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Hefewiezen question?

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baer19d

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I brewed a batch of Hefewiezen and pitched Safbrew WB-06 for the first time and I'm uncertain as to why I have the results that I have. In the past I used WLP300 for the few batches that I've made and had a very active fermentation with a LOT of krausen and the beer always tasted fine (more or less) but with the WB-06 I had very little krausen, but plenty of bubbles in the blow-off tube. After 3 weeks left alone in the primary I went to keg it and noticed a sour smell, I tasted it and things were not so good, it tasted more like a Lambic that a Hefeweizen. I don't remember the specifics on the beer since I'm not at home to look at my notes, but everything else turned out OK, the OG and FG were at or near my target and I was as careful as always about avoiding contamination. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks, Mike
 
As too the difference in krausen and blow off, those are 2 completely different strains and will act differently. I personally have used both and the WLP300 needs a blow off and the Safbrew does not. Just characteristics of the yeast.

If it smells and tastes sour, then you have an infection. Are you sure you were 100% careful in avoiding an infection? It doesnt take much.

Also, as a side note, if you are trying to brew a german hefeweizen, you need to use teh WLP300 or equivalent Wyeast product. If not, it just wont have the banana and clove flavor that is traditional to the style
 
I've done once a side-by-side comparison of WLP300 and WB-06 (a 10 gal batch split into two). In the beginning, when the beer was young, there was a noticeable difference between the two: WLP300 had more banana, WB-06 had more clove. After some time though, the difference in taste totally disappeared and the beer came out exactly the same.
I used a step mash with decoction to brew that batch.
 
I don't have the availability of liquid yeast that I use to have so I'm forced to use the dry yeast now.
As too the difference in krausen and blow off, those are 2 completely different strains and will act differently. I personally have used both and the WLP300 needs a blow off and the Safbrew does not. Just characteristics of the yeast.

If it smells and tastes sour, then you have an infection. Are you sure you were 100% careful in avoiding an infection? It doesnt take much.

Also, as a side note, if you are trying to brew a german hefeweizen, you need to use teh WLP300 or equivalent Wyeast product. If not, it just wont have the banana and clove flavor that is traditional to the style
 
I've done once a side-by-side comparison of WLP300 and WB-06 (a 10 gal batch split into two). In the beginning, when the beer was young, there was a noticeable difference between the two: WLP300 had more banana, WB-06 had more clove. After some time though, the difference in taste totally disappeared and the beer came out exactly the same.
I used a step mash with decoction to brew that batch.

Thats interesting b/c I used the WB-06 to make a cranberry wheat beer and I didnt taste any of the banana or clove flavors from it.

So, i just did some research and found that the WB-06 is used for the german style. My bad, i assumed it was for american wheat. http://www.brew365.com/yeast_safbrew_WB06.php

Now i wonder why i didnt get any of those flavors with mine......
 
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