Humboldt’s Hefeweizen 2026

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I finally perfected my weissbier recipe, and with that locked in it’s time to rebrew! My current version is same as the previous in technique, but I swapped in Weyermann pale wheat malt instead of Briess red wheat malt, and used Briess pilsen malt instead of Rahr’s equivalent. Upon starting this quest, I was excited to see if I could replicate the excellent results of my previous attempt. Overall, I wasn’t disappointed (but have a few notes).

Recipe Name

  • 7 lb. pale wheat malt (Weyermann)
  • 4 lb. pilsner malt (Briess)
  • 0.5 lb. rice hulls
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB (mash)
  • 1 oz. Sterling whole hops (4.5% alpha estimated), 45 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 tsp. yeast nutrient (White Labs WLN1000)
  • 1 pkg. Munich Classic Wheat Beer yeast (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

  • 1.050 o.g., 1.010 f.g., 5.4% abv, 14 IBU, 3 SRM
  • Full volume mash, no sparge, 113° mash for 20 minutes, 145° mash for 45 minutes, 162° mash for 30 minutes
  • RO and neutralized Claremont tap water, mixed to hit 43 ppm Ca, 3 ppm Mg, 38 ppm Na, 29 ppm SO4, 43 ppm Cl, 4 ppm CaCO3, RA=-29, effective hardness=33 ppm.
  • 5.25 gallon batch

Procedure

  • I collected 2.9 gallons of Claremont tap water and neutralized it with 2.1 mL of 88% lactic acid and a small bit of Campden tablet. Then, I added 4.5 gallons of RO water, to hit my mash water profile.
  • I started the mash at 113° for 20 minutes, to enable a ferulic acid rest. Then, I raised the mash to 145° for 45 minutes, and finally ended at 162° for 30 minutes. Once the mash was done, I pulled the grains and heated the runnings to a boil.
  • The kettle had 6.6 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.043, for 69% mash efficiency. I’m pretty happy with that, as the previous batch had a lower efficiency.
  • Once the kettle was boiling, I added finings per the schedule and then turned off the heat after 60 minutes. As a procedural note, I had a 3 liter boil-off during my boil at 74% power on the Foundry (25 liters down to 22 liters).
  • I chilled the wort to 80° and then transferred to the fermenter, chilling down to 68° in my fermentation chamber, before pitching the yeast. I held the temperature here for fermentation.
  • I brewed this beer on 26 July 2026. Starting gravity was 1.049, just a shade off target, but nothing significant.
  • I kegged the beer on 11 August 2026, splitting it into two 2.5 gallon kegs, with 3.5 oz. of corn sugar into each. One keg was full up, the other around three-quarters full. I let the kegs carbonate at room temperature. This batch was split because I wanted to take some to a festival, but in my experience a full 5 gallons usually isn’t necessary (we rotate the kegs mid-way through the afternoon and have a full tap selection, so it’s rare to kick 5 gallons in 2 or 3 hours).
  • Final gravity was 1.013, for 4.8% abv.
  • I moved the kegs into the chest freezer on 17 August 2026, and topped up with forced carbonation. The sampled beer was really nice, with an excellent clove aroma. However, that was at room temperature, so we’ll see how it manifests once it is at serving temperature.
  • As a note, the less full keg had a pressure of 40 psi at 85°, so around 2.6 to 2.8 volumes of CO2.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • When done properly, this beer pours with a pillowy and persistent white head. It’s not quite as fine of bubbles as on the last edition, though. This is a pale straw beer, with a high level of yeast haze.
  • Aroma
    • Medium level of clove-like yeast character, and very light banana, and a little pineapple comes through, also. The latter is not at all bubblegum-like; it’s truly pineapple, which is interesting to me. Slight doughy malt aroma.
  • Flavor
    • The yeast flavor is at a moderately high level; mostly clove with a low level of banana and a little pineapple, also. Doughy malt character at a moderate level. Slight tartness to the beer, accentuated by the high level of carbonation. Medium low bitterness.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-light body, spritzy carbonation, light and slightly dry finish.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This is a solid recipe overall. I feel like a touch more body would be nice; I might mash at a higher temperature next time. This is a highly drinkable beer, but I’ll notch back hops slightly in future batches. A stronger yeast flavor/aroma would be nice, too. Maybe I need to go to a higher fermentation temperature? Given that the foam wasn’t quite as fine as on my first version, I think I’ll switch back to red wheat malt for my next one. Looking at the stats sheets, Briess Red Wheat Malt seems to have a higher average protein than the Weyermann White Wheat Malt (12.5% versus 10 to 13%), and I think I like the flavor on the Briess product a little better. I know, it’s heresy to use American over German ingredients in this style!
  • Overall
    • 7.5/10

