which yeast for hefe?

So I'm trying to decide on a yeast for my Bavarian hefe. I don't usually drink them, so I'm not sure what flavor profile I want. My dad is the one that requested I make one. He likes the Lienenkugels summer wheat as well as the pyramid hefeweizen.

I have a packet of danstar Munich and a packet of wb-06. Which would give a flavor profile closer to those two beers? If neither really will, then which yeast would you use to make a good hefe?

MisterClean said:

So I'm trying to decide on a yeast for my Bavarian hefe. I don't usually drink them, so I'm not sure what flavor profile I want. My dad is the one that requested I make one. He likes the Lienenkugels summer wheat as well as the pyramid hefeweizen.

I have a packet of danstar Munich and a packet of wb-06. Which would give a flavor profile closer to those two beers? If neither really will, then which yeast would you use to make a good hefe?

Click to expand...

I use wlp300 german hefe yeast. Never used wyeast, so I'm not sure the equivalent to 300. According to JZ, you don't want to use the American hefe yeast either. I personally really like 300 and have 12 gallons of a Franz hefe clone in buckets right now that uses it.

MisterClean said:

So I'm trying to decide on a yeast for my Bavarian hefe. I don't usually drink them, so I'm not sure what flavor profile I want. My dad is the one that requested I make one. He likes the Lienenkugels summer wheat as well as the pyramid hefeweizen.

I have a packet of danstar Munich and a packet of wb-06. Which would give a flavor profile closer to those two beers? If neither really will, then which yeast would you use to make a good hefe?

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that both of those beers are actually American wheat beers, not Bavarian hefes. They lack the esters (banana & cloves) of German hefes. Leinenkugel Summer Wheat is actually brewed with a lager yeast. There are yeasts from both Wyeast (1010) and White Labs (wlp320) specifically for American wheats. Many people use California ale yeast (wlp001, wyeast 1056, US-05) but I personally think these would be a bit too neutral for my tastes. I'm not familiar with wb-06 but apparently it is a German hefe yeast and it will give you that beer's sort of flavor profile.

I'm planning on doing an American wheat within the next few batches and my intent is to use yeast harvested from Bell's Oberon with WLP320 as my fall-back should that not pan out.

Yeah, I did some reading and agree with you about those two being american wheats and not true hefeweizens.

I have had, and enjoyed ayinger brau weisse. My dad enjoyed it as well. It may come down to finding out if he wants a beer that's more banana or more spice-like.

I already have the wb-06 and the danstar, so I'd like to stick with one of the two for now. Next hefe I make I'll try a liquid yeast.

After doing some reading, the WB-06 is sounding like it will give more spicy esters with very little banana around 68-70, but I could go higher (some have gone as high as 90) to improve the banana. It seems the danstar produces a more yeasty banana flavor with little spiciness even at the low 60s. Of course, this is all based on forum reading. I may just have to experiment and make a few batches with different yeasts to see what we like.


Edit: I have read some people have good results by not aerating the wort before pitching. Have any of you tried this, and how did it work for you?

Just bottled my 1st Hefe and used the WB-06.....turned out very nice and I recommend using that since you already have it.
I chilled the wort down to 60 then pitched, basement stays around 60-65 degrees so that was the temperature range.
Taste and aroma was very good for a Bavarian Hefeweizen.

WB-06 has produced very different flavors for me, just like some of the hefeweizen yeasts. Basically, the more you stress these yeasts, the more fruity esters you get. So underpitching, not aerating, and fermenting warm will produce more esters, or more of those fruit and banana flavors. You don't want to over do it though, because then you may get flavors you don't want.

On the contrary, over pitching, aerating well, and fermenting cool all help reduce ester production, making the spicy phenolic flavors and aromas from the yeast stand out more. This has been the case for me with WB-06, WLP300, and Wyeast 3068.

WB-06 is not the same yeast as the other two and does seem to produce different flavors, but it does make a good wheat beer with some of those Hefeweizen characteristics.

Wyeast has two:
3068 is German hefe and 3638 is Bavarian Hefe. The 3068 will give you more pronounced banana notes and the 3638 produces slightly fruitier esters IME. A lot of the flavor profile comes directly from whatever temperature you decide to ferment at. Both will produce clove and more of it at the lower end of temps.