Hey all lookin for some advice on when to use hallertau Mittelfruh. I’m trying to get that delicate hop flavor along with its bitterness, spice and floral qualities in my next pale lager but without overpowering the malt character, I’m thinking 60,10,0 but can’t really decide how many ibus to shoot for etc? Any insight would help.
Looking at the BJCP guidelines for the style will give you a good idea of what’s normal.
I would use it as a late hop addition and use a lighter touch of German magnum for the bittering. Consider a First Wort Hopping with the Magnum, rather than at 60 minutes. The HMF will shine at 30’, 10’ or knockout/whirlpool. Cheers!
I did a pislner with a lot of mittlefrueh. I bittered with Magnum
1oz mittlefrueh/saaz at 10min
2oz mittlefrueh/saaz whrilpool
2oz mittlefrueh/saaz dry hop during diacytal rest
I got a prominant flower aroma/flavor and a nice subtle sweetness. I didn’t perceive and grain or bread character.
I get the right spice and floral flavors just from boiling for 60 minutes. No later additions necessary, at least not in a German lager style.
agreed. I like to boil most of my noble hops for at least 20 minutes. HMF is a tough hop to use to bitter sometimes because with its low AA, it can take a ton to get any IBU’s though FYI, I hate the way most noble hops, including HMF taste when you use them as a dry hop.
I’m glad to see others have experienced this. I’ve seen the same effect and wondered why. I use HMF as the bittering hop and get the hop flavors from it. I’m thinking of trying Mt. Hood soon using the same method. Has anybody tried this with Mt. Hood or other noble hops?
I pretty much exclusively use domestic hops like Mt. Hood, Liberty and Willamette instead of their European counterpart and yeah, same thing, I like them boiled for at least 20 minutes.
Sterling is an exception to this rule as far as US noble hybrids go. Low amounts early in the boil is very Saaz-like, but larger amounts at the end of the boil or dry-hopped gives a nice touch of lemon character. This versatility is why I use so much of it.
I kind of feel like there is no wrong answer. You can bitter with it. You can FWH with it and you can use it late. Hell, you could DH with it if that’s your thing. I have made a very pale and delicate wort with just pilsner and maybe Vienna or Munich 1 (90/10) and then used something like HM to bitter and I would boil for only 30 minutes so I would need more hops than I would need for a 60 and then… no more hops in the boil. I might get 20 IBUs from that 30-minute addition and with the grist so simple, it’s surprising how robust the hops can be and how much character you get from them. The same could be said for many good, fresh hops including Edelweiss, Liberty, Mt. Hood, Sterling, Northern Brewer, etc.
Thanks all, all this has me deciding to just go with the bittering addition, can’t wait to see the flavor result
I should mention too that a beer with one hop addition is something I do a lot of and I really like it. I get what the hops are contributing to the beer without my tastebuds being accosted and interrogated by hops for the entire session. :D I realize there is a place and time for everything but one-hop-addition recipes are very, very common here.
I like your phrase, “tastebuds being accosted and interrogated by hops.”
I usually use two hops per brew (unless I’m doing a smash), one higher aa for bittering and one at the end of the boil. Sunday I did a pale lager, first wort hop with Magnum and Hall Mitt at 10 minutes.
I have something like that on tap but wouldn’t you know it… I have a beer carbing now with a bunch of Citra, Amarillo and Simcoe including a dry hop so you just never know. I rarely make beers like that but I will occasionally. I make something that I’ll call an “American Pub Ale”… 2-row or maybe MO/GP, some crystal or Special B, maybe midnight wheat to about 10-12 SRM, then one hop addition to maybe 25-30 IBUs and it might be Northern Brewer, Glacier, Ultra, Sterling, Santiam, Liberty, Crystal, Mt. Hood, Styrian Goldings, etc. and then a neutral ale hop like 1056/WLP001/BRY-97 or something like 1968/1469/1028, etc. Simple. Straightforward. Delicious. One hop addition.
This sounds like a great technique, I’ve seen the quality of your beers and I know that you definitely know your stuff
I use a one hop FWH frequently for very lightly hopped styles - say a Munich Helles, light American Blonde or light American lager. I brew a lot of light lagers and ales with Lichtbier being one of my most frequent. I will use anything from Saaz to Hallertauer to HMF to Magnum for that single hop charge. The nice thing about Magnum is it is higher alpha acid, so I use less volume of it and as a result don’t have to worry about loading up on the vegatation to get the bitterness level where I want it to be. Like Jeffy, I use a two charge approach with a German Pilsner and the late hop addition can really lend a certain freshness/clean hop aroma and flavor without a whirlpooling or dry hopping. One exception to the multiple hop approach are the Czech lagers - I will go solo with Saaz on those and risk the vegatation issue, just because…again no wrong answers here.
I second the comment on Ken’s brews - I have brewed a few of them and they are quite consistently wonderful - hitting the right notes for my palate. Cheers.
Thanks for that guys. I’m a humble beermaker from the midwest and I put my pants on one leg at a time (to quote Christopher Walken in the “more cowbell” sketch). I like my beer but I whiff occasionally too. 
I use almost exclusively HFM for my German style beers (Saaz in Czech pils). In a pils, I’ll use a traditional 60-30-10 schedule adjusting amounts and times as needed depending on AA% to get to ~35-40 IBUs.
Some brewers I know who are heavy into German and Czech brewing suggest that brewers in those countries do not add hops with less than 30 minutes left in the boil. On one hand I keep this in mind if I think I want to make something “traditional” but OTOH, I have heard brewers say that as homebrewers we need to get to the finish line however we have to and with whatever processes make the best beer regardless of whether it’s “traditional” or not. This might be a good time to repeat myself ad nauseam and mention that our German or Czech beers might be even better if we used the freshest hops in our brewery… not necessarily HMF or Saaz but Edelweiss or Sterling because they may be fresher than Euro hops that crossed the pond.
A pilsner is pretty much the one German/Czech style where I do want some hop aroma from a late addition.