Weihenstephaner Vitus Recipes Thoughts

Just brewed this again last Sunday. Had a boil off issue and ended up with a OG of 1.064. Recipe was:
8 lbs American white wheat
2.5 lbs German Pilsner
3 lbs German Vienna

I decided to drop the melanoidin, as it was such a small amount and made the beer darker, which I am trying to avoid. I didn't aerate the wort at all, not even shaking bucket. Pitched 3/4 of recommended yeast count(Yeastcalc.com). Pitched at 65F and let raise to 68F where nearly all the fermentation has been taking place. Crazy blow-off for 2 days, moreso than when fermented at 64-65F. Hydro sample today at 1.018 was super fruity and sweet. Hope it dries out.

mkravitz13 said:

brewed this beer with a buddy last weekend. increased the vienna a 1/2 pound and decreased the pilsner by 1/2 pound per the previous suggestions in the thread.

pitched 1L starter of wyeast 3068 at roughly 62F. blew off like crazy for 2 straight days. majority of the vigorous activity was at 68F. its dropped down to 66F now with still some airlock activity. almost been 1 week in the primary now.

planning on doing an additional week in primary @ 66-68F and then considering cold conditioning in secondary for 1-2 weeks. slarkin, you have any carbing probs after the long cold conditioning?

-max

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No carbing problems after cold conditioning. This yeast stays in suspension very well, so there will be plenty left for carbing. I think I'm going to do 1 week at 50F for my current batch and then bottle.

slarkin712 said:

No carbing problems after cold conditioning. This yeast stays in suspension very well, so there will be plenty left for carbing. I think I'm going to do 1 week at 50F for my current batch and then bottle.

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Any progress on the recipe?

It's still bottle carbing. But I did have one a few days ago, and it was nearly carbed up. Really nice wheat/bready/tart flavor and the color is right where it should be. Still missing the big banana flavor in Vitus. I just get these generic estery flavors with a hint of banana. Back to the drawing board. Could it have something to do with my water? Or maybe I need to add a little bit of oxygen? This last batch attenuated fine (FG 1.009) without any aeration, which was a nice result. Until I can come up with some other ideas I think I'm going to change to using RO water and build a very simple water profile. My water is high in sodium and sulfate, and is pretty hard.

Long time lurker, finally signed up today.

Really enjoyed reading through this thread as I too am a huge fan of Vitus.

I'm an extract brewer who has yet to make the jump to all grain, but recently had various liquid malt extracts left over following two 5 gallon batches (maibock & dunkel weizen).

What I was left with was:
3.8 Lbs of Wheat LME
2.0 Lbs of Pilsen LME
1.5 Lbs of Munich LME

Figured I might as well throw together a "hybrid" weizenbock of sorts... so this weekend I brewed a 3.5 gallon batch using the LME above along with .4 oz of German Hallertau and .8 oz of Tettnag @60min. After brewing, the wort was heavily aerated, chilled to 62 degrees and pitched with two smack packs of Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan (no starter, poured the inflated packs straight into the carboy).

It’s been fermenting vigorously in the basement for 36 hours with an ambient room temperature of 61 degrees. I figure the brew is probably around 64 degrees due to heat from the yeast. When I get home from work today I am going to move the carboy into a hallway with a 67 degree ambient temp for the remainder of fermentation.

In two weeks I will transfer to keg and condition at 45 degrees for a few weeks before consumption.

I too am hoping to get some banana flavor, so perhaps despite my bastard weizenbock having far too much Munich, it can be of some use to our overall knowledge considering I heavily aerated the wort and pitched a relatively large amount of yeast (seems the recent attempts have involved low oxygen & low yeast). I will taste when I transfer to the keg and post impressions.

Prost.

Leipzig said:

Long time lurker, finally signed up today.

Really enjoyed reading through this thread as I too am a huge fan of Vitus.

I'm an extract brewer who has yet to make the jump to all grain, but recently had various liquid malt extracts left over following two 5 gallon batches (maibock & dunkel weizen).

What I was left with was:
3.8 Lbs of Wheat LME
2.0 Lbs of Pilsen LME
1.5 Lbs of Munich LME

Figured I might as well throw together a "hybrid" weizenbock of sorts... so this weekend I brewed a 3.5 gallon batch using the LME above along with .4 oz of German Hallertau and .8 oz of Tettnag @60min. After brewing, the wort was heavily aerated, chilled to 62 degrees and pitched with two smack packs of Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan (no starter, poured the inflated packs straight into the carboy).

