I’m going to brew my first wheat beer and I’m seeing a lot of contradictory advice regarding hops. Some say keep IBU levels at 10 to 15 and others claim 25 -30 or even higher.
Ditto for alpha acid levels. Some suggest hops with lower levels and some advocate hops with higher levels.
Suggestions please, and thanks in advance for your help.
What type of wheat beer? Am. wheat? Hefe? Wit? Something else?
Good point!
That said… 9 times out of 10, for most wheat styles, you’re only going to want like 10 IBUs in there. Any type of hops is fine, any alpha acid, but preferably old nobles like Hallertau, Tettnang, Spalt, Perle, Saaz, or daughters of those.
The recipe I’m planning on is roughly 62% American Pilsner, 34% Sugar Creek Pale Wheat Malt and 3.8 % American Vienna.
OG 1.041, FG 1.009, ABV 4.2% Nottingham Ale yeast and I’m still trying to decide on hops, both what variety to use and IBU levels.
It’s pretty hard to say without knowing what you’re trying to aim for. Looks to me like you’re aiming for a Wit, but even if that’s wrong it’s still up to your preference about the type of hops and level. Personally, I favor American stuff, even if I’m aiming for a German Noble hop. So I would add to DMTaylor’s list with Liberty, German Tradition, and other stuff along those lines. When I have a recipe that calls for a German Noble hop, I will either use Hallertau or one of those two, or maybe a combination, though I’ll be honest it’s near impossible to differentiate them other than intensity. I think you get a bit more bite out of Liberty and German tradition than you do imported stuff, but that’s up to the taster to decide. People often disagree with my opinions and that’s cool!
I have a lager right now that is what I would call a little low on hops, and I was shooting for 25 IBU. I would be hard-pressed to try a recipe down anywhere near 10 but that’s just me. In the end though, it’s your beer.
OK, so Am. wheat. Given that, you have a pot of latitude in hop variety. I gather from another post you’ll be adding fruit? If so, I’d keep the IBU no more than 25. The fruit will ferment out and add a bit of tartness, so you don’t want to overdo hops. Nobles will be fine, but I’d be tempted to use something like Cascade just to “broaden” the flavor a bit.
I like more neutral hops than many do, and I’m thinking about a small amoumt of Magnum for bittering and Hallertau Blanc for aroma at flameout.