Black Hole American Stout

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I was recently re-introduced to the American stout style, which harkens back to the early days of craft beer and homebrewing. I feel like this variety of stout was somewhat left in the dust after the rise (and decline) of barrel aged imperial stouts, and these kinds of now-neglected classic craft styles are always enjoyable for me. Relative to other stouts, American stouts are characterized by being fairly robust in body and also fairly bitter, often accentuated by dark grains to amp up the roastiness. Big doses of hops particularly set them apart from their English counterparts.

I have only brewed this style once in the past, and surprisingly few recipes are available. As before, I used a clone recipe for Sierra Nevada’s Stout from the BYO Big Book of Clone Recipes. Last time I boosted the 2-row with Maris Otter, but this time around I stuck closer to the recipe with Munich malt. The supporting grains were a bit different from the original recipe, owing to what I had on hand, but it’s still in the general ballpark. I was low on crystal 60 and roasted barley, relative to the proportions in the original recipe, so I subbed in a bit of crystal 80 and black malt instead, and increased the chocolate malt by a small percentage. Because we’re in the thick of summer, I opted to use Lutra kveik; this particular strain has a reputation for fermenting pretty cleanly. The recipe title is because this beer is incredibly dark, even by the standards of this style; no light can escape!

Recipe Name

  • 4 lb. 6 oz. 2-row pale malt (Rahr)
  • 1 lb. 4 oz. Barke Munich malt (Weyermann)
  • 6 oz. black malt (Simpsons)
  • 4 oz. Carafa Special II malt (Weyermann)
  • 4 oz. caramel 80L malt (Briess)
  • 4 oz. chocolate malt (Bairds)
  • 4 oz. crystal 60 malt (Great Western)
  • 3 oz. roast barley (Crisp)
  • 0.6 oz. Magnum hop pellets (12.0% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Cascade hop pellets (5.5% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Northern Brewer hop pellets (8.5% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool at 194°
  • 1 pkg. Lutra Kveik (dried; Omega OYL-071DRY)

Target Parameters

  • 60 minute infusion mash, 154°, full volume mash
  • 1.057 o.g., 1.013 f.g., 5.9% abv, 61 IBU, 64 SRM
  • Claremont tap water, with Campden tablet to remove chloramines
  • 2.75 gallon batch

Procedure

  • I heated 4.25 gallons of Claremont tap water to 160°, and added the grains. I held the mash at 154°, with recirculation, for 60 minutes, before raising the mash to 168° for a 10 minute mash-out. Then, I pulled the grains and brought the kettle to a boil.
  • In total, I collected 3.76 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.047, for 68 percent mash efficiency.
  • I boiled for 60 minutes, adding hops and finings per the recipe. After the boil, I turned off the heat, chilled to 194°, and whirlpooled for 10 minutes before chilling down to 95°.
  • I transferred the wort to the fermenter, and pitched the Lutra. I kept the fermenter in the warmest room in our house, which was around 90° during the daytime.
  • I brewed the beer on 7 August 2026. Starting gravity was 1.060.
  • Active signs of fermentation kicked off within an hour(!), and all bubbling through the airlock had ceased within two days. I left it for a few more days to finish up.
  • The beer had a final gravity of 1.020, for 5.2% abv. I kegged the beer on 12 August 2026, with 2.5 oz. of priming sugar.
  • The beer was moved on tap on 30 August 2026. Carbonation levels were perfect from the start!

