The 10 Hardest Beer Styles to Homebrew

Here are the 10 most difficult beers styles — brews that even experienced brewers may have problems with, especially the first time out the gate. We’ll tell you why these beers are a challenge and suggest ways to improve your chances at success.

Witbier

Belgian wit (white) beers are very pale, turbid beers with a balanced spiced character and a crisp “zing.” These traits make for an appealing and refreshing beer, but each of these characters also makes it potentially hard to replicate at home.

To get a somewhat stable haze, you can use up to 10% unmalted wheat in the grist. Don’t add Irish moss when boiling your wort.

The typical spices in a witbier are coriander and bitter orange peel. Getting the spice level right can be tricky because spices differ in their intensity. Use about 20% less than you think you’ll need in the boil, and correct the spice level — if needed — by adding spices (or an alcohol extract of the spices) in the bottling bucket or keg. The “zing” in a historical witbier may have come partly from contaminating lactic acid bacteria or wild yeast (esp. Brettanomyces). Modern homebrewed examples can be accentuated by a bit of lactic acid.

White Labs and Wyeast sell various strains of witbier yeast, each with noticeably different flavor and aroma profiles. Wit fans should try them all and pick their favorite.

Pierre, South Dakota Witbier
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain

OG = 1.053 FG = 1.012
IBU = 18 SRM = 5 ABV = 5.2%

Ingredients

• 6.0 lbs. (2.7 kg) Briess Pilsen malt
• 3.0 lbs. (1.4 kg) Briess red wheat malt
• 1.0 lbs. (0.45 kg) flaked wheat
• 0.5 lbs. (0.23 kg) flaked oats
• 0.33 lbs. (0.15 kg) flaked barley
• 5 AAU Styrian Goldings hops (60 min)
• (1.0 oz./28 g of 5% alpha acids)
• 0.33 oz. (9.4 g) bitter orange peel
• 0.25 oz. (7.1 g) coriander
• up to 1.0 oz. (29 mL) 88% lactic acid (to taste before bottling or kegging)
• up to 1.5 tsp. vinegar (optional)
• Wyeast 3463 (Forbidden Fruit) yeast
• (2 qt./~2 L yeast starter)
• 1.0 cup corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step

Mash at 152 °F (67 °C). Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops at times specified. Add spices at end of boil and let steep 15 minutes before cooling. Ferment at 74 °F (23 °C). Add acid, vinegar and touch-up spices, if desired, in keg or secondary fermenter.

Extract option:

Replace all grains with 1.33 lbs. (0.60 kg) Briess dried malt extract, 4.0 lbs. (1.8 kg) Coopers Wheat liquid malt extract, 2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) wheat malt and 1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) flaked wheat. Steep malt and flakes for 45 minutes in 1.1 gallons (4.3 L) at 150 °F (66 °C). Add water to “grain tea” to make 3 gallons (11 L), add dried malt extract and boil for 60 minutes. Add liquid malt extract at end of boil and let steep for 15 minutes before cooling. Review all-grain instructions for other info.

Wee Heavy

Wee heavies are malty/sweet big ales, but don’t smell fruity as most big ales do. You need to use a yeast strain that won’t overattenuate the beer, pitch a large yeast starter and hold the fermentation temperature lower than with most ales. A Golden Promise malt for your base malt is a good choice.

Groundskeeper Willie’s Wee Heavy
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)

OG = 1.100 FG = 1.030
IBU = 22 SRM = 14+ ABV = 9.0%

Ingredients

• 12.75 lbs. (5.8 kg) Alexander’s Pale liquid malt extract
• 3.0 lbs. (9.1 kg) Simpson’s Golden Promise malt
• 3.0 oz. (85 g) crystal malt (60 °L)
• 0.75 oz. (21 g) roasted barley (300 °L)
• 6 AAU First Gold hops (60 min)
• (0.8 oz./23 g of 7.5% alpha acids)
• 1 tsp. Irish moss (15 mins)
• 1/4 tsp yeast nutrient (15 mins)
• Wyeast 1728 (Scottish Ale) or White
• Labs WLP028 (Edinburgh Ale)
• yeast (4 qt./~4 L yeast starter)
• 0.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step

Steep crushed grains for 45 minutes at 158 °F (70 °C) in 1.2 gallons (4.6 L) of water. Add water to “grain tea” to make 3 gallons (11 L) of wort. Add about 5 lbs. (2.3 kg) of malt extract to wort and bring to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at beginning of the boil. Add Irish moss and yeast nutrients with 15 minutes left in boil. Add remainder of liquid malt extract at end of boil and let steep 15 minutes before cooling. Ferment at 62 °F (17 °C).