It’s been fermenting vigorously in the basement for 36 hours with an ambient room temperature of 61 degrees. I figure the brew is probably around 64 degrees due to heat from the yeast. When I get home from work today I am going to move the carboy into a hallway with a 67 degree ambient temp for the remainder of fermentation.

In two weeks I will transfer to keg and condition at 45 degrees for a few weeks before consumption.

I too am hoping to get some banana flavor, so perhaps despite my bastard weizenbock having far too much Munich, it can be of some use to our overall knowledge considering I heavily aerated the wort and pitched a relatively large amount of yeast (seems the recent attempts have involved low oxygen & low yeast). I will taste when I transfer to the keg and post impressions.

Prost.

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Keep us posted. I've done some more digging trying to find out why I don't get the strong banana flavor. The search lead me to this thread:
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=12789.0

Lots of good info in there, mostly dealing with pitching rates. I think pitching rate is my problem, as I typically pitch 12-18M/mL. Anywhere from 4-6M/mL is what I should be shooting for to get strong banana flavors. I think I'm going to split up my next batch and pitch 4-6M/mL in one fermentor and 12M/mL in the other. I also re-read some of Eric Warner's weiss book, and Hieronymus's "Brewing with Wheat". In one of them I read that water profile varies greatly between commercially brewed weissbiers, and that water profile is not that significant. So, I'm just going to stick with my current water source.

I tasted a sample of my weizenbock last night prior to kegging. There was certainly banana, but also spice... it was actually pretty balanced. Definitely not as strong with banana as Vitus, but good none the less. Looking forward to tasting after i force carbonate.

Hi Slarkin,

I am excited to try out your clone. Some friends and I enjoy the Vitus often at a local shop here in Redwood City, CA. In speaking with the barkeep there, he mentioned that they spoke with the Weheinstephaner folks directly and that there is some dry hopping done with this brew at the brewery. I was a bit shocked to hear this but thought I would mention it. Going to try out your latest grain bill this week. I am going to change one thing (mainly because I have it on hand) and that is to change the yeast to WLP300. In the past, I have had excellent success with this yeast pumping banana esters into my hefe's at relatively low temps. That yeast in my hands is a wild one to control and I need to have ice on hand for about the first 2 days. at 72F it will bring in major banana tones and I usually keep it under 67 for my hefes because I like the clove flavors more, but in this case the banana is a definite requirement. Will let you know how it goes.

Would like to hear how your last recipe turned out in a taste test against the vitus!

zsasbo said:

Hi Slarkin,

I am excited to try out your clone. Some friends and I enjoy the Vitus often at a local shop here in Redwood City, CA. In speaking with the barkeep there, he mentioned that they spoke with the Weheinstephaner folks directly and that there is some dry hopping done with this brew at the brewery. I was a bit shocked to hear this but thought I would mention it. Going to try out your latest grain bill this week. I am going to change one thing (mainly because I have it on hand) and that is to change the yeast to WLP300. In the past, I have had excellent success with this yeast pumping banana esters into my hefe's at relatively low temps. That yeast in my hands is a wild one to control and I need to have ice on hand for about the first 2 days. at 72F it will bring in major banana tones and I usually keep it under 67 for my hefes because I like the clove flavors more, but in this case the banana is a definite requirement. Will let you know how it goes.

Would like to hear how your last recipe turned out in a taste test against the vitus!

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From my taste test about 2 months ago:
"Really nice wheat/bready/tart flavor and the color is right where it should be. Still missing the big banana flavor in Vitus. I just get these generic estery flavors with a hint of banana."
Next batch will probably be brewed in June, with some experimentation with pitching rates in a couple fermentors.
I'm shocked to hear that they dry hop Vitus. Perhaps they were talking about Schneider's Mein Nelson Sauvin, which is an over-hopped weizenbock. I've had it and it's very possible that it is dry hopped.
The WL300 works just as well as 3068. I've used both in wheat beers and have gotten similar results. Good luck on your brew!

I went back and looked at my notes from our last visit for beers and I need to correct my statement....It was in fact the Vitus Hoplosion that was dry hopped. Not the traditional Vitus. Sorry for the confusion!

I hate doing decoction mashes, but stepped infusions are pretty easy if you use the tools in beersmith and make sure to account for the temp of your grains and mashtun. Have any of you tried using a ferulic acid rest on this beer?

When I get back from Berlin I am going to brew a hefe inspired by this beer and this post. However, I am going to use a slightly different recipe and mash schedule.

