Weizen Yeasts?

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tagz

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Just wanted to get a sampling of people's opinions on the various hefe style yeasts. What have you tried? Which ones would you avoid? I'm looking for plenty of fruity banana esters, some clove and I tend to like them fairly dry, but any input is welcome. Thanks.
 
My favorite is WLP300, it has classic German hefeweizen style esters and phenols. I actually ferment my hefeweizens at 62-64F because I like the smooth "ester-to-phenol" balance the lower temp creates. In my opinion fermenting warmer than 70F creates excessive esters that start to dominate the beer and classic German brews are all about balance.
 
Don't use the new WB-06 dry yeast. I just got rid of 5 gals I made with it because I didn't like it. The only liquid hefe yeast I've used was the Wyeast 3056 Weihenstephan smack pack, and had good results with it. I think it's the same as WLP300.
 
Im making a hefe tomorrow with WLP300 I'll let ya know in a few weeks what I think of it.
 
Different Wheat yeasts will create differenct balances of phenols and esters. Thermperature and mashing can also affect this balance. I don't like to ferment my Weissbiers above 70*F, regardless of desired ester character or not, because the higher temps also mean an increase in harsh fusel alcohols. Though they only become a serious problem in higer gravity Wheats (Weizenbock for example) I still want to preserve a smooth finish by fermenting in the mid to upper 60s.

From my experience Wyeast 3068 ferments more towards phenolics and Wyeast 3638 ferments more towards the fruity esters.

If you desire more esters, just reduce the amount of oxygen you add in the beginning. This will retard yeast growth and in turn increase the ester production of the yeast.

Kai
 
We use WLP380 and love it. My husband (who doesn't like wheat type beers) really enjoys my hefe's when I brew them! If that's not an endorsement i don't know what is!
 
I've used WLP300, Wyeast 3068, and WB-06. They're all good IMO, but I like the 3068 the best. It could just be incidental, but my best weizens have involved that yeast...
 
My first hefe is 2 days into fermentation with the WLP300. I thought about using a safale dry weizen yeast but many told me it wouldn't give me the true hefe flavor. Its fermenting at 68 now. I am also very interested in the different hefe yeast flavors, so will let you know what mine tastes like ( i will be happy as long as a clove flavor doesn't dominate the taste)

If anyone has opinions on the % of wheat/barley extracts and any effects on flavor that would be nice?
 
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