WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale Yeast
Slightly phenolic and tart, this is the original yeast used to produce Wit in Belgium.
Attenuation: 74-78%
Flocculation: Low to Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 67-74°F
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

MiniFerment data:
What is MiniFerment? White Labs yeast strains were tested using the same wort in its proprietary MiniFerment process. The process simulates large-scale brewing. To learn more about MiniFerment click here. To learn more about understanding the data, click here.

Fermentation temperature: 68° F
Attenuation: 80%
Hours to get to 50 percent attenuation: 32

Reviews:
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" ... most impressed"
By: Jason Mitchell
Date: May 27, 2010
Beers brewed: Summer Belgian Wit
Comments: What a strain! I pitched one vial into a light Belgian Wit (SG=1.043), and it took off within 24hr! It had finished the job around 4 days, but I left it in the primary for 2.5 weeks prior to bottling. Regardless, I hit 80% attenuation without much effort at all....most impressed!

" ... take some time ... "
By: Ben
Date: April 18, 2010
Beers brewed: Belgian Witbier
Comments: My first time with this yeast. I used it without doing any starter (2.5 gallons batch, OG=1.058), and, after the first week, my SG was 1.018 and after five weeks, my FG was about 1.005. This means I had a 91% attenuation without all the swirling suggested by other reviewers. This yeast just needs to take some time to do a great job. The sample I tasted was perfect. Will definitely use it again.

"My first time with this yeast ... "
By: Michael Alexander
Date: July 23, 2009
Beers brewed: American-style Wit
Comments: My first time with this yeast. I pitched vial to wort without a starter, and easily achieved 80% attenuation (FG 1.010) in 3 weeks, without the swirling suggested by other reviewers. The beer also cleared to a perfect witbier haze in that time. The best words for the result: fruity, tangy, and spicy.

" ... low to very low flocculation"
By: adp525mma
Date: June 15, 2009
Beers brewed: Weisbier
Comments: This strain could easily be classified as low to very low flocculation. I had this in a primary for 2 weeks and there was still a thick krausen at the top. Decided to transfer to secondary, after 2 days there was a considerable amount of yeast still in suspension. Probably could have sit another week if i wanted a slightly clearer beer but since wit beer is traditionally cloudy I bottled right away.

" ... less aggressive than WLP300 ... "
By: Eric Csakvary
Date: May 29, 2009
Beers brewed:  strong wheat
Comments: This one needed to be swirl every three, two, and at last, each day, down to 1004, then secondary to FG 1002. OG 1056, OT 82°F. Regarding the yeast I believe I can say there is an excellent fruity flavor. It starts less aggressive than WLP300 but still strong foam is present. Despite it needed work there was carbonation at degustation. End-to-end production 80 days (6 weeks in bottle). Ingredients: COOPERS 1.7kg brewmaster wheat malt can, 1.5kg Belgian candy sugar, dextrose priming sugar (8,84g/L), 1kg liquid wheat malt pale, WLP400 only. Overall fruity notes, malt flavor, length in mouth, maybe chocolate final notes, 7.47-7.74%. still good at 10 weeks. Attenuation 96%?!

"Be patient ... "
By: whargoul
Date: March 12, 2009
Beers brewed: Wit Bier
Comments: Be patient with this strain. As other reviewers have stated stirring will help move it along in the fermenter, but it still needs to age. 3 weeks after bottling the beer still had strong sulfur smell (although it was delicious). It took another month of aging before the sulfur subsided, and the beer had much more character as well.

"I entered this one in a contest ... "
By: scalabim13
Date: Dec. 21, 2008
Beers brewed: Grand Cru
Comments: Made a 10 gallon batch, and split it, used dry yeast on one 5 gallon, and WLP400 on the other 5 gallon. This strain takes a while to ferment; I fermented at 65f, for a week, swirled it, and brought it up to 75f for another week, and swirled it again, and dropped to 65f for another week to finish. My final gravity was 1.009, down from 1.060. Takes a while to get the flavors in there, and the tartness, but I entered this one in a contest instead of the dry yeast batch. I was having a debate on what batch I should send, as the dry batch came out very, very good, but this one came out better after about a month and a half in the bottle. Great nose, and the slight tartness really makes the orange pop in your Wit's, and grand cru's.