7# 2-row german pils malt
7# white german wheat malt
1# melanoiden malt

The mash profile will be a Hochkurz mash with a ferulic acid and protien rest, stepped infusion style.

30 min @ 112F (ferulic acid rest)
20 min @ 130F (protien rest)
30 min @ 144F (maltose rest)
45 min @ 162F (dextrinization rest)

Anyone come up with a GOOD clone yet?

jhoneycutt said:

Anyone come up with a GOOD clone yet?

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Yeah, the guys at the German American Society couldn't get enough of this one. Key is to 1/2 pitch the yeast and ferment at around 70°F.

Recipe: Revelation Hefe

Style: Weizen/Weissbier
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.72 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.72 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.050 SG
Estimated Color: 8.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 9.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 83.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 83.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name
6.80 g Calcium Chloride - sparge (Mash 60.0 min)
4.00 g Calcium Chloride - mash (Mash 60.0 mins)
4.25 lbs Wheat (MFB) (1.8 SRM)
2.5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (Rahr) (1.8 SRM)
14.0 oz Munich 20L (Briess) (20.0 SRM)
12.0 oz Caramunich I (Weyermann) (51.0 SRM)
6.0 oz Acidulated (Weyermann) (1.8 SRM)
0.55 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.20 %] - Boil 45.0 Hop
1.0 pkg Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068)


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 8 lbs 12.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 12.00 qt of water at 172.6 F 156.0 F 60 min

merfizle said:

Yeah, the guys at the German American Society couldn't get enough of this one. Key is to 1/2 pitch the yeast and ferment at around 70°F.

Recipe: Revelation Hefe

Style: Weizen/Weissbier
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.72 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.72 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.050 SG
Estimated Color: 8.4 SRM
Estimated IBU: 9.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 83.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 83.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name
6.80 g Calcium Chloride - sparge (Mash 60.0 min)
4.00 g Calcium Chloride - mash (Mash 60.0 mins)
4.25 lbs Wheat (MFB) (1.8 SRM)
2.5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (Rahr) (1.8 SRM)
14.0 oz Munich 20L (Briess) (20.0 SRM)
12.0 oz Caramunich I (Weyermann) (51.0 SRM)
6.0 oz Acidulated (Weyermann) (1.8 SRM)
0.55 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.20 %] - Boil 45.0 Hop
1.0 pkg Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068)


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 8 lbs 12.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 12.00 qt of water at 172.6 F 156.0 F 60 min

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And this is a virus clone correct?

jhoneycutt said:

And this is a virus clone correct?

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It seems the OG is way to low for a vitus.

jhoneycutt said:

And this is a virus clone correct?

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I agree that this would not be like vitus. The OG is far too low. Also, the use of any caramel/crystal malts seems unlikely in Vitus considering the FG needs to be low and the yeast provide most of the flavor that is perceived as sweetness. Also, the color is probably too dark. The post is correct about the yeast pitching rate. The key to a good hefe is to underpitch the yeast (somewhere in this thread I mention pitching rates to use). But make sure that the yeast you are using is fresh and in good health. I'm only speculating, but the grain bill for this beer should be simple. The yeast derived flavors are the key to Vitus.

I'm trying out this recipe tonight.

Batch size: 5.5 gal
OG: Need to Recalc

7.0 lb White Wheat Malt
3 lb Belgian Pilsener
4 lb German Vienna
3 oz Melanoidin Malt

1.5 oz Hallertau Mittelfruh (3.4% AA) 60 min
.5 oz Hallertau @ 15 min

Yeast: Weihenstephaner 3068 (with yeast starter for appropriate cell count)
Concluding this needs to be pitched low, I'm using the smack pack with no starter. I'm going to use the full smack pack this attempt.

Mash: 148F 75 min
Boil: 90 min
Ferment: I will pitch around 65F and let it rise to 70-72 to get banana flavors. Cold crash for 2 weeks at 45F, transfer to keg, cold crash an additional week (possibly with a tiny amount of priming sugar), and begin co2 for a week.

AlrightyThen said:

I'm trying out this recipe tonight.

Batch size: 5.5 gal
OG: Need to Recalc

7.0 lb White Wheat Malt
3 lb Belgian Pilsener
4 lb German Vienna
3 oz Melanoidin Malt

1.5 oz Hallertau Mittelfruh (3.4% AA) 60 min
.5 oz Hallertau @ 15 min

Yeast: Weihenstephaner 3068 (with yeast starter for appropriate cell count)
Concluding this needs to be pitched low, I'm using the smack pack with no starter. I'm going to use the full smack pack this attempt.

