Dry Version of WY 1007?

[Woolsocks]

Question:

Does anyone know whether Fermentis K-97 is the same strain as Wyeast 1007, sorta like Fermentis US-05 is the same as Wyeast 1056? If so, that could save me a lot of money.

Thanks!

[big_al]

isn't 1007 the German ale yeast, used for altbiers?
K-97 is a wheat beer yeast, used in hefeweizen and wheat ales
they have very different characteristics

[Woolsocks]

According to other threads here, it's an altbier yeast, not a wheat beer yeast. I've used it twice before and I've noticed no weizen characteristics at all, except it doesn't floc much.

I suspect that they sell it as "good for wheat beers" because Zum Uerige makes a hefeweizen with their alt yeast ("for the women"). However, I've had it, and it doesn't taste anything like a traditional bavarian hefeweizen -- more like, say, Widmer hefeweizen.

[big_al]

yeah, strictly speaking it is an ale yeast, being a top fermenter, but Fermentis recommend it for wheat beers, except they specifically mention "Belgian styles"??
until the advent of WB-6, the new Safale wheat beer yeast, it (K-97) was universally recommended for homebrewing weizen, at least where I come from.
I started off using this yeast for homebrews, then after experimenting with more specialised liquid wheat beer yeasts in my brewpub, only ever kept K-97 as an emergency last resort yeast.
(Didn't really like the results I got from WB-6 either.)
You're right about the lack of wheat beer characteristics, which is why maybe it is more useful for "Wheat Ales" rather than a true to style bavarian weizen, where the phenolics and esters really define the beer.