# 🍺 Top-down Brew: American Wheat Beer

Original Gravity

Enter the desired original gravity as specific gravity (1.0XX) or degrees plato (°P).

American wheat beer specification: 1.040 to 1.055; 10.0 to 13.5 °P

Target volume

Enter the desired volume at the end of the boil. The volume units can be either liters, gallons, or US barrels.

Measurement Units
Metric US US Barrels

Select the preferred unit of measurement for the inputs and outputs. Metric uses liters, grams, and kilograms. US uses gallons, ounces, and pounds. US Barrels (31 gallons = 1 barrel) is in barrels, pounds, and ounces.

Mash Efficiency

Enter the anticipated mash efficiency percentage. If this is not known, try the following values based on the sparge method: Steeping (50%), No-sparge or brew-in-a-bag (65 to 75%), Batch sparge (80%), or Continuous (fly) sparge (85 to 90%).

Grains

Enter the name, fermentable %, Lovibond, and yield (SG or percent) with comma separations.

Wheat or rye malt should be 30% to 50% of the grain bill. The remaining malt is mostly standard American two-row or a combination of two-row and pilsner malt (up to 25%) or American pale ale malt (up to 20%). Other possibilities are small amounts of Munich, Vienna, Caravienne, or light crystal malts. Keep the specialty malts small or zero to keep the focus on the base grains plus wheat or rye.

- Beer-analytics.com American wheat analysis
- Brew United's grain database
- BYO magazine grain and adjunct resource

Sugars

Enter the name, fermentable %, Lovibond, and yield (SG or percent) with comma separations. The grain and sugar percentages must add to 100%.

Sugars are not typical for this style. Extract brewers can use 100% wheat malt extract, which is a mixture of wheat malt and two-row malt.

- BYO magazine sugar resource

Bitterness

Enter the desired bitterness in international bittering units (IBUs).

Style specification: 15 to 30 IBUs. The average BU/GU ratio from beer-analytics.com is .44.

Hops

Enter the hop name, IBU %, AA %, and boil minutes with comma separations.

The recommended hops are standard American (examples: Cascade, Willamette, Mount Hood) or European (example: Hallertau) varieties. Avoid hops that are excessively pine, resin, or dank.

- Beer-analytics.com American wheat analysis
- Brew United hop database
- BYO magazine's hop resources

Late Boil Additions

Enter late boil additions like spices with the name and dosage (grams/liter), with a comma separation.

Spices are not typical for this style.

Dry Hops

Enter dry hops with name and dosage (grams/liter), with a comma separation.

Dry hopping is not typical for this style.

Yeast
Ale Lager

Select the yeast type, ale or lager.

American ale yeasts are often used, like Fermentis US-05. Some American wheat yeasts are available in liquid form. Kolsch yeasts are okay. Do not use phenolic hefeweizen yeasts.

← Click here when the data entry is done.

## Results

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## Notes

2021 BJCP 01D. American Wheat characteristic ingredients: "Clean American ale or lager yeast. German Weissbier yeast is inappropriate. Wheat malt (often 30–50%, lower than is typical in Weissbier). American, German, or New World hops."

Vital Statistics: IBU 8 - 18, SRM 2 - 3.5, OG 1.040 - 1.050, FG 1.004 - 1.010, ABV 4.2% - 5.3%

## Sources

Beer-analytics.com American Wheat

Strong, G. (2018, July-August). American wheat: A summertime classic that shines. BYO, p. 28-32.

Zainasheff, J. (2010, July-August). American wheat/rye: Refreshing and easy drinking. BYO, p. 19-22.

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