Mash: 148F 75 min
Boil: 90 min
Ferment: I will pitch around 65F and let it rise to 70-72 to get banana flavors. Cold crash for 2 weeks at 45F, transfer to keg, cold crash an additional week (possibly with a tiny amount of priming sugar), and begin co2 for a week.

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You should definitely stick with under-pitching the yeast. Whenever I have made this recipe with the standard ale yeast cell count it has not come out well. I would just get this generic fruity/estery flavor. Standard yeast count for this would be around 265 billion. I would consider using somewhere between 100 and 160 billion cells. I've recently brewed this again and I used one smack pack without a starter. The smack pack was less than a week old, so I knew that the yeast were in good health. This was easily my best attempt at Vitus so far. The finished beer had a moderate amount of banana and a hint of clove. It was very good, but still not quite Vitus. It needs more banana. I fermented at 62F, so I may raise that temp next time and see if I get more banana. In regards to your temperature, you may want to adjust it a little. I've found that temps over 70F do not give you any more banana, but more fruity flavors and not necessarily good. I've also read somewhere that above 68F or 69F there is no more increase in production of isoamyl acetate(i.e. banana flavor). I'd probably shoot for temps between 65 and 68, which is probably what I will use in my next attempt in a few months. Let us know how it turns out.

Definitely agreeing with the lower temperatures and under-pitching. This batch did not turn out the way I was hoping, I'm thinking something went awry in the fermentation as it ended up being fermented around 66-70. I had a blowoff requiring me to split the batch into two buckets due to the intensity of fermentation.

Slarkin712, would you change anything with the recipe?

slarkin712 said:

You should definitely stick with under-pitching the yeast. Whenever I have made this recipe with the standard ale yeast cell count it has not come out well. I would just get this generic fruity/estery flavor. Standard yeast count for this would be around 265 billion. I would consider using somewhere between 100 and 160 billion cells. I've recently brewed this again and I used one smack pack without a starter. The smack pack was less than a week old, so I knew that the yeast were in good health. This was easily my best attempt at Vitus so far. The finished beer had a moderate amount of banana and a hint of clove. It was very good, but still not quite Vitus. It needs more banana. I fermented at 62F, so I may raise that temp next time and see if I get more banana. In regards to your temperature, you may want to adjust it a little. I've found that temps over 70F do not give you any more banana, but more fruity flavors and not necessarily good. I've also read somewhere that above 68F or 69F there is no more increase in production of isoamyl acetate(i.e. banana flavor). I'd probably shoot for temps between 65 and 68, which is probably what I will use in my next attempt in a few months. Let us know how it turns out.

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The recipe is good. The key to this beer is fermentation. Underpitch the yeast, keep wort aeration low, and control fermentation temperatures. One might try decoction, but I think the yeast derived flavors are the most critical part of this beer. Better luck next time. Keep good notes about all your procedures, and you should begin to understand and improve the beer each time you brew it.

Made another attempt at this back in May. I definitely have the hot side brewing part of this recipe down pat. Hit all my numbers: mash pH, OG, post-boil volume. I had a huge amount of trub after chilling to 61F - more trub than normal. Some time after brewing this I ran across this post on brulosopher's blog:
http://brulosophy.com/2014/06/02/the-great-trub-exbeeriment-results-are-in/

From the post:
"In one study, researchers measured the impact of kettle trub on levels of isoamyl acetate (banana) and ethyl acetate (nail polish remover), splitting the same wort into 3 fermentors with the following trub volumes:

Low trub: .13 mg/ml
Moderate trub: 1.7 mg/ml
High trub: 15.9 mg/ml

To put this in a more understandable context, let’s consider what this would look like for a typical 5 gallon batch of beer:

Low trub: 0.1 oz (essentially nothing)
Moderate trub: 1.13 oz (probably close to what homebrewers who care can achieve)
High trub: 10.56 oz (quite a bit)

They found the wort with the most trub produced a beer with significantly lower levels of the aforementioned ester compounds. Huh?! We’re talking 106 times more trub than the beer in the low trub condition, equivalent to nearly 3/4 lb of kettle sludge in a 5 gallon batch. With all of my skepticism, not even I expected this. Fascinating."


If I interpret that correctly, and the findings are true, then less trub would yield more isoamyl acetate(banana) flavor. This is at the top of my list of things to try on my next re-brew of this recipe.

