Recultured wheat beer yeast

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mjp

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Don't know if any one has been reculturing wheat beer yeasts, so thought I'd throw it out there. I'm pretty keen to throw down a decent WB, but my only easily available yeasts are WB06 ( I find this over cloved) and Brewcraft wheat beer yeast ( which I've never used). I have successfully grown a culture of " White Rabbit White Ale", ( Found this a little over cloved) , But had a " Wicked Ellf Witbier" today and really enjoyed it. Has anyone tried to grow this yeast before, or is it more of the same done at diff temps? It does have a good yeasty residue in the bottle, & says fresh yeast added & bottle conditioned so should be easily recultured with some 1040 WDME.Guess I just want some input from more experianced wheat brewers. Love wheat beers, but sick of my over cloved attempts!
 
Try La Chouffe's bottle yeast. It's the Ardennes yeast (a Belgian Ale) but it's got a nice balance and makes a great Wit. I prefer it to 3944 - the Hoegaarden strain.

If you want banana (and sulphur), then 3068 is the stuff. Most German hefes use it, but almost none (Schneider excepted) use it as their bottle conditioning strain. They use a lager yeast for that.

Also, the Chimay yeast makes a great wheatbeer - lots of banana and not much cloves.
 
Can get Chimay & La Chouffe at the local bottlo. Might split a batch with both yeasts and try.
 
Both are very difficult to re-culture. Be patient and buy the freshest bottles you can find - the yeast is on its last gasp in our bottlos.

Or, spend the same amount on a hundred odd billion cells by buying 1214 and 3522.
 
mjp said:
Love wheat beers, but sick of my over cloved attempts!
Esters put out by yeasts are really temperature dependent, and can be managed with well controlled fermentation. I'm not familiar with WB06 so I can comment on how to manage it. However I find it hard to believe that you can't access different types of yeast. Any HB shop worth their salt will post out high quality liquid yeast in express post bags (be it wyeast or white labs etc). Try any one of the site sponsors and they'll sort you out in a flash.

Where are you located?
 
I'm not a massive wheat beer fan, but recently found myself out of tap beer with a few mates due to come around. So I set myself the task of brewing a Hefe to style due to the fast ferment / conditioning time. I wanted it to throw a fair bit if banana, so chose WP300. Had it from a site sponsor within a day or so and thought I hit the style exactly. As I say, not a massive wheat beer fan, but had people asking if I could bottle some from the keg to take home.

Bottom line, if your after that distinct banana flavour a wheat beer can give. Any decent online shop should get you some WP300 fairly promptly.
 
JDW81 said:
Esters put out by yeasts are really temperature dependent, and can be managed with well controlled fermentation. I'm not familiar with WB06 so I can comment on how to manage it. However I find it hard to believe that you can't access different types of yeast. Any HB shop worth their salt will post out high quality liquid yeast in express post bags (be it wyeast or white labs etc). Try any one of the site sponsors and they'll sort you out in a flash.

Where are you located?
Have fermented with this yeast at 12, 14,16, & 18- less clove at the low end but never got the banana. Am located in central coast nsw. My local shop will get me anything I want, But I tend to look at grain I have , hops I have and leave yeast to the last minute. Usually coz if its raining on the weekend, I might as well make some beer. Can always grab US05, S04 etc, & always have some recultured cpa handy. Maybe I should plan a WB in advance and grab a better yeast. Will try and reculture a La Chouffe this weekend though!
 
I've done a number of wheat beers with wb-06 now, an agree with the "over cloved" comment in the OP. However, my most recent hefe was deliberately fermented at 23.5C to bring out more esters, and it's certainly worked....more banana flavour and aroma than any I've done before. Still tart on the tongue, and by no means is the banana overpowering, but the higher temp certainly changes things up.

I'm moving onto the liquid yeasts for my next few wheat beers, starting with Wyeast 3068.
 
well I got a bit more banana at 20deg.... this wheat beer I'm drinking atm is fantastic
 
carniebrew said:
starting with Wyeast 3068.
Watch out with that one. The little fecker grows arms and climbs out of the fermenter.
 
JDW81 said:
Watch out with that one. The little fecker grows arms and climbs out of the fermenter.
Cheers for that. I saw Wyeast's web page on 3068 which says "This is true top cropping yeast and requires fermenter headspace of 33%.". Sounds like that might be an understatement? I usually do 20l in a 30l fermenter...but I have a blowoff tube I haven't needed as yet, might hook it up for my first 3068 batch.
 
I've had 3068 touch the gladwrap with 50% headspace.

That, and it's random sulphur, is why I've stopped using it. Great yeast, too tempremental.
 
What are you using (if anything) in its place Nick? And is the result much different?
 
I have found wheat yeasts to lose a lot of character if recultured.

I also find they they are not only ferment temperature dependant for flavour compounds, they are mash chemistry (which can be controled via mash temps, water make up, pH, etc etc) dependent, and this is what makes them so temprimental to use.

Taking lots of accurate notes while brewing is the key and if you get a great result, repeat.

Everybodys water and brewery is different so what some people list as a good mash schedule or ferment temperature may not work for you.

I tried the 40 deg ferulic rest and hated it, but love 3068 with just a 52 deg rest, and 63/71 mash
 
carniebrew said:
What are you using (if anything) in its place Nick? And is the result much different?
Belgians. Yes and no.

1214 in a 50:50 wheat:pils with 15IBUs of Hallertau @ 20C makes a beer that tastes suspiciously like Schneider Weisse. It doesn't try to escape the fermenter, it is banana city, and importantly for me it doesn't fade rapidly like 3068. No sulphur either.

For my Wits I use 3522 (Ardennes) which I prefer over the Hoey strain.

3638 is also easier to use than 3068, but much more mellow.

Basically, if you want lashings of banana and a hint of spice, 1214 is your problem-free yeast for a hefe. As a kristallweizen yeast it's super too as you can get it to drop clear pretty easily.

Haven't tried it yet, but 3787 would also make a pretty good hefe.
 
3787 is a climber like 3068.

I recon that stuff would make a mess if you fermented 10 liters in a 44 gallon drum.

great yeast though!
 
I've used 3787 a lot for Belgians but never in a wheatbeer. Find myself erring towards 1214 instead now for that very reason. Also, I get a tangy spice from 3787.

I ferment in jerrys. Krausen monsters are a PITA.
 
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