Mosaic hops too strong for wheat?

[rolewiii]

G'morning all,

I'm looking to brew a winter wheat ale - something light and fruity to break up the dark, strong brews of winter.

I was hoping for a hoppy wheat along the lines of Southern Tier's HopSun or Breckenridge's Ophelia (which are both, coincidentally, summer beers.)

My question is if mosaic hops are too strong (around 12% AA) for a wheat beer. I want a nice hoppy flavour, but without a brutal bitterness on the finish. Perhaps addition times are important here?

Might consider using other hops to bitter early in the boil.

Also, I will be adding cranberries to this brew (secondary?) to give it that late fall/winter feel.

Thanks.

 

[vagabondat02]

I made a great Mosaic wheat over the summer. I bittered with a half ounce of Magnum, and did a couple of late additions of Mosaic. It wasn't too bitter, and the tropical fruit flavor from the hops played really well with the bready wheat.

 

[Calichusetts]

Just late hop with a larger 20 minute addition. Use this as your "bittering" and you will find it will hardly be bitter.

 

[rolewiii]

I made a great Mosaic wheat over the summer. I bittered with a half ounce of Magnum, and did a couple of late additions of Mosaic. It wasn't too bitter, and the tropical fruit flavor from the hops played really well with the bready wheat.

Awesome. 60/40 wheat/barley? That is what I see most often.
I think with the mosaic + cranberry combination, these flavor will mix well.

Just late hop with a larger 20 minute addition. Use this as your "bittering" and you will find it will hardly be bitter.

I did a brew calculation and came up with 32 IBUs. Seems about right with a 20' and 5' addition of Mosaics. Hop Sun is only ~30 IBU, Fortunate Islands is about 49 IBUs, which I might end up shooting for with a 15' or 10' addition.

 

[vagabondat02]

For my hoppy wheats I usually go with 50/50. It seems a little easier to sparge, and the wheat only comes through so much when I assault the kettle with finishing hops. Are you going to use fresh cranberries or dried? A lot of dried fruit has an oil coating to prevent clumping and maintain shine, but it will wreck your head retention.

 

[rolewiii]

I bought some berries and froze them. Read somewhere to mix them with some honey to kill the tartness a bit...but I like tart.

 

[Rivenin]

check out my recipe drop down - won 3rd recently, might try to base something off of that

 

[vagabondat02]

I can see the sweetness of the honey balancing the tartness a bit, but after the fermentables are gone I don't know how much it will help. The flavor would be a nice addition though, and an easy ABV boost. The tarness will definitely go well with the hops. I played around with a couple of batches of dry hopped berlinnerweiss this past summer, and Citra and Amarillo were amazing. Unfortunately the LHBS didn't get Mosaic back in stock until after that project... Rivenin's recipe looks great, and doing an FWH addition is also a good way to use a high AA hop without getting a harsh bitterness.

 

[rolewiii]

I can see the sweetness of the honey balancing the tartness a bit, but after the fermentables are gone I don't know how much it will help. The flavor would be a nice addition though, and an easy ABV boost. The tarness will definitely go well with the hops. I played around with a couple of batches of dry hopped berlinnerweiss this past summer, and Citra and Amarillo were amazing. Unfortunately the LHBS didn't get Mosaic back in stock until after that project... Rivenin's recipe looks great, and doing an FWH addition is also a good way to use a high AA hop without getting a harsh bitterness.

Mine rarely has somewhat obscure hops. The mosaics are coming from Midwest Supplies with the $17 wort chiller I scored on Columbus Day sale. I'm not sure I want a huge ABV boost from the honey...was hoping for a sessionable brew under 6%. Really want that clean, cranberry flavour though...

Ravenin's recipe looks great. I'll try and mimic it with similar ingredients and processes.

 

[KeninMN]

I've brewed the T-Can and Bearcat's Wheaten Beatdown from Northern Brew and it's so good I just brewed it again. It uses late additions of Cascade and Williamette hops for flavor/aroma and Palisade hops for bittering.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/wheaten-beatdown-all-grain-kit.html

The recipe clocks in at 53 IBU, but find that it has a smooth and flavorful versus a harsh bitterness.