Massively high AA German Hallertau?

Hi all,

Just got a shipment of ingredients for my Hefeweizen this week. I have brewed this recipe many times and have always had great success. I also always got an ounce of German Hallertau hops coming in at between 3.5-5% AA. This time, imagine my surprise when I opened up the box and pulled out a package of German Hallertau with a whopping 14.1% AA. Anyone else run into this? I can get the correct IBU in the beer by using a scant .22 oz, but this seems way out of profile for this hop type.

Thoughts?

crazy high. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of hallertaur with that high AA%.

Yeah, that just seems excessive. Can you double check with your supplier?

I don’t think that could be right at all. There has to be some sort of mistake on the packaging.

I’d check with the supply store and make sure they didn’t mislabel them (i.e. 4.1% vs 14.1%).  Maybe they got their Magnum and Hallertau labeling backwards.

I’ve heard of some newer Hallertau offshoots that are higher in AA, but not that high. Standard Hallertau would be closer to 4.1% than 14.1%.

Was it Hallertau Taurus, by any chance? Different hop with high AA. Herkules is also sometimes called Hallertau Herkules. Same thing - different hop with high AA%.

Okay, issue resolved!

I contacted Northern Brewer and they confirmed that their bulk supply of German Hallertau are listed at 4.7%. The number on the package is indeed a data-entry error.

Cheers!

There is also Helertau Magnum. That would be about 14%.

Does it have that refined floral Mittlefruh aroma?

I know my brewing software refers to Magnum as German Hallertau Magnum, and is in the range you described.

My homegrown Hallertau has been as low as 3% and as high as 7% in different years.  However the average has been closer to 4-5%.  So, somewhat higher alpha is possible but rare.  I don’t expect to ever see higher than 7% in a commercial vacuum pack.  Mine were fresh off the bine (and dried).