"Will definitely brew this strain again"
By: Anonymous
Date: Nov. 14, 2008
Beers brewed: Belgian Wit
Comments: Beautiful fruit notes and slight malt overtones come through. Long fermenter, 2 week at 65 and it's still going and so far I'm at about 1.011 from 1.058. Around 80% attenuation! Will definitely brew with this strain again.

" ... requires a lot of head space ... "
By: Eric L.
Date: Nov. 13, 2008
Beers brewed: Belgian Witbier
Comments: Fantastic yeast, produces a wonderful classic Wit style. When fermented at the low end of the range, produces a mild and sulfury character, at warmer temps produces a more phenolic and tart character. This yeast requires lots of head space so be sure to give it room. Also, like most Belgian stains it benefits from patience and an occasional swirl to rouse the yeast. I have not had problems with full attenuation but I allow at least two weeks for primary fermentation when using this strain.

" ... give it a good rouse ... "
By: Stefan Berggren
Brewery: Cellar Brewing LLC
Date: July 24, 2008
Beers brewed: Wit Bier (Bier Blanche)
Comments: This yeast tends to fire off quickly but then take its lovely ole time to attenuate. I do recommend pitching at 70-72 degrees with good oxygenation. After fermentation slows, give it a good rouse to drop some of the Krausen yeast into the beer. The first two times I used this yeast I could not get full attenuation. You really need to nurse it along or use it in conjunction with WLP001. I like the flavor profile, but it takes some work to make this beer a beauty!

"Be Watchful"
By: TJ Vitolo
Date: May 29, 2008
Beers brewed: Belgian Wit
Comments: The 3rd time round with this yeast. I changed some of my methods for this brew (Lowered Mashing Temps), but kept the grain bill the same while increasing the adjuncts (Coriander & Bitter Orange). I finally achieved the phenolic tartness that I have been searching for. I believe by achieving higher attenuation, through lower mashing temps, ultimately producing a drier Wit, the tartness will shine through. As noted last time in my review "Be Patient," I would like to add "Be Watchful." This is a very active yeast that requires a good swirl every few days to fully ferment the beer. I would like to think my processes are improving over the years, but maybe White Labs is improving their yeast quality; Either way, excellent yeast, excellent beer. (Editor's note: Scroll below for TJ Vitolo's first review of this yeast).

"The flavors produced are perfect"
By: George
Date: April 14, 2008
Beers brewed: Belgian Wit
Brewery name: Water Street Brewery (WI)
Comments: We have brewed many Belgian Wits with this strain, ferment at 70F. The flavors produced are perfect hints of spice and phenols. We made a dynamite one a few years back with this as the primary fermentor, then adding a Brett. Claussenii culture in the secondary that added slight sourness. I love this strain!!!!

"Be patient"
By: TJ Vitolo
Date: June 22, 2007
Beers brewed: Witbier
Comments: Very active yeast that yielded a perfect Witbier, but be patient. Pitched the yeast at 72 Degrees. Fermentation was more ferocious than WLP300. Fermentation had ceased in 3 days, but had a huge krausen. I gave it a swirl and had even more action for 2 more days. Swirled it again, and had another 2 days of action. Had about 79 percent attenuation. What it yielded was a perfectly fermented witbier with a light amount of phenols and it was just tart for my taste. Some buddies of mine said it could use a big more pop "tart." Any suggestions on how to bring that out more?

FAQ for this yeast
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I have a question about WLP400. Can you verify that it is not genetically modified?

None of our strains, including WLP400, are genetically modified.