American Wheat Ale, thoughts?

[ghast]

Hi, I've been posting a lot on this forums lately because of the great feedback I get each time, so...

Any thoughts on this American Wheat Beer (5gal batch)?

5lbs White Wheat Malt
5lbs Pale Ale

1oz Willamette @60
1oz Saaz @15
1oz Cascade @0
0.5oz Saaz @0

Yeast: Safbrew WB-06

Give me your expert opinions... Thanks!

 

[thehaze]

WB-06 is now known to be a diastaticus strain, just like BE-134 and Belle Saison, so take that into consideration before using it.

WB-06 is unfortunately not a very good hefe/wheat yeast. It's slightly phenolic, but does not exhibit the clove and banana wheats are known for. It is also very tart and will drive the pH lower than most ale strains. Being a diastaticus strain, it will eat all sugars, leaving a very dry beer.

But seeing that the BJCP 2015 Guideline states the following for American Wheat:

"
Overall Impression
Refreshing wheat beers that can display more hop character and less yeast character than their German cousins. A clean fermentation character allows bready, doughy, or grainy wheat flavors to be complemented by hop flavor and bitterness rather than yeast qualities.

Comments
Different variations exist, from an easy-drinking fairly sweet beer to a dry, aggressively-hopped beer with a strong wheat flavor. American rye beers should be entered in the Alternative Fermentables specialty category. "

you can probably use WB-06.

 

[chickypad]

I'd go with wyeast 1010, or for dry yeast US-05 or other neutral strain. Everything I've heard about WB-06 makes it sound like it's between a German hefe and an American wheat strain but it doesn't do either well. Phenolic with some esters but not really authentic German wheat flavors, and not clean enough for an American wheat.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Looks like a fine starting point to me. Saaz hops are my favorite.

+1 use a more neutral strain for this style. However I do enjoy the fruity notes from the kölsch 2565 strain in my american wheat.

If you aren't already, think about balancing your sulfate/chloride ratio

 

[homebrewer_99]

The purpose of a wheat beer is to actually taste the wheat. IMO, there's no reason for the last 3 hop additions.

Also, you haven't identified the AAUs of the Willamette.

 

[Steveruch]

BRY-97, German ale yeast should get you close to Widmer hefe.

 

[Lefou]

I like ...

Neutral - WLP001 (or US-05 dry).
Sightly yeasty or fruity esters - WLP029 fermented on the cooler side and chilled well after bottle carbing.
WLP320 for an American-style hefe.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I made my comment based on the OP stating "American Wheat", which has a flavor nowhere near a a Hefe Weizen.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Any thoughts on this American Wheat Beer (5gal batch)?

It depends on where you're going with it, what characteristics you want to emphasise - as a bit of a "anything but German-style" category, there's a fair bit of flexibility.

If you've not bought them yet, I'd go with Sterling rather than Saaz - effectively a US equivalent, it just seems appropriate and might save a few cents.

As for the yeast - if you regard the American Hefeweizen WLP320/1010 from Widmer as the benchmark, then you're looking at a fairly neutral kolschy kind of yeast. In which case if you want dry then K-97. To emphasise how neutral it is, WLP320's closest relative based on genome sequencing to date appears to be WLP800 Pilsner (which is actually an ale yeast, go figure).

If you're looking for more traditional hefe yeast then you don't have too many dry options - I don't know anything about Mangrove Jack's M20 Bavarian Wheat other than it exists and it seems to do the ester/clove thing at appropriate temperatures (but seems to be banana-prone if you give it a hint of warmth).