[Wort-H.O.G.]

I ferment my American wheats  and wheat-ryes with European or German ale strains.  They seem to leave a little more residual malt flavor than the American strains.

wlp090 is somewhat hop forward but no IME problems with a balanced malt profile either.

[jtoots]

If you're leaning towards a Hefe yeast, I'd suggest American Hefe over German... I recently did a 10 gallon batch split in half, one of each of the above yeasts, and the American Hefe had a much more subtle banana/clove.

American Hefeweizen shouldn't have any banana or clove.

It was definitely there, although as I stated it was much more subtle than German.  On White Lab's website, "this yeast produces a very slight amount of the banana and clove notes."
http://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp320-american-hefeweizen-ale-yeast

[Wort-H.O.G.]

If you're leaning towards a Hefe yeast, I'd suggest American Hefe over German... I recently did a 10 gallon batch split in half, one of each of the above yeasts, and the American Hefe had a much more subtle banana/clove.

American Hefeweizen shouldn't have any banana or clove.

It was definitely there, although as I stated it was much more subtle than German.  On White Lab's website, "this yeast produces a very slight amount of the banana and clove notes."
http://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp320-american-hefeweizen-ale-yeast

i think major is just pointing out that American hefe "shouldn't have" banana or clove notes-not that the yeast doesn't produce it however slight or subtle.

[majorvices]

I ferment my American wheats  and wheat-ryes with European or German ale strains.  They seem to leave a little more residual malt flavor than the American strains.

But for a hoppy wheat beer you may not want the yeast to be malt forward.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

I ferment my American wheats  and wheat-ryes with European or German ale strains.  They seem to leave a little more residual malt flavor than the American strains.

But for a hoppy wheat beer you may not want the yeast to be malt forward.

exactly

[majorvices]

If you're leaning towards a Hefe yeast, I'd suggest American Hefe over German... I recently did a 10 gallon batch split in half, one of each of the above yeasts, and the American Hefe had a much more subtle banana/clove.

American Hefeweizen shouldn't have any banana or clove.

It was definitely there, although as I stated it was much more subtle than German.  On White Lab's website, "this yeast produces a very slight amount of the banana and clove notes."
http://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp320-american-hefeweizen-ale-yeast

i think major is just pointing out that American hefe "shouldn't have" banana or clove notes-not that the yeast doesn't produce it however slight or subtle.

I have never tried that yeast before so I have no comment about the flavor profile.  For a hoppy american wheat I would highly recommend staying away from any strain that produces any banana or clove because those flavors clash with hops.

[jtoots]

i think major is just pointing out that American hefe "shouldn't have" banana or clove notes-not that the yeast doesn't produce it however slight or subtle.

I have never tried that yeast before so I have no comment about the flavor profile.  For a hoppy american wheat I would highly recommend staying away from any strain that produces any banana or clove because those flavors clash with hops.
[/quote]

Now I'm fully confused 
Anyhoo, sounds like we agree on the fact that banana and clove are not what we're looking for in this case, which was my original point.  Happy to move on. 

[erockrph]

I think a lot of the confusion comes from using the phrase "American hefeweizen", which (in my opinion) should never be used. A hefeweizen is a cloudy wheat beer of German origin which contains a considerable amount of ester and phenolic fermentation character. An American wheat beer is nothing like a hefeweizen other than containing a substantial portion of wheat malt. It is generally crisp, clear and cleanly fermented.

OK, I'll get off the soapbox now...

[69franx]

I think a lot of the confusion comes from using the phrase "American hefeweizen", which (in my opinion) should never be used. A hefeweizen is a cloudy wheat beer of German origin which contains a considerable amount of ester and phenolic fermentation character. An American wheat beer is nothing like a hefeweizen other than containing a substantial portion of wheat malt. It is generally crisp, clear and cleanly fermented.

OK, I'll get off the soapbox now...

Just reading through this thread I was getting confused as well. Thanks Eric for (at least for me,) clearing it all up.

[a10t2]

I think a lot of the confusion comes from using the phrase "American hefeweizen", which (in my opinion) should never be used.

I think they label it as such because Widmer calls their beer a hefeweizen. Whether they should do that, well...

[HoosierBrew]

I think a lot of the confusion comes from using the phrase "American hefeweizen", which (in my opinion) should never be used.

I think they label it as such because Widmer calls their beer a hefeweizen. Whether they should do that, well...

I use Wyeast 1010 occasionally , which is supposedly the Widmer equivalent. It is a little bit tart but in no way hefe-like. I agree that the 'American hefe' term is confusing and misleading.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

ah yes back to the thread topic of neutral yeast...