Twisted Monk - yeast opinions?

[Kealia]

Hey guys,

I picked up some of this to brew for my wife and figure I have 4 yeast options so I'm looking for input:

1) The included yeast (I have no idea what this is)
2) US-05: Nice and clean to let the orange and corriander come through
3) WB-06: A familiar option but not sure if any of the flavors/phenols will compete with the orange and corriander or complement it
4) WLP400: Same concerns as above

So, any thoughts here? She likes Blue Moon and most wits that we come across while hitting breweries, but really likes the ones where the orange and corriander stand out "so it doesn't taste like beer"

With that in mind, I'm leaning towards the US-05.

[Beer-lord]

I've not done a BD brew but I don't think I could vote for using that yeast. I think I'd go with the 05 and let the malt do it's thing.

[BlackDuck]

If you're looking for an American style wheat beer, then go with the 05. If your looking for more of a Belgian style witbier, then the 06 would be your choice.

I'n not sure what yeast is included either, so I can't comment on that. And I've never used WLP400, so no comment on that either.

[mashani]

If it helps - Blue Moon uses a clean American ale yeast, not a WIT beer yeast. All the flavor is just from the spices. That's why folks think of Witty Monk as very like Blue Moon to begin with when using the included yeast. The included yeast is S-33. BrewDemon said so officially at some point a while back.

There are no good dry Belgian wit beer yeasts IMHO.

If you want more true Blue Moon like beer I'd go with the S-05 or the S-33. I'd save the S-33 for some warm weather brewing personally.

IF you want true Belgian wit beer flavor, then the WLP400. There is no good dry WIT beer yeast.

[Kealia]

Since I bought the 6-gallon refill I think I'll go the route of making her two batches of 3 gallons each.
On the first I'll use US-05 since I know what I'm getting into with it (I used it when I made the Blue Moon Clone from HBT).
Then I can play with the second batch and use something else.

Thanks for the thoughts/input.

[LouieMacGoo]

I've used BRY-97 on a few of my brews and I think out would work well with the Twisted Monk.

[Kealia]

Thanks for the additional input. I think I'll stick with the ones I know for now since this beer is for my wife and I don't want to roll the dice.

[gwcr]

Are you adding anything else to this (DME, extra hops) or just making it straight up? I loved the old MB Witty Monk with some extra DME and Saaz, but am toying with making the 6G version as is to keep the brew day as quick and easy as possible.

[Kealia]

I'm going straight up on this. I bought the 6G size and am planning on doing it as 2 separate 3G batches. The first will be straight-up with US-05 since I haven't tried any of the BD HMEs. If it truly is exactly like the old MrB Witty Monk then my wife will have something she likes.

Once I get re-acquainted with the taste myself I can work on doctoring up the second batch (possibly).

[Kealia]

Whipped this up yesterday and have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at the OG. If you recall, it was hard to hit the old MrB projected gravity. I was thinking of doing this one in my 3G carboy at either 2.5 or 2.75 gallons, but when I was at that point and measure the OG it was at 1.060. I topped off to a full 3G and came in at 1.050. With decent attenuation this will easily be 5.1% or maybe a tad higher.

I had to rig up the blowoff tube again because with even the smallest of krasusens this is going to blow off quite a bit. But...waste not, want not!

[Kealia]

Actively fermenting now at 63. In the next 24 hours I will see if the blowoff tube fills with krausen.

[zorak1066]

IF you want true Belgian wit beer flavor, then the WLP400. There is no good dry WIT beer yeast.

what temp would you ferment at? let it go where it wants? or keep it stable?

im thinking on doing the brewdemon version of the old wicked monk recipe.. and using one vial, no starter for a 2.5 gallon batch. figure the growth phase will make more flavor that way.

[zorak1066]

dopey me... i usually pour the wort through a strainer screen when putting it in the fermenter to aerate and sieve out some hop crud. suddenly dawned on me today that when i did this to the twisted monk i sieved out the orange peel too. doh! it did get 10 mins of boil before flame out..hopefully its enough. guess i could dry hop after week 2 with orange peel? or just let it ride?

btw the wlp 400 seems like a great yeast so far...

[jimjohson]

I'd dry hop the peel

[Kealia]

I think you'll be fine without it. The HME profile has already been set when it was boiled by BD and I would think that the flavor has already been extracted. Of course, you could argue, "Why do they leave it in there then?" and I wouldn't have a good answer for you. We could speculate but would never know why.

I would just let it ride if it were me.