3 Ways to Wheat
It’s easy to spot the wheat beer among the ambers and stouts on any taproom table: just look for the one with the soft, hazy glow in the palest shade of gold topped by a tumble of foam so thick and lush, you just want to lay your head down and take a nap. It’s like a ray of lazy sunshine caught in a glass, and on a hot summer day, I want nothing else.
Brewing one of these fine specimens at home is neither particularly tricky nor overly complicated, even for a novice brewer, but it provides just enough challenge to give a real sense of accomplishment at the end of the brew day – and then a second time when we finally get to pour it in a glass. If you’ve been looking to add a new kind of malt to your homebrew game or want to stock your fridge with some refreshing beers for the dog days of summer, start here. Today, we’ll be tackling three of the matriarchs of the wheat beer family: German hefeweizens, Belgian witbiers, and American pale wheat beers.
But first, an Anatomy Lesson
Before we launch into our three chosen wheat beers, and how to brew them, let’s take a look at the grain itself. Given that wheat has been one of humanity’s most beloved dietary staples for a good part of our history, you’d really think we’d all be primarily brewing with wheat right now instead of barley. So why aren’t we? It’s a matter of anatomy.
Unlike barley, wheat grains lack an outer husk. This doesn’t seem like a big deal (husks contain no tasty fermentables, after all), until you realize the crucial role those husks play in preventing the mash from compacting and in forming a natural filter for the wort. Wheat grains also contain a fair amount of protein, so mashes with a lot of wheat tend to become gluey and sticky — great if you’re making bread dough, but not if you’d rather have beer. On top of this, it’s not quite as easy for brewers to convert wheat starches to sugars as it is with barley.
Throw in a few legal declarations from Germans 500 years ago reserving most of the wheat harvest for the bread bakers, and barley became the top pick for brewing beer, not wheat.
Wheat + Barley = Power Duo
But that isn’t the end of the story with wheat and beer, of course. Wheat in combination with barley has proven to be an excellent duo. Most significantly, the same proteins that would turn an all-wheat mash into a stuck-mash mess contribute some really nice characteristics in smaller amounts. (And some commercial brewers make all-wheat beers —with the filtering aid of rice hulls in the mash — as well.)
When used for 5 to 15% of the grain bill, the proteins help create a thicker, longer-lasting cap of foam on your beer. In larger amounts (25 to 70% of the grain bill), they give the beer a silky, creamy texture in the body. You can also thank these proteins for much of the haziness of wheat beers — what is often seen as a fault in other beers is on proud display here.
Wheat is a fairly mild-flavored grain to begin with and then it’s typically only lightly kilned after malting. This translates into beers characterized by a clean, sweet flavor; you’ll find less of the roasted malt flavors we expect from beers made with malted barley alone. The color of a finished wheat beer is also markedly paler than a full-barley beer, ranging from the whitish-gold hue of a witbier (which actually uses unmalted and unkilned wheat) to the light-orange gleam of a hefeweizen.
Banana and Cloves: The German Hefeweizen
In a realm dominated by lagers, hefeweizens are very much an anomaly. The style, and weissbiers in general, barely survived the 1516 Bavarian Reinheitsgebot, and then only by special royal sanction. Once restrictions were finally loosened a few centuries later, the damage was solidly done. Weissbiers were out, lagers were in.
It’s really only been in the last handful of decades that beer drinkers wised up to the glories of old-school German wheat beers and their popularity risen to the point where we’re even talking about them now. Hefeweizen is just one of many styles of weissbiers, though it’s inarguably the best known and arguably the most lovely to behold. The family also includes dunkelweizen, weizenbock, Berliner weisse, and Gose.
Hefeweizens are everything that straight-laced lagers are not — where lagers are calm, cool, and collected, hefeweizens let it all hang out. Banana and clove are a hefeweizen’s highly aromatic calling card, courtesy of a particular strain of top-fermenting ale yeast. A hefeweizen is also distinguished by its haziness — nearly as hazy as a Pilsner is clear — and in its boisterous, fizzy effervescence. The haze is partly due to those abundant wheat proteins and also to the fact that hefeweizens are left unfiltered and usually bottle conditioned with yeast. “Hefe” actually means “yeast” in German, while “weizen” means “wheat.” (By the way, the “weiss” in weissbier actually means “white,” referring to the lighter color of wheat-based beers.)
This description might make you think that hefeweizens are heavy, sticky beers, but the sum total is surprisingly balanced and refreshing. This is a beer for late-summer sipping if there ever was one.
Brewing a Hefeweizen
Hefeweizens are made with at least 50% wheat malt in the grist, though you can use up to 70% if you’re feeling confident about your mashing and lautering skills (remember: the wheat will become annoyingly goopy). Use Pilsner malts for the remainder of the grist, and I highly recommend adding a pound or so (~0.45 kg) of rice hulls in a 5-gallon (19-L) batch to avoid any worry of a stuck mash.
A decoction mash is traditional for weizens, but with our modern malts, an infusion mash held for an hour at 150 °F (65 °C) does the job just fine. If you’re a fan of that spicy clove flavor, you can add a 10 to 15 minute rest at 110 °F (43 °C) before bringing the mash up to 150 °F (65 °C). This encourages the release of ferulic acid into the wort, which is necessary for the production of the clove-like phenols during fermentation.
