Author: Marshall Schott
When I first started down the path of beer and brewing, I presumed pretty much anything made with wheat would taste like the hazy Weissbier I inhaled during a trip to Bavaria. It wasn’t until a server at a Seattle Italian restaurant mistakenly brought me a Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen and let me keep it as an apology that I learned how wrong I’d been. Rather than banana and clove, this beer was surprisingly clean with a pleasant citrus note that was enhanced by the addition of a lemon wedge.
In the 16 years since that experience, I’ve kept my eyes peeled for craft examples of this tasty style but have found it difficult to come by. While visiting the Midwest, I got my hands on some Bell’s Oberon, which was very good, and I was once served an old can of Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale on a flight to Seattle that I forced down my throat as quickly as possible so as not to be wasteful. Other than that, it seems American Wheat Beer just doesn’t get much love, which is odd considering how appealing the BJCP description is:
Refreshing wheat beers that can display more hop character and less yeast character than their German cousins. A clean fermentation character allows bready, doughy, or grainy wheat flavors to be complemented by hop flavor and bitterness rather than yeast qualities.
I’ve made my fair share of American Wheat Beer and it typically receives positive reviews, particularly from those who usually drink when the mountains are blue. While this style isn’t necessarily viewed as complicated to brew, I was curious to see how one would turn out when various corners were cut.
| BREWING THE BEER |
After rummaging through my on-hand ingredients, I threw this recipe together, basing it loosely on one I’d brewed a few times before.
Short & Shoddy American Wheat Beer
Recipe Details
| Batch Size | Boil Time | IBU | SRM | Est. OG | Est. FG | ABV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 gal | 25 min | 22.2 IBUs | 6.0 SRM | 1.051 | 1.012 | 5.0 % |
| Actuals | 1.051 | 1.01 | 5.4 % | |||
Fermentables
| Name | Amount | % |
|---|---|---|
| Lamonta American-style Pale Malt (Mecca Grade) | 6.25 lbs | 50 |
| Shaniko Wheat Malt (Mecca Grade) | 6.25 lbs | 50 |
Hops
| Name | Amount | Time | Use | Form | Alpha % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cascade | 15 g | 25 min | First Wort | Pellet | 7.2 |
| Cascade | 20 g | 15 min | Boil | Pellet | 7.2 |
| Cascade | 20 g | 5 min | Boil | Pellet | 7.2 |
Yeast
| Name | Lab | Attenuation | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Que Bueno (L09) | Imperial Yeast | 76% | 47°F - 55°F |
Notes
| Water Profile: filtered Fresno tap with a sprinkle of gypsum |
Download
| Download this recipe's BeerXML file |
At 2:28 PM, I began brewing by collecting the full volume of filtered water.
Hoping to enhance the crispness of this beer, I sprinkled some gypsum into the water.
While the water was warming up, I weighed out and milled the grain.
When the water was adequately heated, I stirred in the grain then checked to make sure it was at target mash temperature.
The mash was left to rest for just 30 minutes, during which I stirred it intermittently.
During the mash rest, I measured out the kettle hop additions, which was all 3 year-old Cascade.
With the mash rest complete, I removed the grains and boiled the wort for a brief 25 minutes.
I then quickly chilled the wort with my IC.
A refractometer reading showed the wort was at a respectable 13.1 ˚Bx, or 1.053 OG, indicating a brewhouse efficiency of 60%.
I proceeded to rack the chilled wort to a sanitized 6 gallon PET carboy.
With the wort sitting at 77˚F/25˚C, I pitched a single pouch of Imperial Yeast L09 Que Bueno that was packaged 4 months prior.
The filled carboy was placed in my chamber where it was hooked to my CO2 capture device and left to ferment at 66°F/19°C. The time was 4:27 PM for a total brew day time of 1 hours 59 minutes. Fermentation took a little longer to kick off than I’m used to, likely due to the age of the yeast, but things were looking just fine 48 hours post-pitch.
After noticing the kräusen dropped 4 days into fermentation, I took a hydrometer measurement confirming FG had been reached.
While I perceived no off-flavors in the sample, I let it sit two more days before transferring the warm beer to the keg that was naturally purged with CO2 produced during fermentation.
The beer was placed in my keezer and burst carbonated overnight before I reduced the gas to serving pressure. I allowed the beer to cold condition for a week before I began evaluating it.
| RESULTS |
Due to social distancing practices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, data for this Short & Shoddy beer was unable to be collected in our typical manner. As such, temporary adaptations were made involving the author thoroughly evaluating the beer in as unbiased a fashion as possible.
I completed a series of 4 thorough evaluations that occurred over the course of 1 week. My goal in doing this was to condense my most consistent impressions while accounting for any possible outside factors that may have influenced my perception.
APPEARANCE
Light yellow in color and hazy without being entirely opaque. A stark white cap of foam hangs around for the entire pint and is sticky enough to leave attractive lacing. Exactly what I expect a proper American Wheat Beer to look like.
AROMA
Pleasant balance of doughy malt and fruity hop character that meld well with the subtle lemon-like note I tend to perceive in beers made with large portion of wheat. I also detected a hint of creamy vanilla in the background, something I’ve come to expect from certain Mecca Grade Estate Malts. I perceived nothing in the way of esters or phenols. Taken together, whiffing this beer made me think of my grandma’s lemon tart, even without a lemon present, though adding a slice certainly enhanced that impression.
FLAVOR
The flavor of this beer was incredibly similar to the aroma with doughy and citrusy characteristics shining the brightest, while a whisper of vanilla lingered for a bit after swallowing. It was also extremely clean, which I suspect was due to the use of Imperial Yeast L09 Que Bueno, a traditional lager strain. No detectable off-flavors or anything that got in the way of the malt and hops. To put it simply—this beer was delicious!