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Inky black beer, with a reasonably persistent deep tan-colored head, which leaves a tiny bit of lacing on the glass.
  • Aroma
    • Dark chocolate and creamy coffee malt aroma at a medium-high level. Not much for yeast or hop aroma.
  • Flavor
    • Espresso-like dark maltiness and roast character at a medium-high level, with dark caramel at a low level. Very bitter, with a resiny quality. Slight malt sweetness.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium body, moderate carbonation, slightly dry finish. Mouthfeel has a bit of pleasant creaminess.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This is a great beer, and quite pleasing as my second attempt at the style. The previous version was perhaps a touch more to my liking, especially in the subtle hop and malt characters. For future brews, I would probably go back to my previous recipe with its particular malt formulation and hop selection. I like a resiny hop character for this style, and I think the Columbus+Cascade combination is just a bit better than the Magnum+Cascade+Northern Brewer combo.
  • Overall
    • 8/10

Iceberg! Kölsch

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Kölsch is an accessible style, but its delicate qualities make it a challenge to brew well. Like a light lager, there isn’t much hop or malt character to hide behind, and the yeast character has a narrow separation between “subtle and pleasant” vs. “rotten fruit bomb.” Over several years, I had perfected a house recipe, but changes in ingredient availability restarted my quest.

This new recipe is, unsurprisingly, broadly similar to my old one. While searching the AHA’s recipe archives, I found an NHC-winning kölsch from 2023 (note: an AHA membership is required to view the original recipe), formulated by Metts Potter. It has a simple base of pilsner malt with a hint of Vienna (similar to my original, except I had light Munich instead of Vienna), with a light dose of Hallertauer Mittelfrueh. The original recipe used Wyeast 2565, but White Labs is easier to get so I used a close equivalent, the classic WLP029. I also had mixed pilsner malt types, to use up the last little bit of one sack of Briess. Because I had already done a kölsch semi-recently and didn’t want to get too tired of the style, I opted for a small, 3-gallon, batch.

Iceberg! Kölsch

  • 4.75 lb. Synergy Select Pilsen malt (Briess)
  • 0.75 lb. pilsen malt (Briess)
  • 10 oz. Vienna malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.25 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
  • 0.85 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hop pellets (2.5% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.85 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hop pellets (2.5% alpha), 15 minute boil
  • 0.25 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 0.5 Whirlfloc tablet
  • 1.5 g. WLN1000 yeast nutrient, 5 minute boil
  • 1 pkg. German Ale/Kölsch yeast WLP029 (White Labs)
  • 1 oz. Biofine Clear, added to keg

Target Parameters

  • Hochkurz mash, with 5 minute rest at 144°, 45 minute rest at 148°, 10 minute rest at 153°, 45 minute rest at 163°, 15 minute mash-out at 170°, full volume mash
  • 1.047 o.g., 1.012 f.g., 4.7% abv, 20 IBU, 4 SRM
  • Water built from scratch, to hit 48 ppm Ca, 44 ppm SO4, 54 ppm Cl
  • 3 gallon batch

