Which yeast?

[O-Ale-Yeah]

Which yeast to use?

1) My domicile is 66 degrees Fahrenheit. There's nothing I can do about that. (i.e. Fermentation and botteling temp)

2) I'm not partial to sweet things. (i.e. Attenuation)

3) Full body is my goal! (i.e. Full body versus sweetness)

4) I'm shooting for amber wheat ale.

5) High flocculation is a want because I don't plan to filter with a high micron filter or use whirfloc.

The only thing I've known to do is search White Labs and Wyeast for low temp, ale, high flocculation, low attenuation.

This is producing mediocre confidence in my upcoming brew session. I need advice!

 

[rburrelli]

Choosing yeast is more about the type of beer you want to make. There can be many types that fall within the general parameters you have at the end of your post. Not all of them will work for what you desire in your beer.

I don’t worry too much about attenuation or flocculation unless it is super critical to a style.

Perhaps study some recipes and take note of the yeast choices. Then go to the website and review their characteristics.

US05 would be a generally accepted ale yeast if you want to use dry yeast. WPL001 or 1056 for liquid. They will ferment clean and meet your temperature requirements.

You can always cool ferm temps with a swamp cooler or other means.

 

[RM-MN]

A simple tub of water to put your fermenter in can give you some control of fermentation temperature. Adding a piece of cloth that covers the fermenter and hangs down into the water can do a bit more. Add a fan and you can cool a bit more. Drop a frozen bottle of water into the tub and the temperature goes down some more. Each of these steps give you more options.

 

[ncbrewer]

A simple tub of water to put your fermenter in can give you some control of fermentation temperature. Adding a piece of cloth that covers the fermenter and hangs down into the water can do a bit more. Add a fan and you can cool a bit more. Drop a frozen bottle of water into the tub and the temperature goes down some more. Each of these steps give you more options.

And if you need it warmer (clean-up after the bulk of fermentation is over), some use an aquarium heater. I use a seedling warming mat loosely held to the outside of the water tub.

 

[ebbelwoi]

I'm a little confused about your wanting high flocculation. Wheat ales/beers are generally cloudy. Are you hoping for a clear ale? Or hoping to remove the yeast flavor?

My experience with Safale S-04 is that it flocculates really well, and leaves a nice solid yeast cake at the bottom, making it easy to rack or bottle.

Flocculation: High
Attenuation: 72-75%
Optimum temp: 64-75F

 

[z-bob]

I've not tried Nottingham yet, but it sounds like about what you're looking for.

The best wheat beer I've made was fermented with T-58, but that was at about 80 degrees. K-97 is good too, but you'll end up with a lot of sediment in the bottles (the beer will stay kinda cloudy until you bottle it, then it drops clear) That might be good in a wheat beer, tho'. People who like yeast can swirl it up when they pour.

 

[WBB]

Spend $70 and get a fermwarp and inkbird and take your domicile out of the equation. Unless you’re lagering, you’ll be good to go in that aspect...fermentation.

 

[Lefou]

If you're looking for a balanced amber wheat ale with dryness I'd recommend mashing a bit lower and longer.
145F-150F range for 60-90 minutes using malt higher on the diastatic scale (American two-row, Pilsner, or Vienna would do).
If you're looking for a good White Labs liquid ale yeast consider WLP001 or WLP029. Both flocculate well and will leave a minimum of esters if you can keep temps controlled.

 

[O-Ale-Yeah]

A simple tub of water to put your fermenter in can give you some control of fermentation temperature. Adding a piece of cloth that covers the fermenter and hangs down into the water can do a bit more. Add a fan and you can cool a bit more. Drop a frozen bottle of water into the tub and the temperature goes down some more. Each of these steps give you more options.

I wasn't looking to cool things down though. It seems like ale yeast and botteling descriptions lean towards 70 degrees right? I was just looking for Ale yeast that does well with Ambers and gives a full budy.

 

[O-Ale-Yeah]

I'm a little confused about your wanting high flocculation. Wheat ales/beers are generally cloudy. Are you hoping for a clear ale? Or hoping to remove the yeast flavor?

My experience with Safale S-04 is that it flocculates really well, and leaves a nice solid yeast cake at the bottom, making it easy to rack or bottle.

Flocculation: High
Attenuation: 72-75%
Optimum temp: 64-75F

I guess maybe I don't care about flocculation as long as it's totally fine to have all of those sediments in the bottles. I don't care what it looks like, only what it tastes like.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

2) I'm not partial to sweet things. (i.e. Attenuation)

3) Full body is my goal! (i.e. Full body versus sweetness)

4) I'm shooting for amber wheat ale.

5) High flocculation is a want

66F is not a particularly low temperature, it's pretty much standard for "normal" ales. Particularly since that is air temperature and the heat produced by yeast activity will bump up the liquid temperature by a degree or two.

If you're not partial to sweet things, then you want high attenuation, but that in turn will reduce the amount of body. You'll have to figure out where your taste lies, but probably attenuation isn't quite as important for your taste as you think it is. Also high flocculation generally means low attenuation and vice versa, for various reasons but you can think of it as the yeast dropping out before it's finished chomping sugar (it's a lot more complicated than that though).