The results of this last batch were not as good as the prior batch. Had a hint of heat from alcohol and not enough banana. Not much pear or bubblegum either. More spicy than fruity. I did use a single smack pack without a starter as before, but this pack was nearly a month old and I got it from a shop rather than a yeast group buy, so I can't be certain how well it was handled. My guess is that this severe under-pitching is what lead to the "hot" off flavor. Best to make a small starter if using older yeast. Planning a rebrew for early November. I feel like I'm getting closer to a clone even though the results haven't been great.

This thread has immensely helped my brew day tomorrow. Thanks guys! 🍻


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

Definitely want to try this. I thought I read that one of the homebrew suppliers that is affiliated with this forum has a kit for this. Does anyone know which supplier that is?

I was just curious to see if anyone tested this with lower trub volumes and if that increased the isoamyl acetate.

I haven't been able to do the trub test. Someone should ask brulosophy to do this.

CsaintG said:

Definitely want to try this. I thought I read that one of the homebrew suppliers that is affiliated with this forum has a kit for this. Does anyone know which supplier that is?

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Barley & Vine All-Grain Vitus.
Barley & Vine Extract Vitus

This thread helped me brew the following last December, came out great with a smooth banana taste to it

3,61 kg Wheat Malt, Bel (4,0 EBC) Grain 1 51,5 %
1,75 kg Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (3,0 EBC) Grain 2 25,0 %
1,50 kg Munich Malt (15,0 EBC) Grain 3 21,4 %
0,15 kg Melanoidin (Weyermann) (59,1 EBC) Grain 4 2,1 %
35,00 g Spalter Select [3,10 %] - Boil 60,0 min Hop 5 10,8 IBUs
20,00 g Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [3,60 %] - Boil 30,0 min Hop 6 5,5 IBUs
4,00 g Irish Moss (Boil 10,0 mins) Fining 7 -
10,00 g Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [3,60 %] - Boil 5,0 min Hop 8 0,7 IBUs
1,0 pkg Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068) [124,21 ml] Yeast 9 -


Didn't ferment over 17°c at any time and left it only one week lagering at 4c

Loco said:

This thread helped me brew the following last December, came out great with a smooth banana taste to it

3,61 kg Wheat Malt, Bel (4,0 EBC) Grain 1 51,5 %
1,75 kg Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (3,0 EBC) Grain 2 25,0 %
1,50 kg Munich Malt (15,0 EBC) Grain 3 21,4 %
0,15 kg Melanoidin (Weyermann) (59,1 EBC) Grain 4 2,1 %
35,00 g Spalter Select [3,10 %] - Boil 60,0 min Hop 5 10,8 IBUs
20,00 g Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [3,60 %] - Boil 30,0 min Hop 6 5,5 IBUs
4,00 g Irish Moss (Boil 10,0 mins) Fining 7 -
10,00 g Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [3,60 %] - Boil 5,0 min Hop 8 0,7 IBUs
1,0 pkg Weihenstephan Weizen (Wyeast Labs #3068) [124,21 ml] Yeast 9 -


Didn't ferment over 17°c at any time and left it only one week lagering at 4c

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That's great. I'm still trying to improve the results from my attempts. I never seem to get much banana. Did you make a yeast starter and how old was the yeast? Also, did you oxygenate the wort before pitching the yeast?

Nope I just smacked the pack on the morning of brew day and pitched in the evening.
I don't know how to make a starter yet, that was just my 6th batch since i begun brewing, so i'm learning, and learning, and learning and it will probably never end
I had bought the yeast like 3/4 weeks prior to brewday, it was totally fresh.
Yes I did oxygenate the wort a lot in order to make sure the little cells had plenty to reproduce.


I'm looking through my notes , here is what i had written.

Yeast at 20c (68F) pitched in a wort that was at 17c (62F)

Date / STC / STC Settings / Cardboy sticker
22/11/2015 x x 16/18
23/11/2015 x x 16/18
23/11/2015 17.9 18 x
24/11/2015 17.6 17.5 x
24/11/2015 17.8 17 16/18
25/11/2015 17.3 16.5 16/18
25/11/2015 17.1 16.5 x
26/11/2015 16.9 16.5 18
27/11/2015 15.6 17 16
28/11/2015 16.8 17 x
29/11/2015 x 17 x
30/11/2015 17 17 16/18
01/12/2015 16.3 17 16/18
01/12/2015 16 17.5 16
02/12/2015 17 17 18
03/12/2015 17.1 17 16/18
04/12/2015 17.1 17 18
05/12/2015 16.6 17 16/18
06/12/2015 16.6 17 16/18

Average 16.91875 17.02941176 17.2

Sorry just copied that from an excel file, it's not very comfortable to read.
Anyways very low fermentation temperature and the krausen just spread everywhere , the fermentation and yeast where very healthy.

you all should try and get your hands on WLP611 New Nordic Blend. Might sound crazy, but the yeast puts out serious banana aroma & flavor when fermented in the low to mid 60's. I brewed an amazing weissbier with it 3 weeks ago. Others (in the White Labs Vault thread) are having similar results (banana).

i'm going to make a big weizenbock with my last vial.