Procedure

  • Starting with 4.7 gallons of RO water, I added 1.4 g of calcium chloride and 1.3 g of gypsum, to hit my water profile target. I heated the strike water to 149° before adding the BrewTanB, grains, and 10 mL of 10% phosphoric acid.
  • I held the mash at 144° for 5 minutes, before raising to 148° for 45 minutes, then to 153° for 10 minutes, 163° for 45 minutes, and finally 170° for 15 minutes. All of this was done while recirculating.
  • After the mash, I removed the grains and brought the runnings to a boil. In total, I collected 4.36 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.040, for 75% mash efficiency. This high efficiency probably is a result of the extended mash time.
  • Once the kettle was at a boil, I added the hops and finings per the recipe. After the full 60 minute boil, I turned off the heat, chilled to 75°, and then transferred the wort to the fermenter. Within the fermentation chamber, I chilled the batch to 64° before pitching the yeast.
  • I brewed this beer on 31 May 2026; starting gravity was 1.048.
  • I fermented the beer at 66°, and kegged on 30 June 2026 via a closed transfer. The beer had a very nice flavor and aroma; bitterness seems a bit lighter than in Snowdrop Kölsch, which isn’t surprising given the stats.
  • Final gravity was 1.010, for 5.0% abv.
  • I had a first taste of the conditioned beer on 17 August 2026; it was really nice! There was a very slight but persistent haze, so I added Biofine Clear on 19 August 2026, when I moved the beer into my kegerator. The beer was (finally!) brilliantly clear on 24 August 2026.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Light yellow, brilliantly clear beer; pours with a low but somewhat persistent white head.
  • Aroma
    • Medium-low pear-like yeast character. Medium-low spicy hop character. Low grainy malt character.
  • Flavor
    • Grainy malt at a medium-low level; medium-low level of clean bitterness with a slightly spicy quality. Light pear fruitiness in the yeast, at a low level.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-light body, medium level of carbonation, slightly lingering bitterness on an off-dry finish.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This is a fantastic kölsch, especially so once it was fully conditioned and dropped clear. Every element is beautifully balanced, creating an eminently drinkable beer that is perfect for a hot day. This seems like a worthy successor to Snowdrop Kölsch, as a house kölsch recipe.
  • Overall
    • 10/10

Sierra Nevada Pils: A Brief Review

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I love a good German pils, and it’s no surprise that this has been one of my most-brewed styles. Many North American breweries are now doing versions of this classic, and a handful stand out. For what I’ve tasted to date, this includes pFriem Pilsner (for which I have brewed an homage on several occasions) and Slow Pour Pils from Bierstadt Lagerhaus (a brewery that is on my must-visit list any time I am in Denver, and which offers some of the most beautiful pours I have seen at any craft brewery). I can now add a third to this list: Sierra Nevada’s Pils.

First, a salute to the packaging and marketing folks at Sierra Nevada – I hadn’t intended to buy any beer when I was at the grocery store, but a package of the Pils caught my eye in the crowded cooler case. Anything by Sierra Nevada is generally worth a look. I was further intrigued when I saw it wasn’t the typical 12 or 16 oz. cans! Instead, I found an 8-can package of 8.4 oz. cans–although it’s ostensibly to match European-sized pours and keep the beer cold and crisp through the entire can, it really melds with my desire to have smaller serving sizes.

The marketing copy is great – “A smooth malt body with upfront sweetness, pleasant hop character, and hints of citrus peel create a soft, dry finish that’s refreshing sip after sip,” and “Aromas of citrus, tangerine, and a touch of sweet malt dance in the air thanks to the addition of Crystal Lupulin Hops.” This marketing fluff matches surprisingly well with what I actually taste–in the aroma, I also get a bit of fresh hay (in the good way, not the rotten barnyard way). It’s a smooth and drinkable lager, and not overly flinty or bitter, as some of the more aggressive versions can be.

Based on the website, the recipe seems quite simple–pilsner malt, lager yeast, with Saphir and Crystal Lupulin hops, to hit 4.7% abv and 25 IBU. I’ve done a little looking to investigate a clone-type recipe; Crystal Lupulin doesn’t seem to be readily available for homebrewers; Loral Cryo might be roughly in the ballpark, although not identical. To approximate the Sierra Nevada brew, I would aim for 100% of a good North American pilsner malt with a Hochhurz mash, use Saphir in the full length of the boil and perhaps at ~15 minutes, and then use a small dose of Loral Cryo in the last 5 minutes or for a brief whirlpool addition.

