American Wheat
Batch Size (Gal): 5.0
Total Grain (Lbs): 9.0
Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.012
SRM: 5.7
Calculated IBUs: 25.9
Brewhouse Efficiency: 78%
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Grain:
50% – 4.5 lbs. American Two-Row Pale Malt
50% – 4.5 lbs. German Malted Wheat
Hops:
1.00 oz. Willamette (Pellets, 5% AA) @ 60 min.
1.00 oz. Liberty (Pellets, 4.5% AA) @ 15 min.
Yeast: Wyeast 1056 American Ale
Mash Schedule: Single-infusion mash – 60 mins. @ 151F
Background & Tasting Notes – Moving away from my recent run of hop-centric brews, I’m now in the midst of a run of more easy-drinking, session beers, and the first of these bottled is my take on American Wheat. This batch was inspired by my reading of Stan Heironymus’s book, Brewing with Wheat, particularly his section on the evolution of American Wheat beers such as the early and influential Anchor Wheat and Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen (a name of much controversy) which both emulate the malt profile of German Hefes, but lack the banana and clove flavors and instead feature slightly more hop and wheat malt character thanks to the clean finish of yeasts which don’t produce the phenolic and estery character that German Wheat yeasts do. American hop varieties that produce citrus and/or mild, floral, or spicy hop flavors are also employed.
My American Wheat pours a cloudy golden straw color with a creamy, lasting head. The aroma is pleasantly soft and bread-like. This beer is medium-light bodied and has good balance: the wheat-maltiness and the spicy hop character are both mild and pleasant. This was my first time using Liberty hops, which are an American descendant of the Noble varieties like Hallertauer, and I think they work well as a flavor addition in the American Wheat style. This beer is refreshing, super easy-drinking, and a great reminder for me that great beer can be made with few ingredients. This is the kind of beer that is really flavorful without making you feel like you just ate a roast beef sandwich: a great session beer, the kind that makes you sad to see the bottom of the glass and happy to have a refill.
When the warm months roll around, I’ll definitely be making another American Wheat, but I’m planning on switching out the Liberty hops for Cascade, Citra, or Amarillo to get that signature American citrus hop flavor to probably make for a slightly more summery and more wholly American take on wheat beer. I’m also going to split the next batch and do half as an Apricot Wheat.
