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Author Topic: K-97 German Ale Yeast for American Wheat  (Read 2388 times)

Offline tommymorris

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K-97 German Ale Yeast for American Wheat
« on: June 16, 2019, 09:22:22 am »
I wanted to report on a recent “experiment“. I brewed an American Wheat with Fermentis K-97 German Ale yeast. It turned out really well. The beer is light and clean with a hint of citrus. There is a slight tartness that I like and recognize from many American Wheat beers. The beer is staying cloudy 2 weeks after kegging and immediately refrigerating, though, I think it is flocculating more than Wyeast 1010 would.

Why did I do this:
+Supposedly K-97 is derived from Zum Uerige.
+ Wyeast 1010 was supposedly sourced from Widmer and is a mutated derivation of the Zum Uerige yeast.
+ Fermentis advertises K-97 for Wit beers.  I don’t get any Belgian type flavors though.
+ K-97 throws a tart flavor that I recognize from Wyeast 1010 and many wheat beers.



Recipe Simple Summer Wheat:
50/50 Wheat and 2-row Pale malts
19 IBU Chinook at 60
5 IBU Chinook at 15
K-97 Ale Yeast (11.5g)
Yellow Balanced water
1043 OG

I fermented at 65F. Fermentation was active for 3 gallons within 12 hours and the beer reached final gravity in 3-5 days (I went out of town so am not sure exactly).
« Last Edit: June 16, 2019, 11:41:55 am by tommymorris »

Offline Steve Ruch

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Re: K-97 German Ale Yeast for American Wheat
« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2019, 10:41:29 am »
I have some K-97 in the fridge just waiting to be used in an American wheat beer.
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Offline Iliff Ave

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Re: K-97 German Ale Yeast for American Wheat
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2019, 09:16:13 am »
Thanks for sharing. My experience with K97 has been pretty much the same in regards to the tartness. I think American Wheat is the perfect style for it.

Personally, I don't think it works well for anything German especially since they describe it as being able to make Belgium Wheat beers as you noted. Apparently some have success making alts or kolsch with it but I don't think it would work for me...
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Offline tommymorris

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Re: K-97 German Ale Yeast for American Wheat
« Reply #3 on: July 01, 2019, 11:50:27 am »
Thanks for sharing. My experience with K97 has been pretty much the same in regards to the tartness. I think American Wheat is the perfect style for it.

Personally, I don't think it works well for anything German especially since they describe it as being able to make Belgium Wheat beers as you noted. Apparently some have success making alts or kolsch with it but I don't think it would work for me...
I still have this beer on tap. It still tastes good. One bad thing is the beer cleared up a couple weeks after writing this post. That’s not horrible but the beer doesn’t look like a hefe anymore.  At this point I agree with the wit description from the manufacturer. I think it would do well there. There is a very low pleasant level of spice/phenol. No banana.

Definitely not Kölsch yeast or anything close in my opinion.


Offline BrewBama

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Re: K-97 German Ale Yeast for American Wheat
« Reply #4 on: July 01, 2019, 11:57:20 am »
A Kristall Weizen.


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