MOUTHFEEL
Despite being perceptibly creamy on the palate, this beer had what I would call a medium-light body, the combo of which made it incredibly enjoyable to drink. No astringency, harsh bitterness, or alcohol heat.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
I intentionally kept this recipe simple by using just 2 unique craft malts and a single classic hop variety, in part because I felt it would best exemplify the positives of an American Wheat Beer. It’s not common I brew a beer designed in such haste that blows my expectations out of the water, but that’s exactly happened with this batch. It hit all the marks for the style and, in my opinion, was absolutely delicious.
| CONCLUSION |
As is the case with many styles, American Wheat Beer is a modern take on the classic Weissbier that has been brewed in Germany for centuries. However, rather than being driven by fermentation characteristics such as banana esters and spicy phenols, American Wheat Beer is considerably clean with a stronger hop punch.
I’ve brewed a handful of American Wheat Beer over the years using typical methods and ingredients, which has always included clean American ale yeast strains. The fact all of those past batches turned out to be quite tasty is perhaps a testament to how easy this style is to make, though the lack of perceptible problems in this particular version suggests certain corners can be cut to make the brewing process even easier.
I couldn’t keep my hands off of this Short & Shoddy American Wheat Beer while it was on tap! Whether grilling a tri-tip for dinner, kicking it poolside with the kids, or getting slaughtered by 8 year-olds in Warzone, having a glass of this beer by my side undeniably improve the experience. The simple blend of pale and wheat malts, Cascade hops, and a clean lager yeast paired with a 2 hour Short & Shoddy brew day is absolutely something I’ll be doing many times in the future!
If you have thoughts about this Short & Shoddy brew, please feel free to share it in the comments section below!
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19 thoughts on “Short & Shoddy | American Wheat Beer”
Love these short and shoddy brews! Have you used your CO2 capture device on an ssbrewtech fermenter? The slight pressure build-up seemed to be enough to cause a tiny leak around the (flimsy) ball valve when I tried it recently. (Another good reason to ferment in kegs.) Thank you for highlighting a neglected style!
I find it disheartening to see water profiles listed as Fresno Water with a sprinkle of gypsum. No real profile at all… Water is the most important ingredient that accounts for 95-98% of the beer yet it get basically zero attention… What purpose does sharing a recipe when 95-98% is a crap shoot?
Oh man, you really didn’t get the point of it. Chill!
To be fair, this article doesn’t specifically explain what “short and shoddy” concept is. There’s an assumption the reader has read previous posts and is familiar with the approach…
Seeing as it was 5.4% alcohol I think you’re slightly off there…
We brew an American Wheat beer once a month on our regular rotation, but use Voss Kveik, and pitch at 90F (32C), and is packaged in 5 days…really enjoyable style, very crushable. We use the same ratio of Pale Ale malt and White Wheat malt, with a 1:1 Sulfate to Chloride ratio water profile (50ppm) from a running stream across the canyon from the brewery. Love it, and brew it all the time! Laurence Prantner
Do you usually dry hop your american wheat?
Never brewed one, and Im thinking to brew for my wife on my next batch
The homebrew kit that started it all for me (also known as the present my wife regrets the most) was an American wheat with a very similar recipe to this one. As it was my first homebrew, it’s fair to say that the methods used were a little shoddy. The beer was awesome to my totally unbiased palate.
I brewed an American Wheat Ale last year and decided to dump a few pounds of blackberries and raspberries picked from the backyard into the fermentor once it was near final OG. Quite possibly the best beer I’ve ever brewed. It’s definitely an underrated style and good base to experiment with fruit additions.
Dont know why american wheat beers are so underrated. They are gorgeus. My last version was single hoped with mandarina bavaria and fermented with kolsch yeast. It turned out amazing
So, you used a German yeast and a German hop (probably used a German or Bohemian Malt) and you want to call it an American Wheat?
The reason American beers are rated where they are (not underrated, but appropriately rated) is because Commercial American Breweries like Coors, Miller, Anheuser-Busch, Anchor Steam, Old English, Busch, Milwaukee’s Best, Keystone, Michelob, Samuel Adams, and most of Deschutes have been making swill for decades… It is up to US (you and me) to make American beer that actually are drinkable… because these aforementioned swill makers have destroyed the reputation of the term “American Beer”.
I dont know man, I’m not from US (country). I used the word underrated considering the homebrew and craft breweries scenario.
Yeah, I tought about the origin of the ingredients when I call it an American Wheat. But I dind’t back off, precisely because of the sensory profile of them. Super clean fermentation profile, subtle tangerine and citrus hops, what meets the BJCP guideline for this style.
Cheers!
Just as long as you love making it and it taste great… who cares what its call… right?
exactly
Made a version of this yesterday! 2 hour brew day! Hit all my numbers lol. Pitched harvest not que bueno. Actually pitched at 60 deg but fermenting at 66. Will report back how it turns out!
Btw, this crazy ass brew is fantastic! Cant stop drinking it! I used a citrusy unlabeled hop and not cascade. The citrus zing of the hops goes great with the overall flavor. There is still an underlying presence of the lager yeast but to me it is now a positive not a negative. Fun beer! I would make it again! Cheers!
Doing this tomorrow with my brand new Brewer’s Edge Mash & Boil. I have the cascades-but will probably just use s-05 or something like that. I’m pumped. I’ve never done a short & shoddy, but can’t wait to do it.
I made this short and shoddy American wheat. Came out amazing, definitely had the citrus lemon meringue pie character to it. I will be brewing this again, with a BIAB setup brewed this in less than 3 hours from start to cleanup. Wife loves it too, happy wife happy life. Thank you for all you do, definitely changed the way I brew for the good! Cheers!
Why just 25 min boil?