All-grain option:

Replace malt extract and base grains with 20 lbs. (9.1 kg) Simpson’s Golden Promise malt. Mash at 158 °F (70 °C). Collect about 10 gallons of wort and boil to reduce to 5 gallons (19 L), as long as 5 hours.

Tripel

Light colors and dry finishes don’t go along with most big beers, but that’s exactly what makes a Belgian tripel great. The road to homebrew heaven is littered with failed tripel attempts, but here’s your path to salvation — use only light base malts and about 25% clear adjunct (sugar); pitch a big yeast starter and add some yeast nutrients in the boil to supply nitrogen to the yeast.

Tripel the Light Fantastic
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)

OG = 1.081 FG = 1.015
IBU = 25 SRM = 4 ABV = 8.5%

Ingredients

• 9.75 lbs. (4.4 kg) Dingemans Belgian Pilsen malt
• 2.5 lbs. (1.1 kg) Durst Vienna malt (4 °L)
• 3.0 lbs. (1.4 kg) Belgian clear candi sugar
• 7.5 AAU Tettnang hops (60 min)
• (1.9 oz./53 g of 4% alpha acids)
• 1 tsp. Irish moss (15 mins)
• 1/4 tsp. yeast nutrients (15 mins)
• Wyeast 3787 (Belgian Trappist) or
• White Labs WLP500 (Trappist Ale)
• yeast (3 qt./~3 L yeast starter)
• 0.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step

In your kettle, heat 3.8 gallons (14 L) of strike water to 151 °F (66 °C) and mash in at 140 °F (60 °C). Once mashed in, immediately begin heating mash to 148 °F (64 °C). Rest for 45 minutes. Heat mash to 167 °F (75 °C) and transfer to lauter tun. Boil wort for 90 minutes, adding hops, Irish moss and nutrients at times specified in ingredient list. Add sugar with 15 minutes remaining in the boil. Ferment at 70 °F (21 °C).

Extract with grains option:

Replace base grains with 2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) Pilsner malt, 1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) Coopers Light dried malt extract and 6 lbs. 2 oz (2.8 kg) Coopers Light liquid malt extract. Steep grains at 150 °F (66 °C) in 0.75 gallons (2.8 L) of water for 45 minutes. Add water to make 3 gallons (11 L), add dried malt extract and boil for 60 minutes. Add liquid malt extract at 15 minutes. Follow all-grain instructions for other directions.

Schwartzbier

A schwartzbier is like a good bluff in poker — it looks like one thing, but is another. Schwartz-biers look like dark roasty beers, but taste similar to Pilsners. Luckily, brewers have a couple aces up their sleeve — debittered dark grains or malt color extracts. Either will give you lots of color with minimal roasty flavors.

Schwartzpils
by Horst Dornbusch
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)

OG = 1.047 FG = 1.010
IBU = 27 SRM = 25 ABV = 4.8%

Ingredients

• 9.5 lbs. (4.3 kg) Weyermann Pilsner malt
• 5.5 oz. (155 g) Weyermann SINAMAR® malt color extract
• 6 AAU Tettnanger hops (60 min)
• (1.5 oz./43 g of 4% alpha acids)
• 2.5 AAU Hallertau Mittelfrüh hops (15 min)
• (0.5 oz./14 g of 5% alpha acids)
• 1 oz. (28 g) Tettnanger hops (0 min)
• Wyeast 2042 (Danish Lager) or
• White Labs WLP850
• (Copenhagen Lager) yeast
• (3.5 qts./~3.5 L yeast starter)

Step by Step

Step mash with a 20 minute rest at 122 °F (50 °C), a 30 minute rest at 148 °F (64 °C), a 30 minute rest at 162 °F (72 °C) and mash out to 169 °F (76 °C). Boil for 2 hours, adding hops at times specified in ingredient list. Add liquid malt color with 15 minutes remaining in boil. Ferment at 50 °F (10 °C) followed by a diacetyl rest at 55 °F (13 °C) for 3 days.

