Hops suggestion for American Wheat

[Craigvu]

I'm going to be brewing an American Wheat this weekend and need a recommendation for hops additions. In the freezer I have leftover amounts of Nugget, Centennial, Amarillo, Simcoe, and Cascade. Probably enough to brew with just one of them, but wanted to get some people's take on what a good combo would be for a nice wheat. Shooting for around 20 IBU. Recipe is:

5 lb 2 Row
4 lb Wheat Malt
1 lb Flaked Wheat
0.5 lb Honey Malt

Fermenting with Kolsch yeast (yes I'm serious...suggestion thanks to markg388).

 

[marubozo]

Stick with noble hops: Tettnanger, Hallertauer, Spalter, or Saaz. Wheat beers generally don't call for much bitterness and you want the grainy character of the wheat to come through with little bitterness and just a little noticeable, yet subtle hop flavor and aroma in the American version.

I'm a big fan of Saaz and hallertauer in my wheat, and my current wheat I have on tap is 1 oz Hallertauer @ 45, 0.5 oz saaz at 15, and 0.5 oz at flameout.

1.052 OG with 17 IBU. It's simply delightful

And your recipe is similar to mine, although the wheat/2-row ratio is slightly different. I did 6.5# wheat, 4.5# 2-row, 0.25 honey malt with wyeast 1010.

 

[lumpher]

if you're going to use 1 of those, i'd go for the cascade. hefe allows for some fruity character, and the rest are really too rough for wheats. 1 oz of cascade at 60 minutes would run 17-20, based on the alpha. of course, noble hops are the best, but considering you want to use those, stick with cascade. i have, and it's not bad

 

[passedpawn]

Cascade with am wheat. All the way. The slight citrus of the cascade and the sweet smooth wheat make a luscious beer. I just made one like this.

BTW, I used S-05 dry yeast. Jamil Z. is high on using Kolsch yeast with his am wheat, so you are in good company there.

 

[marubozo]

Ugh. You guys and your citrus hops. Love them in my pales, but don't get them anywhere near my wheats :cross:

 

[snailsongs]

I brewed a crack'd wheat clone once (my own attempt) and utilized cascade and amarillo in a wheat beer with bavarian weizen yeast, and though I didn't quite end up with a good new glarus clone, I did end up with a really flavorful wheat brew....I thought the fruitiness of the yeast blended really nicely with the american hops.....my wife also loved it. the keg got tapped in a week.

 

[beesy]

I've use Liberty with good results and heard Willamette work well too.

 

[lumpher]

I've use Liberty with good results and heard Willamette work well too.

willamette is from a fuggles base, and liberty is from hallertau mittelfruh, so they're about the same

 

[Pharkan]

I would go with all amarillo. I have done it in an American wheat before, and it is used in beers such as Mikkeller Drink in the Sun and Three Floyds Gumballhead. Both overly delicious!

 

[HopIowa]

Check out Goose Island 312 Wheat Beer. It is a great summer wheat brew; uses Liberty and Cascade, and the cascade really comes through great. I believe it is about 4.2%abv, and 20IBU. Their website has more details.

 

[lumpher]

it's all good, since it shouldn't have much hops anyway.

... i said, NOT MUCH HOPS!!!

 

[JerD]

I've brewed a couple batches (more of the same to come) of American Wheat w/Amarillo added throughout the boil and a five minute steep at flameout. Not a Gumballhead clone but going for the same idea. It seems to be a fan favorite. Fermenting with 05 at 60F. My Hefes only get a small bit of nobles at beginning of boil.

 

[snailsongs]

I just brewed 10 gallons of all amarillo am-wheat (wheat/pale malt -50/50) and am fermenting half with german weizen yeast and half w/ kolsch yeast, the latter being transferred over a bunch of rasberries in a few days....amarillo is the perfect hop for american wheats (unless you're going for over the top hoppy) because it seems to be the most mellow of the American hops + has this really nice ripe tangerine/mango aroma.

 

[oldschool]

I would go with all amarillo. I have done it in an American wheat before, and it is used in beers such as Mikkeller Drink in the Sun and Three Floyds Gumballhead. Both overly delicious!

I was about to say the gumballhead is amazing and it's mostly amarillo if not all. Very nice.

 

[Craigvu]

I ended up going with .5 oz Saaz at 60 min and .5 oz Saaz at 15 min, then decided randomly to throw in .25 oz Cascade at flameout, just for a little variety. I sparged more volume (almost 7 gallons) than I planned on, so my resulting IBUs would've been low with just the 1 oz of Saaz, I think. Fermenting like a champ...will update in 2ish weeks when the wlp029 is done.

 

[grasshopperfirestarter]

well!!!

 

[noggins]

Well indeed...? How'd it turn out?