Leipzig said:

you all should try and get your hands on WLP611 New Nordic Blend. Might sound crazy, but the yeast puts out serious banana aroma & flavor when fermented in the low to mid 60's. I brewed an amazing weissbier with it 3 weeks ago. Others (in the White Labs Vault thread) are having similar results (banana).

i'm going to make a big weizenbock with my last vial.

Click to expand...

Send me a 12 oz yeast sample please

Leipzig said:

you all should try and get your hands on WLP611 New Nordic Blend. Might sound crazy, but the yeast puts out serious banana aroma & flavor when fermented in the low to mid 60's. I brewed an amazing weissbier with it 3 weeks ago. Others (in the White Labs Vault thread) are having similar results (banana).

i'm going to make a big weizenbock with my last vial.

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I would gladly trade something(beer or yeast) for a bit of the WLP611. I'd love to try this in a weizenbock.

I've never purchased from here, but BarleyHaven appears to be selling WLP611
http://barleyhaven.com/wlp611-new-nordic-yeast-blend.html

I ordered some from barley haven. I'm going to make the Vitus recipe with this yeast. Pitch at temp around 62F and hold there. Wondering if I should oxygenate the wort prior to pitching. Definitely going to make a yeast starter.

I brewed a a weissbier (1.052 OG) and a high gravity baltic porter (1.105 OG) with WLP611. Both were fermented at 62 Degrees.

With the medium gravity weissbier 611 yielded 76% attenuation
With the high gravity porter 611 yielded 64% attenuation... I had to finish the beer with WLP001 to get the FG I was hoping for.

Not sure what OG your Vitus clone will have, but I would oxygenate the hell out of it. I'd guess that at an OG of 1.08 WLP611 is going to give you around 70% attenuation.

I worked up a recipe for a weizenbock last night that will have an OG of 1.076. Hopefully I find time to brew it in the next 2 weeks.

slarkin712 said:

Wondering if I should oxygenate the wort prior to pitching. Definitely going to make a yeast starter.

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I'm a beginner with only 6 complete batches behind me, the only time I brewed something undrinkable i had forgotten to aerate the wort (ok i also had a pitch temperature too high for the Belgian strain i was using and probably threw in too many spices in that beer).

Anyways for the vitus clone I aerated in order to get a nice foam on top of the liquid and then pitched and kept it at the temperatures described above.

I get that nice nice banana flavor and am pretty happy about it, IMHO I think in this beer style the cereals are one thing, you can play around with the pourcentages of wheat, cara-something , pils but the Weihenstephan strain and fermentation is what packs the punch.

Should i do it again with another strain I would still aerate it a lot, I wouldn't want to get caught with off flavors due to yeast dying prematurely in the cardboy.

slarkin712 said:

I ordered some from barley haven. I'm going to make the Vitus recipe with this yeast. Pitch at temp around 62F and hold there. Wondering if I should oxygenate the wort prior to pitching. Definitely going to make a yeast starter.

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I'm not going to tell you to not make a starter. But I pitched a vial of the WLP611 straight into a slightly higher gravity (1.056) hefe, and got 83% attenuation and great banana flavor, in about 4-5 days at 68F. Recipe and details here if you are interested.

I will also say that a starter definitely impacted the blend of the 3 strains used in WLP611. I cannot yet say how impact the shift is in the flavors produced, but both starter and post fermentation harvests had altered blend strain proportions. Slightly more details here if interested.

Just be aware that a starter with WLP611, as with any blend, can alter your blend composition.

slarkin712 said:

I ordered some from barley haven. I'm going to make the Vitus recipe with this yeast. Pitch at temp around 62F and hold there. Wondering if I should oxygenate the wort prior to pitching. Definitely going to make a yeast starter.

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Did your 611 arrive?
Interested to know if Barley Haven came through on the order... I'd like to get my hands on more 611.

I brewed this some time ago but it was very Vitus like. Weizenbock (2014 gold medal)

I recommend the WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale Yeast it has a very nice banana profile.