What do you mean by "an amber wheat ale"? Do you mean an amber ale that contains wheat, like most British bitters, or are you looking for a darker colour of hefeweizen, with the clove-y yeast flavours that are typically found in hefeweizen? You'll end up needing completely different yeasts in each case, they have significant contributions from the yeast which has nothing much to do with the wheat content.

 

[RM-MN]

I wasn't looking to cool things down though. It seems like ale yeast and botteling descriptions lean towards 70 degrees right? I was just looking for Ale yeast that does well with Ambers and gives a full budy.

These are two separate items. During the first part of fermentation one needs to keep the temperatures low as when the temperatures are above optimum the yeast throw off flavors. That's where fermentation temperature control comes in. Once the fermentation has slowed, usually in 3-4 days, the temperature can be raised to encourage the yeast to complete fermenting the last of the sugars possible and clean up the byproducts produced earlier.

When the beer is bottled there is so little sugar that the yeast don't throw off flavors even when fermenter warm. We want them to eat the sugars quickly and completely to give us the carbonation so we allow that to happen at higher temperatures.

66F is not a particularly low temperature, it's pretty much standard for "normal" ales. Particularly since that is air temperature and the heat produced by yeast activity will bump up the liquid temperature by a degree or two.

Probably more temperature rise than the degree or 2 when starting at an ambient of 66F. When I do mine at 62 ambient the fermenter rises to at least 64. Starting at 66 ambient, I would expect 4 to 6 degrees of rise, putting the beer near the top end of many ale yeasts preferred temperature range.

 

[O-Ale-Yeah]

66F is not a particularly low temperature, it's pretty much standard for "normal" ales. Particularly since that is air temperature and the heat produced by yeast activity will bump up the liquid temperature by a degree or two.

If you're not partial to sweet things, then you want high attenuation, but that in turn will reduce the amount of body. You'll have to figure out where your taste lies, but probably attenuation isn't quite as important for your taste as you think it is. Also high flocculation generally means low attenuation and vice versa, for various reasons but you can think of it as the yeast dropping out before it's finished chomping sugar (it's a lot more complicated than that though).

What do you mean by "an amber wheat ale"? Do you mean an amber ale that contains wheat, like most British bitters, or are you looking for a darker colour of hefeweizen, with the clove-y yeast flavours that are typically found in hefeweizen? You'll end up needing completely different yeasts in each case, they have significant contributions from the yeast which has nothing much to do with the wheat content.

Good to know that 66 is not a detriment.

By Amber wheat al, I mean I was thinking about going with a 5.5 gallon batch of:

5 lbs. Wheat
4 lbs. Pilsner Malt
3 lbs. German Dark Munich
2 lbs. Biscuit malt
2 lbs. Flaked oats
1 lb. Unmalted wheat
0.25 lb. Cara Munich II

Wyeast 1056
Or
Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale
Or
WLP005 British Ale Yeast
Or
US 05

 

[Northern_Brewer]

5 lbs. Wheat
4 lbs. Pilsner Malt
3 lbs. German Dark Munich
2 lbs. Biscuit malt
2 lbs. Flaked oats
1 lb. Unmalted wheat
0.25 lb. Cara Munich II

Wyeast 1056
Or
Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale
Or
WLP005 British Ale Yeast
Or
US 05

Sorry, I just don't really get it - it looks like a heap of ingredients rather than a thought-out beer. So it's hard to know what yeast to use when there doesn't seem to be much of a plan. I assume the 5lb wheat is malted, because otherwise there's no way you have enough enzymes, and even if it is you're looking a bit low on enzymes. And assuming you can mash it all, you're looking at a potential 7% beer, so why the worry over mouthfeel?

Don't be in such a hurry - you're just starting out. I know it can be frustrating but keep it simple to start with, learn your process and your materials. I usually recommend people do the same grain bill for their first three all-grain batches - you can mess around with different hops and yeast, but keeping the same grist means that you can compare and see the improvements in your process. How can you know what the biscuit, the dark munich or the caramunich II are bringing to the above recipe, until you've brewed with them individually?

 

[O-Ale-Yeah]

Sorry, I just don't really get it - it looks like a heap of ingredients rather than a thought-out beer. So it's hard to know what yeast to use when there doesn't seem to be much of a plan. I assume the 5lb wheat is malted, because otherwise there's no way you have enough enzymes, and even if it is you're looking a bit low on enzymes. And assuming you can mash it all, you're looking at a potential 7% beer, so why the worry over mouthfeel?

Don't be in such a hurry - you're just starting out. I know it can be frustrating but keep it simple to start with, learn your process and your materials. I usually recommend people do the same grain bill for their first three all-grain batches - you can mess around with different hops and yeast, but keeping the same grist means that you can compare and see the improvements in your process. How can you know what the biscuit, the dark munich or the caramunich II are bringing to the above recipe, until you've brewed with them individually?

You sound a bit rude.

 

[z-bob]

You sound a bit rude.