Extract with grains option:

Replace Pilsner malt with 5.66 lbs. (2.6 kg) of Weyermann Bavarian Pilsner liquid malt extract and 2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) Pilsner malt. Steep Pilsner malt for 45 minutes at 148 °F (64 °C) in 0.75 gallons (2.8 L) water. Add water to “grain tea” to make 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of wort. Boil 60 minutes, adding malt extract with 15 minutes left in boil.

Rauchbier

The biggest trick to making a good rauchbier is getting a clean smoke character, one in which chlorine compounds from your water don’t react with the smoky phenols to make odd flavors and aromas. To avoid this, carbon filter your water and — because carbon filtration may not remove all the chlorine compounds in your water — treat your brewing liquor with one crushed Campden tablet per 20 gallons (76 L).

Awesome Atavism
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)

OG = 1.060 FG = 1.015
IBU = 20 SRM = 20 ABV = 5.8%

Ingredients

• 9.75 lbs. (4.4 kg) Weyermann rauchmalz
• 2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) Weyermann Munich Type II malt (8.5 °L)
• 0.5 lbs. (0.23 kg) CaraMunich® III malt (55 °L)
• 2 oz. (57 g) Carafa® I malt (350 °L)
• 5.5 AAU Hallertau Hersbrücker hops (60 min)
• (2.2 oz./62 g of 2.5% alpha acids)
• 1 tsp. Irish moss (15 mins)
• Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager) or
• White Labs WLP820
• (Oktoberfest/Märzen) yeast
• (4 qts./~4 L yeast starter)
• 0.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step

In your kettle, heat 3.9 gallons (15 L) of strike water to 142 °F (61 °C) and mash in at 131 °F (55 °C). Pull a 1.5-gallon (5.8-L) decoction and boil it for 30 minutes. (Option: Add a pinch of calcium to the decoction boil.) Return decoction to main mash and heat mash to 158 °F (70 °C). Rest for 30 minutes. Transfer to lauter tun and add boiling water to raise temperature to 168 °F (76 °C). Recirculate for 20 minutes and collect about 6.5 gallons (25 L) of wort. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops and Irish moss at times specified in ingredient list. Ferment at 54 °F (12 °C).

Gueuze (Blended Lambic)

A gueuze is a beer made from blending “old” lambics, up to three years old, with a “new” lambic that has just finished its main fermentation. The traditional mash program for a lambic is a turbid mash, involving both infusions and decoctions to step the mash through a variety of temperatures. The mash in the all-grain version is a simplified version of this.

When brewing the constituent beers in a gueuze, you can take a seasonal approach. Brew a lambic each spring, condition it warm over the summer and condition it in a bucket until it’s time to blend. (Watch your air-locks so they don’t dry out).

Gilligan’s Gueuze
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)

OG = 1.052 FG = 1.003
IBU = 0 SRM = 4 ABV = ~5.0%

Ingredients

• 6 lbs. 14 oz. (3.1 kg) Dingemans Pilsen malt
• 3 lbs. 11 oz. (1.7 kg) unmalted wheat
• 3 oz. (84 g) aged (debittered) hops
• Wyeast 3278 (Lambic Blend) blend of yeasts and bacteria
• 0.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step

Heat 2.7 gallons (10 L) of water to 124 °F (51 °C) in your kettle. Bring 5 gallons (19 L) of water to a boil in your hot liquor tank. Mash grains in to 113 °F (45 °C) and let rest for 10 minutes. You will step through the following steps: 131 °F (55 °C) for 15 minutes; 149 °F (65 °C) for 45 minutes; 162 °F (72 °C) for 15 minutes; mash out to 170 °F (76 °C). For each step, add about 85 fl. oz. (2.5 L) of boiling water, then use direct heat to hit target temperature. (By the end of your mash, it will be very thin.) Cool water in hot liquor tank to 200 °F (95 °C) and use this for your sparge water. Collect about 5 gallons (19 L) of wort, add 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water and boil for 2 hours, adding hops with 90 minutes left in boil. Ferment beer at 70 °F (21 °C) in a plastic bucket for one week. Let beer condition at 70–80 °F (21–27 °C) for 3 months, then hold at “room temperature.” Do not rack to secondary. Do this once a year for three years, then blend beers after the most recent has been warm conditioned for three months.

