Recommendations for Fruit Hefeweizen Yeast.

[Padj]

Hello folks.

So, recently I made a heff, which turned out to be a great success. So much so I want to expand upon it by turning it into a fruit beer. I was thinking Raspberry or mango.

So my question is which yeast would be best? I used the Weheinstaphaner 1078? Yeast last time. Great traditional banana and clove notes, but I'm not sure it would pair well with a fruit combo.

Any feedback would be fantastic.

 

[Kent88]

wyeast 1007

 

[SEndorf]

Fruit in a Heff? Proceed with caution.
You could try WLP300 and add a bit of meridian as a late hop edition, but frankly, I'm not sure how this would turn out.

 

[Padj]

Double message

 

[Padj]

Fruit in a Heff? Proceed with caution.
You could try WLP300 and add a bit of meridian as a late hop edition, but frankly, I'm not sure how this would turn out.

would you mind expanding upon the caution part?

 

[SEndorf]

would you mind expanding upon the caution part?

Heffers are a delicate beer. Light, with hints of clove and banana (depending on your fermentation temperature).
How fruit flavors interact with that is up for grabs. I think it would be an interesting experiment.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

3068 would be great, but I do not recommend strong fruits or berries. They will stomp on any yeast flavors. Go lightly or use softer flavored fruit.

 

[Padj]

I was thinking of using raspberrys.

 

[Horseflesh]

Raspberry in a keg of 3068 hef tastes great. It doesn't much taste like a hef any more, but it's good!

(I had a commercial mango wheat radler that was very good last summer. I asked how they made it, and the answer was simply mango juice in the keg.)

 

[homebrewer_99]

LOL! As someone who actually lived in Bavaria for 9 years and have brewed over 500 gallons of HW I can honestly say that flavoring a HW with fruit is a mistake.

What you need to brew is a Wheat Ale and flavor that. You can use the same recipe, but use a clean ale yeast like Nottingham or Safale US-05.

I would recommend making it with less body (2 qts to 1 pound), a lower mash temp (under 150) and no finishing hops.

Once you have a great base beer then you can flavor it with any fruit you want without the banana/clove bumping against the fruit flavoring.

I've done raspberry, watermelon and cherry with success. All flavored "to taste".

 

[stan1007]

Fruit in a Heff? Proceed with caution.
You could try WLP300 and add a bit of meridian as a late hop edition, but frankly, I'm not sure how this would turn out.

WLP300 works very well with fruit hefe. FWIW, Schafly Brewing, out of St. Louis, makes a raspberry hefe that is outstanding. I have a blueberry recipe that I can't keep enough of.

 

[Padj]

LOL! As someone who actually lived in Bavaria for 9 years and have brewed over 500 gallons of HW I can honestly say that flavoring a HW with fruit is a mistake.

What you need to brew is a Wheat Ale and flavor that. You can use the same recipe, but use a clean ale yeast like Nottingham or Safale US-05.

I would recommend making it with less body (2 qts to 1 pound), a lower mash temp (under 150) and no finishing hops.

Once you have a great base beer then you can flavor it with any fruit you want without the banana/clove bumping against the fruit flavoring.

I've done raspberry, watermelon and cherry with success. All flavored "to taste".

I'll be honest the more I study into it the more I am leaning towards a whets ale. I just think that the banana clove flavors wouldn't work to well.

Your suggestion is not to add any hop additions, but I think I would like too though in not sure what to use and how to use it as yet.

 

[RPh_Guy]

My first thought was "oh no!" when you said you were adding fruit to a hefe.
+1 for everything @homebrewer_99 said.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

To say it accurately, yes, its a "<fruitname> wheat ale". But it's no big deal. Look how grossly the term "IPA" is misused and abused now. A 190 IBU bottle of alien phlem is not related whatsoever to an IPA. Nor should a 10.5% ABV Saison made with 5 pounds of sugar and 50 IBU's of Cascade, be called a Saison.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I'll be honest the more I study into it the more I am leaning towards a whets ale. I just think that the banana clove flavors wouldn't work to well.

Your suggestion is not to add any hop additions, but I think I would like too though in not sure what to use and how to use it as yet.

Just to clarify...I didn't say not to use any hops, just not to use finishing/aroma hops if you want the fruit flavor to be more pronounced.

For my HWs, I use WLP300, very little hops (2AAUs) and ferment at 70F because I prefer a more pronounced banana nose and flavor.

 

[homebrewer_99]

WLP300 works very well with fruit hefe. FWIW, Schafly Brewing, out of St. Louis, makes a raspberry hefe that is outstanding. I have a blueberry recipe that I can't keep enough of.

(Not wanting to argue or debate the issue)...German HW is a style all it's own. It has either a banana or a clove flavor. Nothing else. If you add fruit to a German (or German-style) HW it no longer a HW but a fruit wheat ale no matter what marketers want to call it.

I think too many people use terms incorrectly for the sake of advertising. For instance, when you stated above "fruit hefe". I know that you have one idea about what your terminology means, but because I lived in Germany all I read is "fruit yeast". Even translating it into German, "frucht hefe" has no meaning.

Interestingly enough, before they pour a HW in Germany they'll ask "mit oder ohne hefe?"...with or without the yeast? What they are asking is if you want the yeast roused off the bottom and in your glass. Some people like a little yeast, some all of it. But if you want absolutely no yeast floating in there you ask for a Kristall (Crystal clear) Weizen.