[MKOB] Yeast comparisons

[hank]

...as fate would have it I found this (see below) while surfing this 
AM...the 3 different dunkelweiss I tasted had minimal maltiness-with eyes 
closed hard to tell from the traditional weiss except they had less 
clove/bananna flavor.Schneider in Munich (see history below-my favorite 
weiss) would be a good starting point and perhaps someone on a newsgroup 
would have an idea as to what they believe Schneider uses.Please post what 
you find out.

Weizen: The Untold Story
As the cold temperatures of winter gradually give way to the warm breezes 
and sunny days of summer, a young brewer's thoughts turn to the traditional 
beer of this magical time of year: weizen or wheat beer. For those 
unfamiliar with wheat beer, they normally have a cloudy appearance and a 
fruity, somewhat citric, and often spicy nose backed with a firm body and 
sweet, malty flavor. In Germany, they are the summer beverage, often 
consumed as part of breakfast! These brews, currently enjoying a renewal of 
interest, particularly amongst those in their 20s and 30s, have a long 
tradition.

Wheat beer actually traces its origins back to about 400 years before the 
demise of the Babylonian empire (probably due to the fact that wheat was one 
of the first cultivated grains, along with barley). This knowledge of 
processing and using barley and wheat to make alcoholic beverages was 
transferred to the Europeans, and we can find records of the commercial 
production of wheat beer as early as the fifteenth century. By the 
seventeenth century, Maximilian I had taken over commercial production of 
wheat or weissbier (in German weiss means white, wheat beer was termed 
weissbier (or "white beer") because of its relatively pale appearance 
relative to the other brown beers commonly found at the time). At the same 
time, weizen was enjoying an increase in popularity. The upper classes began 
consuming it for its more refreshing character and its spritzy carbonation. 
Once the nobility began enjoying weissbier, the middle and lower classes 
also began acquiring a taste for this brew. And if this was not enough to 
create a popular demand for this beer, the governing body of the house of 
Dukes forced all taverns that were selling brownbier to also sell weissbier, 
or else face the forfeiture of their license to serve.

Despite this early popularity, by 1800, the Dukes had sold or leased all of 
their weissbier breweries. In fact, many of the breweries that they leased 
were now producing brownbier, which had become increasingly popular as its 
producers (many of which were monasteries) began refining their methods. If 
it were not Georg Schneider, who leased one of the old weissbier breweries 
in the middle 1850s, the style very well may have become defunct. In 1872, 
Schneider cleverly traded the space in his brewery (which was needed for the 
production of brownbier) for the rights to produce weissbier, which was 
still in the hands of the Dukes. In 1872 they agrees and weissbier was now 
allowed to be produced by Schneider and the general public. In the same 
year, he bought a Munich brewery and began producing weizen. Since then, 
wheat beer has managed to survive the increasing popularity of pilsners, 
World War II and host of other vicissitudes and currently enjoys surging 
popularity. There are currently over 200 breweries producing wheat beer in 
Germany and Austria, not to mention the rest of Europe and North America!

Wheat beer comes in many shades and flavors, making difficult to know what 
your getting sometimes, when you ask for a "wheat beer". American wheat 
beers generally come in two styles, a filtered form usually sold as "wheat 
beer", or an unfiltered, cloudy wheat sold as "Hefe-Weizen" (Hefe means 
"with yeast", thus accounting for its cloudy appearance). Recently, some 
microbreweries have begun making a more authentic German style weizen, which 
is cloudy and has a very fruity (often banana and clove) aroma and flavor. 
Unfortunately, it is often difficult to know what type of wheat beer you 
will be getting when you order an American-made version.

German wheat beer is much more uniform. Hefe-Weizen, will always be cloudy 
in appearance, and will have some fruity notes of vanilla, banana, 
marshmallow and clove to varying degrees. I have found Paulaner and Hacker 
Pschorr to be the more intensely flavored and Ayinger and Schneider to be 
more mild. Just about all of the German examples have a much stiffer body 
and maltier aroma and flavor (and a bit more alcohol too!) The alcohol has 
unfortunately prevented some restrictive states from carrying these 
excellent products. Krystal weizen is the same as hefeweizen, only it has 
been filtered so that it has a crystal clear appearance. The filtering 
process gives the krystal weizen a cleaner flavor, more reminiscent of a 
light lager. If you are in Minnesota, Schell's brewing in New Ulm makes and 
outstanding krystal weizen which they simply call Weizen.


KIT SPECIAL: WALLEYE WEIZEN AND RASPBERRY HARVEST WHEAT BEER
Walleye Weizen: A Bavarian style wheat beer, Walleye Weizen is light and 
refreshing, with just a hint of maltiness. The use of the very smooth 
Tettnanger hops offers a subtle level of bitterness, and a slightly fruit 
aroma. When used with a traditional wheat yeast (Wyeast 3056 and 3068 are 
recommended, see Ask Dr. Zoot below for more information on the 
characteristics of each strain), it is difficult to distinguish Walleye 
Weizen from a classic hefe-weizen.

Recipe Includes: 6 Lbs Wheat Malt Extract, 1 oz Tettnanger bittering hops, 1 
oz Tettnanger aroma hops, 1/2 Lb Cara Pils, yeast,

Thanks
Hank
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Casey Rowe" <kcr000 at peoplepc.com>
To: <Mkob-Announce at swampgas.com>
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2007 1:50 PM
Subject: [MKOB] Yeast comparisons


> Hey guys,
>
> I'm going to try my hand at a new style of beer. An Edelweiss Dunkel 
> Weissbier clone.  The recipe calls for Wyeasts 3068 Weihenstephan wheat 
> yeast or Wyeasts 3333 German wheat yeast.
>
> I have the White labs 300 and might be able to pull off of Larrys White 
> Labs  Hefe IV yeast after he brews a Hefe. The description of the beer 
> says it has an aroma of fruit, clove and bannana with a dry aftertaste 
> (sounds like WL 300). I'm thinking of using one of the white labs to 
> replace the Wyeast yeast. I found the web site below that had yeast 
> comparisons, but not sure whether to trust the site since I'm not familiar 
> with it.
>
> Anybody want to weigh in on this question? Anybody have a more reliable 
> site to look at? I'm not familiar with the Wyeast products.
>
>
>
>
> http://www.kotmf.com/articles/yeastcomp.php
>
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