[Iliff Ave]

I know you said you would probably use dry yeast, but look into White Labs WLP 320 American Hefe. It's a dialed back standard Hefe yeast strain. You won't get the banana bomb as you would with WLP300, but you'll get hints of those traditional Hefe notes. This alone might get you the dynamics that you want. From my understanding, WYeast does not have an equivalent. I'd keep the malt bill simple with 50/50 Pilsner and wheat. Maybe a splash of caramunich. Bitter with magnum and finish with a combo of cascade/Willamette/Mt. Hood.

Thanks for the feedback. Looks like that the Widmer Hefe strain?

I think after all of the advice, yeast is where I should focus my efforts. I will have to consider a variety of options...

[Iliff Ave]

Also not a dry yeast but I have always had good luck with WY1010 American Wheat.

It finishes with enough body, a little cloudy and I've always enjoyed the flavor profile.

Paul

I am very intrigued by this yeast especially.

[fmader]

Also not a dry yeast but I have always had good luck with WY1010 American Wheat.

It finishes with enough body, a little cloudy and I've always enjoyed the flavor profile.

Paul

I am very intrigued by this yeast especially.

Yeah. I'm not sure what I was thinking when there was no equivalent. I've used this strain too. But for some reason, I'm traditionally a White Labs fan. It's what I can regularly get, so I feel comfortable with it.

I remember. I was at a tiny brewery in Port Clinton, Ohio - Catawba Island Brewery and I spent a lot of time speaking with the assistant Brewer. They had just tapped a habanero/mango hefe. I was intrigued because I was planning on brewing a Hab/mango pale ale. He said he would've more excited about that, because he didn't like his Hab/mango hefe because they used the WYeast 3068. He thought that the banana esters clashed with the flavors of the beer. They certainly did. I agreed with him. I asked if he would consider WLP320. He explained that they contracted through WYeast and didn't think they had an equivalent to WLP320.

Wow. Long story for that. Owell. Regardless, I think either 320 or 1010 will get you where you want to go as opposed to a neutral yeast like S05.

[Steve Ruch]

Thanks for the feedback. I have considered Kolsch yeast which I think would be very good. I may just experiment with fermenting K97, a German ale yeast, a bit warmer in attempt to get some esters.

I think K97 is supposed to be an alt yeast. Widmer uses an alt yeast in their Am. hefe.

[Iliff Ave]

Thanks for the feedback. I have considered Kolsch yeast which I think would be very good. I may just experiment with fermenting K97, a German ale yeast, a bit warmer in attempt to get some esters.

I think K97 is supposed to be an alt yeast. Widmer uses an alt yeast in their Am. hefe.

Got ya. The WLP320 was described to "produce the Oregon style American Hefeweizen" which I assumed was referencing Widmer's Hefe.

From my experience with K97 it doesn't have close to the same character as what is used in their Hefe. Maybe it is a temperature difference thing...

[Iliff Ave]

What does torrified wheat bring to the party?

[Wort-H.O.G.]

Basically the whole kernel version of flaked wheat.


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[JJeffers09]

Would wyeast 3068 or wlp300 be too far out of your comfort zone?  If you want a blue moon clean finish I could see just an American wheat yeast.  But for a little more body and some richness get away from the white wheat and pick up some German Wheat malt.  It will really carry your wheat up more than a white wheat malt, but still give you the drinkability.  I like WLP300 and Wyeast3068 but I think they are not quite as good as Wyeast3056 and wyeast3333.

Is it the banana and clove that throws you off about German wheat beers?  If so you can always ferment at lower 60's to minimize those characters.

*Edit - recipe %
33.33% _ 2row
47.62% _Ger Wheat
9.52% _Crystal 20
9.52%_ Flaked wheat

You could even go a litter higher with the wheat, I think no higher than 60%

Even wyeast1007 German Ale would give you a clean finish, but the yeast strains that stay in suspension is what makes a wheat beer to me anyway.

[Iliff Ave]

I don't plan to use a German wheat yeast in an American Wheat beer. I don't want any Hefeweizen yeast character. Also I am staying away from crystal malt in this style.

Going with
60% wheat tbd
40% base malt (pale ale malt or possibly gp)

Yeast will likely be k97 fermented warm or wy1010

[hopfenundmalz]

i'm not sure about that. some variation of chico, but behaves differently is what I understand.

here's a decent review:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/2013/05/24/bry-97-american-west-coast-yeast-review/

if you don't want banana and clove, and you don't want ester neutral, its a tasty option and adds some refreshing fruity ester to your beer.

I don't do many wheat beers so I didn't open this, but now did and have some contributions.

BRY is the Siebel yeast bank code.
BRY-97 is the dry equivalent to WY-1272 and WLP-051. These are said to be the Anchor Ale strain.
BRY-96 is the same as US-05/WY-1056/WLP001 and is the Chico strain.

Both are from Ballantine, 97 being the ale strain, 96 being the beer strain.

The Widmer brothers went to Germany before they opened the brewery. They were going to have an Alt as the flagship, spent time at Uerige, and brought the Uerige strain back (Wyeast -1007/WLP-036). The Alt never took off, but they brewed a wheat beer that did. The yeast became less flocculant at Widmer, and is Wyeast 1010/WLP-320. The description on the Fermentis product sheet for K-97 says it is a German ale strain, so with that and the 7 I would guess it is the same as WY-1007. Anyone know more?

Microbiologists will talk about yeasts that have the POF gene - Phenolic Off Flavor. The German wheat beer yeasts and many Belgian strains have the POF gene. Other ale yeasts and lager yeasts do not. Clove flavor is a phenoic, the banana is an ester.

The one American wheat I did last year was a Bell's Oberon variation. The Bell's yeast can be captured from the bottle and propagated. It can give an orange ester if you ferment at higher temperature, high being 70F or so.

Torrefied wheat has given a nutty taste to my Bitter, I like it. It is a puffed grain, as it is heated to about 500F until it pops like popcorn.

Golden Promise is a great malt. It is not kilned as high as most Maris Otters. GP is 2L from Simpsons and 3L from Fawcett. Simpsons has a nice sweet malty flavor. I have had beers made with low color Maris Otter at 2L, and those have a malty sweet flavor. Notice the taste is more malty and less sweet with MO.

Sunday morning, drinking my coffee, rambling away.

[erockrph]

What does torrified wheat bring to the party?

I use it in many English-style ales. It has a bit of a nuttiness, and like any unmalted wheat product, it boosts the head formation quite a bit. Since traditional English ales contain a significant amount of simple sugar, that is certainly helpful.