Eisbock

An eisbock is two difficult beers rolled into one. The first, a high-gravity lager (doppelbock) and the second, a freeze-concentrated beer.

Pitching a big yeast starter and running a temperature-controlled fermentation will mean your eisbock tastes smooth (and doesn’t induce splitting headaches).

Freezing the beer in a bucket avoids the possibility of cracking a glass carboy or rupturing a keg.

Ötzi’s Eisbock
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grain)
Doppelbock:

OG = 1.072 FG = 1.018
IBU = 18 SRM = 12 ABV = 7.0%

Eisbock:

Final volume = 3.5 gallons (13 L)
ABV = 10%

Ingredients

• 3.0 lbs. (1.4 kg) Munich Type II malt
• 8 lbs. 14 oz. (4.0 kg) Weyermann
• Bavarian Maibock liquid malt
• extract (half as late addition)
• 4.75 AAU Hallertau hops (60 min)
• (0.95 oz./27 g of 5% alpha acids)
• 1 AAU Hallertau Hersbrücker hops (15 min)
• (0.8 oz./23 g of 2.5% alpha acids)
• 1 tsp. Irish moss (15 mins)
• Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager) or
• White Labs WLP833 (German
• Bock) yeast (5 qt./4.7 L starter)
• 0.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step

Steep Munich malt at 154 °F (68 °C) in 1 gallon (3.8 L) of water for 45 minutes. (Note: this is actually a small mash; follow instructions for temperature and volume.) While grains are steeping, heat 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water to a boil. Add “grain tea” to this water, along with about 2 lbs. (~1 kg) of malt extract. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at times specified in ingredient list. Add remaining malt extract at end of boil and let steep for 15 minutes before cooling. Ferment at 52 °F (11 °C), rack to secondary and lager at 40 °F (4.4 °C) for one month, then rack to bucket and lower temperature until ice crystals form. Remove ~1.5 gallons (5.7 L) of ice to yield 3.5 gallons (13 L) of beer at 10% ABV.

Dry Stout

Dry stout? You may have been told that it is one of the easiest beers styles to make. In reality, there are several difficulties to making even a passable dry stout. The first is that there is a narrow window of acceptable roast flavors in a stout. The second difficulty is getting a dry beer. The third difficulty is that the large amount of dark roasted grains can make for an overly acidic beer.

A good recipe (that uses the dark, ~500 °L, version of roasted barley and some adjunct to dry out the beer) is a start, but you’ll have to muck with your water chemistry a bit on your own to deal with the acidity of the dark malt. A couple teaspoons of calcium carbonate per 5 gallons (19 L) of soft water is a good place to start. A small yeast starter is all you need because of the low original gravity, but you do need to make the starter to get the dry stout properly attenuated (i.e. dry).

Dropkick Murphy’s Dry Stout
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)

OG = 1.040 FG = 1.007
IBU = 33 SRM = 38 ABV = 4.2%

Ingredients

• 3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) Muntons Light liquid
• malt extract (late addition)
• 0.5 lbs. (0.23 kg) Crisp Maris Otter pale ale malt
• 1.5 oz. (43 g) crystal malt (60 °L)
• 10 oz. (0.28 kg) roasted malt (500 °L)
• 2 oz. (57 g) chocolate malt (350 °L)
• 1 lb. 7 oz. (0.65 kg) cane sugar
• 7.5 AAU Target hops (60 min)
• (0.68 oz./19 g of 11% alpha acids)
• 2.5 AAU Target hops (15 min)
• (0.23 oz./6.4 g of 11% alpha acids)
• 1/4 tsp. yeast nutrients (15 mins)
• White Labs WLP007
• (Dry English Ale) yeast
• (1 qt./~1 L yeast starter)
• 0.75 cups corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step

Steep grains for 45 minutes at 150 °F (66 °C) in 0.5 gallons (1.9 L) of water. Add water to make 3 gallons (11 L) of wort, stir in sugar and bring to a boil. Add first hop addition and boil for 60 minutes. Stir in extract, remaining hops and nutrients with 15 minutes left in boil. Ferment at 70 °C (21 °C).