1. Everyone here is trying to help you.
2. He's right. 2 lbs of oats and 2 lbs of Biscuit is what got me, I just didn't say anything about it until now. Do you know why you added them?

 

[ratinator]

Agreed, the balance in your ingredients is way off, especially with 17lbs of grain I would think you would be somewhere in the 8%-9%ABV range. If your looking for a good amber/red ale I would try mysticmeads red ale. Its technicially more american then anything. And even if your super sold on wheat you can sub some of the 2 row for wheat.

Get your process down, try out some tested recipes. Once you feel comfortable then you can start designing recipes or finding out what you like. Always use beersmith or another website/program when designing your recipes

 

[O-Ale-Yeah]

1. Everyone here is trying to help you.

Everyone has been incredibly helpful. I was just trying to help him also. Some people are not aware of how they sound. There are polite ways to say anything.

1. He's right. 2 lbs of oats and 2 lbs of Biscuit is what got me, I just didn't say anything about it until now. Do you know why you added them?

Thanks for the help. I added them because I had seen them in other recipes and they look like things I like and I read that they add body. I picked things I like that seemed like they'd go together and could also add body.

I love wheat malt and pilsner malt. Oat and biscuit sound delicious and add body. Unmalted wheat supposedly adds body. I added the dark Munich malt and cara for flavor and color. Should I take out both the oats and biscuit?

 

[O-Ale-Yeah]

Agreed, the balance in your ingredients is way off, especially with 17lbs of grain I would think you would be somewhere in the 8%-9%ABV range. If your looking for a good amber/red ale I would try mysticmeads red ale. Its technicially more american then anything. And even if your super sold on wheat you can sub some of the 2 row for wheat.

Get your process down, try out some tested recipes. Once you feel comfortable then you can start designing recipes or finding out what you like. Always use beersmith or another website/program when designing your recipes

I chose 17 pounds because I had seen so many YouTube videos where they use 15 and I was going for something more like soup so I thought 17 would be good. Is that a good approach?

Calculators show my recipe as 7% AVB.

Thanks, I'll check out BeerSmith.

 

[Soulshine2]

Which yeast to use?

1) My domicile is 66 degrees Fahrenheit. There's nothing I can do about that. (i.e. Fermentation and botteling temp)

2) I'm not partial to sweet things. (i.e. Attenuation)

3) Full body is my goal! (i.e. Full body versus sweetness)

4) I'm shooting for amber wheat ale.

5) High flocculation is a want because I don't plan to filter with a high micron filter or use whirfloc.

The only thing I've known to do is search White Labs and Wyeast for low temp, ale, high flocculation, low attenuation.

This is producing mediocre confidence in my upcoming brew session. I need advice!

for wheat beers ,Fermentis wb-06
other stuff like ales and such, US-05 will do quite a wide range of styles.


However, use of K-97 (kolsch yeast) might work well too.

I keep an assortment of dry yeast in my fridge .

 

[O-Ale-Yeah]

for wheat beers ,Fermentis wb-06
other stuff like ales and such, US-05 will do quite a wide range of styles.


However, use of K-97 (kolsch yeast) might work well too.

I keep an assortment of dry yeast in my fridge .

Thanks soulshine, I'll read up on Fermentis wb-06 and K-97. Greatly appreciated.

 

[Lefou]

Agreed, the posted recipe is heavy on the grains.
A more frugal beer could be done with three malts (Munich Light, wheat, and a couple ounces of chocolate).
Simply adjust the grain weight based on your projected efficiency and choose your yeast and hops based on the ABV/style you want. Manage your mash temps and with some luck you'll make the numbers - and away you go.

 

[O-Ale-Yeah]

Agreed, the posted recipe is heavy on the grains.
A more frugal beer could be done with three malts (Munich Light, wheat, and a couple ounces of chocolate).
Simply adjust the grain weight based on your projected efficiency and choose your yeast and hops based on the ABV/style you want. Manage your mash temps and with some luck you'll make the numbers - and away you go.

Thanks Lefuo, I read this again when I get home and see if I can get it sorted out.

 

[O-Ale-Yeah]

Lefuo, can you tell me, what does it mean to adjust the grains base on projected efficiency?

 

[planetscott]

Lots of advice on yeast, but I didn't see the obvious. Be sure to use plenty of healthy yeast, no matter what strain. All too often, I judge beers in competition that do not utilize the plenty of healthy yeast approach. For me, the easiest way to achieve this is to make friends with a local brewery or brew pub and get yeast from them. Saves time from making starters, it healthy and viable and I usually hang around for a beer or two.

 

[Lefou]

Efficiency is dependent on your method and equipment. There's mash efficiency and overall brewhouse efficiency, both measures of how well your mash conversion puts sugar to the boil from the grains. A lot of factors influence your mash efficiency - pH, mineral salt levels, water ...
The point being, you want to extract as much sugar as possible from your grain. Yeast is typically the most expensive ingredient of your brew, but getting your grain-to-water ratio dialed in can help save money. This forum is a great reference so start with this "sticky" in the all grain brewing forum - it's good info and will benefit you.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/increasing-efficiency.334813/