If you’ve had the opportunity to read my previous posts, you will have gotten an idea of my love affair with Fermentis’ Safbrew WB-06 dry yeast. My first ever homebrew beer was a “Wheat Beer”, but I used the kit yeast that came with the tin of Thomas Coopers Wheat, which is the same ale yeast they provide for pretty much all of their kit beers. In hindsight choosing the Wheat Beer kit can as my first brew was a mistake…I should have gone with something hoppier, with much more flavour, to get a good idea of what K&K homebrew can be like. With a true Weizen style wheat beer, it’s ALL about the yeast..the malt/sugar and hops matter little…weizen beer flavour and aroma comes from the yeast.
I actually knew this before brewing that first ever beer…but decided to go ahead with the kit yeast regardless, so I at least had a reference point. But I quickly moved on to a specialty yeast, designed specifically for wheat and weizen brews. This was the wb-06 dry yeast. My 2nd ever brew used similar ingredients to the first…a can of TC Wheat, with some light DME and a bit of dextrose….but this time with the wb-06, pitched dry. The result was amazing. The aroma and flavour from the yeast was poles apart from the original brew, and much more like what I’d expect from a wheat beer. Tart/spicy, with an in-your-face aroma that lasted the whole glass through. I knew I was on a winner. I started to research the use of WB-06 even further, and quickly realised it’s a love/hate kind of yeast….especially with weizen purists, who prefer the malty/bready characteristics given off by a number of liquid yeasts, such as the Wyeast 3068. Some home brewers even argue that WB-06 is more suited to a Belgian Witbeir style (such as Hoegaarden), and I tend to agree…but that’s not the message the maker of wb-06 gives off in their description of the yeast ( and I quote “The yeast produces subtle estery and phenol flavour notes typical of wheat beers. The choice of Wheat or Weizen bier fans”).
Anyway, I had read that wb-06 yeast is capable of imparting both “clove like phenolics” and “banana like esters”. The latter is supposed to be more prominent when fermented at higher temps, specifically above 23 degrees. My first use of wb-06 was without temperature control, so the hefe was fermented between about 20 and 22 degrees. I couldn’t smell or taste any banana. I assumed the tartness I was tasting was clove…but to be honest I’m not sure what cloves taste like, so it was only an assumption. I then brewed a dunkelweizen, fermented at 19.5 degrees. Again I loved this beer, tart/spicy as before, but still no banana aroma/flavour. So after brewing my Foxxy amber ale with Pete, I decided to really test the yeast out. I tweeted Fermentis and asked them what temperature they suggested to bring out the banana, and they agreed that 23.5 would be suitable. It felt a little strange dialling my stc-1000 in to this temperature, as most other ales are fermented at a much lower temperature, with 18 degrees seeming to be the most popular choice. But I ploughed ahead with 23.5, and a few days into the fermentation could smell some banana in the brewfridge…but wasn’t sure if it was imagined or not. Fermentation was complete within a week, as it always seems to be with wb-06…and tasting during bottling showed some promising results.
The hefe (which I’ve dubbed “No. Two Hefeweizen Premium”) is now two weeks old, and upon tasting today has a wonderful banana aroma and flavour…the usual tart/spicy wb-06 character remains, but there’s no doubting the esters that have been produced by the higher temps. It’s time to move on to the highly popular liquid yeast strains now to compare, starting with the Wyeast 3068. I’ll report back once complete.
Carnie Brewing 
Hello,
I just brewed a Wheat with 50/50 Pilsner and Wheat malt using Safbrew WB06. I didn’t get the tartness but it turned out to be a banana bomb in flavor and aroma. Temp was held steady at 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Thanks Darren. I’ve come to realise it’s not really banana I’m chasing in my weizen beers…i’m really trying to replicate the smooth malt flavour you get from a commercial Bavarian wheat beer, such as a Weihenstephan or Paulaner hefe. So far my wb-06 and 3068 brews have been nothing like those beers….but I currently have a 3068 dunkel fermenting at 17C (62.5F) to see if I can get any closer.
I’m kegging a hefeweizen brewed with WB-06 as we speak. A heatwave struck on brew day and I pitched at 27 degrees Celcius wort temperature. Fermentation proceeded around 30C. ambient (wort temp. 28-29C). I expected this to be a banana bomb. However after 2 weeks (one week primary, one week secondary) of fermentation, the beer is light, thin, a bit dry and has a hint of citrus. No banana whatsoever.
There’s a limit to everything Frank! Fermentis specify the fermentation temp for wb-06 as 12-25C. As I’ve found myself, I find anything above 20C seems to result in a dry, tart finish on the beer, and you’re right, no banana. 30C is far too high for anything except perhaps a Saison I’m afraid.
I’ve since discovered that banana is much better found by underpitching your yeast (easier with a liquid yeast such as Wyeast 3068), and then fermenting at a low temperature such as 17C. But I also think banana can be somewhat over-exaggerated in weizen beers anyway…when I think about it, I’ve never really tasted “big” banana in a weizen, all I ever get is a bit of the flavour and a bit more in the aroma, more so during fermentation than drinking.