Berliner Weisse

The biggest challenge to making a Berliner weisse is making a light, clean base beer, then rapidly souring it with bacteria. You need to sour the beer fairly rapidly since it’s a low gravity beer and doesn’t have a lot of alcohol to act as a preservative.

Napoleon’s Champagne
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)

OG = 1.030 FG = 1.004
IBU = 9 SRM = 3 ABV = ~3.0%

Ingredients

• 4.0 lbs. (1.8 kg) Durst Pilsner malt
• 2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) wheat malt
• 5 AAU Spalt hops (15 min)
• (1.0 oz./28 g of 5% alpha acids)
• Wyeast 1007 (German Ale) or
• White Labs WLP029 (German Ale/
• Kölsch) yeast (1 qt./~1 L starter)
• Wyeast 4335 (Lactobacillus) bacteria
• (1 qt./~1 L starter, not aerated)
• 1.2 cups corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step

Make bacterial starter 2 weeks before brew day. Make yeast starter 2–3 days before brewday. Heat 2 gallons (7.6 L) of strike water to 161 °F (72 °C) and mash at 150 °F (66 °C) for 45 minutes. Collect about 3 gallons (11 L) of wort and add water to make about 5.33 gallons (20 L) of pre-boil wort. Boil for 15 minutes, adding hops at beginning of boil. Pitch both starters to cooled wort. Ferment at 62 °F (17 °C) for one week, then condition for a week or two at 70–80 °F (21–27 °C) in primary fermenter. Rack to secondary and bottle the beer in heavy bottles a few days later.

American Pilsner

An American Pilsner can be summed up in two words — flavorless and flawless. American Pilsners have little malt flavor, hop character or body. But, these elements are balanced and there are no faults. To make a good American Pilsner, you need to make a highly fermentable, high-adjunct wort, pitch plenty of yeast and hold the fermentation temperature constant.

Older, But Wiser
American Pilsner
(6 gallons/23 L, all-grain)
Malt Liquor: (5 gallons/19 L)

OG = 1.051 FG 1.007
American Pilsner: (6 gallons/23 L)
IBU = 12 SRM = 3 ABV = 4.7%

Ingredients

• 4.0 lbs. (1.8 kg) Briess 6-row Brewer’s malt
• 2.7 lbs. (1.2 kg) Briess Less Modified Pilsner malt
• 2.7 lbs. (1.2 kg) rice syrup solids
• 4 AAU Cluster hops (60 min)
• (0.66 oz./19 g of 6% alpha acids)
• 1 tsp. Irish moss (15 mins)
• 1/4 tsp yeast nutrients (15 mins)
• Wyeast 2007 (Pilsen Lager) or
• White Labs WLP840
• (American Lager) yeast
• (3.5 quart/~3.5 L yeast starter)
• 1.0 cup corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step

In your kettle, heat 2.1 gallons (7.9 L) of strike water to 142 °F (61 °C), stir in grains and mash at 131 °F (55 °C) for 15 minutes. Heat to 140 °F (60 °C) — raising the temperature about 2 °F (1 °C) every minute and stirring constantly —and rest for 30 minutes. Transfer mash to lauter tun and stir in boiling water to raise the temperature to 168 °F (76 °C). Let rest for 5 minutes. Recirculate, then collect wort (about 3.33 gallons (13 L). Add water to make enough wort to boil for 90 minutes. Add hops with 60 minutes left and add rice syrup solids, Irish moss and yeast nutrients with 15 minutes left in boil. Ferment base beer (malt liquor) at 53 °F (12 °C). Dilute 5 gallons (19 L) of malt liquor with 1 gallon (3.8 L) of deaerated water to yield 6 gallons (23 L) of American Pilsner. Boil and cool water to deaerate. (You may also want to add a small pinch of potassium metabisulfite to the water).

Written by BYO Staff