To wrap this up, Sierra Nevada Pils is a phenomenal example of a German pils, and well worth sampling if you can find it! What do you readers think?

glass of light gold pilsner in a tall cylindrical glass, next to a cylindrical can, on a black background
Sierra Nevada’s promotional image of their beer (image from Sierra Nevada)

Belgian Wit 2026

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I enjoy Belgian witbier, as a flavorful and highly drinkable summer beverage. I’ve brewed the style semi-frequently, especially in my early years of all-grain brewing, and sometimes as a base for a hibiscus-infused beer. I haven’t touched witbier recipes in awhile (most recently in 2022), though, and wanted to give the style another round.

My current recipe is patterned after the 2022 version, but following the notes from that I added more oats to round out the mouthfeel. I also dropped the Munich malt, which was only two percent of the original recipe anyhow. From a liquid yeast, I switched over to Lallemand’s wit dry yeast. My previous version of the witbier didn’t have as much yeast character as I wanted (using a fermentation at 64°), so I also decided to ferment at 70°.

Recipe Name

  • 5.5 lb. Synergy Select pilsen malt (Briess)
  • 5 lb. flaked red wheat (Briess)
  • 1 lb. flaked oats
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, in mash
  • 1.5 oz. Tettnang hop pellets (2.4% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 9 g chamomile flowers, 5 minute boil
  • 1.5 oz. fresh navel orange plus Meyer lemon zest, 5 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. coriander seed, slightly crushed, 5 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. LalBrew Wit dry yeast (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

  • 60 minute infusion mash, 149°, full volume mash
  • 1.047 o.g., 1.007 f.g., 5.2% abv, 13 IBU, 4 SRM
  • Blend of RO water and Claremont tap water (neutralized with lactic acid), to hit 81 ppm Ca, 6 ppm Mg, 71 ppm Na, 55 ppm sulfate, 81 ppm Cl, 7 ppm bicarbonate
  • 5 gallon batch

Procedure

  • I mixed 5.5 gallons of tap water (with 5.3 mL of 88% lactic acid) and 2 gallons of RO water, to hit my water profile. I heated the strike water to 155° before adding the grains.
  • I held the mash, with recirculation, at 149° for 60 minutes. Then, I removed the grains and brought the runnings to a boil.
  • In total, I collected 6.5 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.042, for 67% mash efficiency.
  • During the 60 minute boil, I added hops and finings per the recipe. For the citrus, I used two navel oranges and one Meyer lemon from our yard.
  • After the 60 minute boil, I turned off the heat and chilled to 75°. At this point, I transferred to the fermenter and pitched the yeast. I finished the chill down to 70° in the fermentation chamber, and held this temperature for fermentation.
  • I brewed this beer on 23 May 2026, and had a starting gravity of 1.049.
  • The beer had vigorous fermentation by the morning after pitching, less than 18 hours into fermentation.
  • I kegged the beer on 5 June 2026, using an open transfer into the keg with the addition of 6 oz. of corn sugar boiled in a cup of water. I figured the natural carbonation would help the quality of the beer (and foam), and also scrub any oxygen introduced during transfer. Belgian styles seem to do well with an open transfer and natural keg carbonation.
  • Final gravity was 1.014, for 4.6% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Hazy, light straw colored beer, with a creamy and persistent white head
  • Aroma
    • Medium chamomile aroma, and a fresh breeze-like aroma from the yeast
  • Flavor
    • Doughy malt at a medium level, with medium herbal chamomile notes. Light tartness. Light spicy hop flavor. Very light, fresh fruitiness in the yeast.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-high carbonation, light body, slightly dry yet smooth finish.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This is a good recipe from the yeast and grain end. Oats were an excellent addition to the grain bill. The chamomile should be dialed back to let the coriander shine through; despite using fresh coriander and citrus peel, both are just overwhelmed by the chamomile flavor. I might even consider ditching chamomile entirely, or dialing it back by 50 percent. That would get the recipe more into line with BJCP style–without considering style factors, this is a really great (and quaffable) beer! The yeast character is surprisingly mild; I think it might be fun to try in a gose-style sour or fruited sour.
  • Overall
    • 7/10