The Hop Chronicles | Hallertau Mittelfrüh (2020) Pale Ale

Author: Marshall Schott

Known for contributing a delicate blend of floral and spicy characteristics to beer, Hallertau Mittelfrüh is one of the four noble hop varieties that has been used by brewers for over a century. While not as popular as many of the modern fruity varieties currently available, Hallertau Mittelfrüh continues to be praised by brewers for its ability to impart beer with classic German hop character.

Alpha: 3 – 5%
Beta: 3.5 – 4.5%
Cohumulone: ​​20 – 26% of alpha acids
Total Oil: 0.6 – 1.2 mL/100g
Myrcene: 35 – 44%
Humulene: 30 – 55%
Caryophyllene: 10 – 15%
Farnesene: > 1%
Linalool: 0.7 – 1.1%
Geraniol: 0 – 2%
ß-Pinene: > 1%
Parentage: original German landrace variety

As a lover of all things lager, I’ve used every noble hop many times and have developed a fondness for the elegant noble character Hallertau Mittelfrüh contributes to such styles. While I’ve brewed a number of beers using this variety as the sole hop, I was curious to see how tasters would perceive a Pale Ale hopped a bit more heavily with Hallertau Mittelfrüh.

| MAKING THE BEER |

I went with our standard Hop Chronicles Pale Ale recipe for this batch, adjusting the kettle hop additions to ensure a proper level of bitterness.

Hallertau Mittelfrüh Pale Ale

After adjusting the water to my desired profile, I flipped the switch on my controller to heat it up before weighing out and milling the grain.

When the water was properly heated, I incorporated the grains and set the controller to maintain my desired mash temperature of 154°F/68°C.

The mash was left to rest for 60 minutes, during which I gently stirred it intermittently.

During the mash rest, I weighed out the kettle hop additions.

Once the mash step was complete, I removed the grains and let them drip into the kettle while the wort was heating up.

The wort was boiled for 60 minutes with hops at the times stated in the recipe.

When the boil was finished, I quickly it with my IC.

A refractometer reading showed the wort was right at my target OG.

Next, I racked the wort to a sanitized FermTank.

At this point, I connected the filled FermTank to my glycol unit and let it finish chilling for about 10 minutes before I pitched a single pouch of Imperial Yeast A07 Flagship into the wort.

After 3 days of fermentation at 66˚F/19˚C, I added the dry hop charge then left the beer alone another 5 days before taking a hydrometer measurement confirming FG was reached.

With fermentation complete, I pressure transferred the beer to a CO2 purged keg.

The filled keg was placed in my keezer and burst carbonated overnight before I reduced the gas to serving pressure. After a week of conditioning, it was ready to serve to blind tasters.

| METHOD |

Participants were instructed to focus only on the aromatic qualities of the beer before evaluating the flavor. For each aroma and flavor descriptor, tasters were asked to write-in the perceived strength of that particular characteristic on a 0-9 scale where a rating of 0 meant they did not perceive the character at all and a 9 rating meant the character was extremely strong. Once the data was collected, the average rating of each aroma and flavor descriptor was compiled and analyzed.

| RESULTS |

A total of 20 people participated in the evaluation of this beer, all blind to the hop variety used until after they completed the survey. The average aroma and flavor ratings for each descriptor were plotted on a radar graph.

Average Ratings of Aroma and Flavor Perceptions

The 3 characteristics endorsed as being most prominent by participants:

The 3 characteristics endorsed as being least prominent by participants:

When asked to rate the pungency/strength of the hop, most tasters perceived it as being mildly to moderately pungent.

Tasters were then instructed to identify beer styles they thought the hop would work well in.

Finally, participants were asked to rate how much they enjoyed the hop character on a 1 to 10 scale.

My Impressions: The most prominent characteristic I perceived in this beer was citrus blossom, like a balanced blend of floral and citrus notes, which I found to be incredibly pleasant. It wasn’t overpowering at all, but this beer did taste like a Pale Ale version of a many pale lagers I’ve made in the past with just Hallertau Mittelfrüh. Delicious!   

| CONCLUSION |

As one of the classic noble hops that’s been used in lager styles for centuries, the descriptors associated with Hallertau Mittelfrüh are fairly well established– delicate floral notes with hints of spice and citrus. Of course, these were most likely determined when the hops were used in less punchy styles, so it makes sense that higher usage rates would result in some variation. 

Indeed, tasters of a Pale Ale hopped entirely with Hallertau Mittelfrüh rated stone fruit and tropical fruit as being the most prominent aroma characteristics, while earthy/woody and resinous were the most highly rated flavor characteristics; less desirable onion/garlic was among the lowest rated descriptors. Perhaps predictably, most tasters rated the pungency of the hop character in this beer as moderate, and they felt pale lager was the style Hallertau Mittelfrüh would work best in. 

Preference ratings were all over the board on this beer, which makes sense seeing as Hallertau Mittelfrüh is rarely used at such high rates. In conversations with tasters after they’d completed the survey, many reported they enjoyed the beer but felt the hop character would have worked better in lager styles. I personally liked this beer quite a bit, though I have to believe this is due in part to knowing the hop that was used. I may not be using Hallertau Mittelfrüh as the sole variety in future batches of Pale Ale or IPA, but you better believe I’ll continue keeping it around for my lagers, and I think it may also work well as a mid-boil addition in hoppier styles. 

Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops are available now at Yakima Valley Hops, get some while you can! If you have any thoughts on this variety, please feel free to share them in the comments section below.

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