeast I'm using (safbrew wb-06) says ferment between 64°-75°. The kit says ferment between 62°-64°. I have my fermenter in a water bath. Water temp is 62° and stick on thermometer says 64°. I'm getting plenty of yeast action. Constant bubbling thru blow off tube. Krausen is only about 1"-1 1/4" thick. So what info do I use? Yeast temp or recipe temp? I just really want this batch to turn out good (it's for my sister's wedding). Any advice, even if it's telling me to stop stressing lol, is appreciated

How did the beer turn out? Or, how is it?
I hate to even ask, but is the weeding soon or is it post-poned?

Fwiw, i think you will be fine. I ferment my hefe batch in a non-temp control and have always been super happy with results. I use liquid yeast- Imperial Stefon, and i think the flavors are so powerful that it is very forgiving.
I go side by side my brew vs. a Weistaphen (spelling) hefe and theirs is always a little better, but not by much!
There is so much going on in a hefe vs. like an pale ale.

One note- i always suggest a blow-off tube vs an airlock. This yeast can take off!!

Hope the wedding was great, or is going to be great!!