There’s nothing noteworthy about the boil (the hops are of the noble variety and should be applied with a light hand), but pay attention once your wort is in the fermenter. Be sure to use a true Bavarian hefeweizen yeast; you won’t get that signature banana or clove character from any other strain. Also, aim for a fermentation temperature between 65 and 70 °F (18 and 21 °C) for a balance of spicy phenols and fruity esters in the finished beer, though temperatures into the 70s Fahrenheit (20s Celsius) are acceptable, especially if you’d like to bump up the bubble gum-meets-banana bread flavors in your beer.
Hefeweizens are best enjoyed fresh, which is good news for us! Give the beer three to four weeks to complete fermentation and settle down, but then proceed straight to bottling. If you usually keg your beer, try bottling this batch for a true bottle-conditioned hefeweizen experience.
Oranges and Spice: The Belgian Witbier
While the Reinheitsgebot didn’t directly affect the witbiers being brewed to the west, it’s fair to say that the corresponding rise in popularity and demand for lagers eventually did. The economic turmoil following World War II was the final nail in the coffin, provoking Belgian brewers to either switch over to industrialized lagers or to close down completely.
But a Belgian milkman named Pierre Celis wasn’t about to let a good bier go down. He started off by attempting to recreate a few homebrewed batches from memory. This was so successful that he moved production into his stables, and then to an actual brewery — a true homebrewing success story! He modernized the recipe and eventually played a role in bringing the style to Stella Artois (later InBev) as Hoegaarden. Later in his career, Celis moved to Austin, Texas and opened Celis Brewery to sell his signature witbier to a North American audience.
If you’ve ever had a witbier, you’ll understand why Celis was so determined to save it. The beer is pale gold with a crackling head of pure white foam (“wit” means “white” in Flemish). Like its cousin the hefeweizen, wits are left unfiltered, giving the beer a milky haze in the glass. Witbiers are not wild fermented, but they have a similar sweet-tart flavor marked by spice and sour fruit. This profile is further underscored by an infusion of bitter orange peel and coriander during brewing, along with a light smattering of noble hops.
Brewing a Belgian Witbier
Witbiers are rather unique among wheat beers in that they are made using a large portion of unmalted wheat in the grist. Originally this was a clever way to avoid taxes, but then became firmly locked into tradition. With unmalted wheat, you get many of the benefits of wheat, like a silky mouthfeel and good head retention, but the finished beer is typically less sweet and less full-bodied.
For homebrewing, I recommend using either torrified wheat or flaked wheat (see the photo on the facing page for an example) over the raw wheat berries you find in grocery store bulk bins. Both of the former are pre-gelatinized, so you can skip the fuss of an adjunct mash or multi-step mash needed for raw wheat berries, and instead add the wheat directly to the grist for a single infusion mash. Torrified wheat should be milled along with the rest of the grains; flaked wheat should be mixed in after milling.
Regular malted barley and a few handfuls of oats round out the grain bill — good proportions for a classic witbier are 50% malted barley, 45% unmalted wheat, and 5% oats. Add about a pound of rice hulls for a 5-gallon (19-L) batch to keep the mash loose and your sparge flowing.
There is some debate among homebrewers around doing a protein rest to improve efficiency and avoid a stuck mash given the large proportion of unmalted wheat. My vote is to skip it in favor of a more streamlined brew day; when using torrified or flaked wheat along with rice hulls, I’ve found that efficiency is less of an issue and stuck mashes rarely occur. A single infusion mash held at 150 °F (65 °C) for 60 minutes will get you all the sugars and hazy protein action you could hope for.
The hop boil is pretty normal other than the fancy witbier spices, so let’s talk about them for a second. Bitter oranges, or their peels, aren’t something carried by most grocery stores, but you can find this ingredient in dried form at most homebrew shops or online. Coriander is easier to come by, or can be ordered online if not. Buy whole coriander seed (not ground) and crush it yourself with a spice grinder. Be sure to crush a seed or two in advance of your brew day; if you can’t immediately smell the fragrance, then the coriander is too old to give your beer much flavor and you should seek out fresh spices. Add both the bitter orange peel and the coriander in the last five minutes of the boil.
Like hefeweizens, a lot of the final character of a witbier comes down to the yeast, so choose a “witbier” yeast strain, or second best, another Belgian yeast strain. A steady 70-degree (Fahrenheit) fermentation (21 °C) temperature will give you a delicate, well-balanced witbier, but wits also do quite well at fermentation temperatures into the upper 70s Fahrenheit (20s Celsius), picking up some seriously interesting spice and fruit flavors. (Witbiers are a good choice if you’re brewing in the summer without temperature control.)
Also like hefeweizens, witbiers are usually bottle conditioned and served young. If you keg, up the pressure slightly for a nice buzz of carbonation.
Hops and More Hops: The American Pale Wheat
Typical Americans – always have to mess with things. With no long tradition of wheat beers to uphold or government restrictions to follow, American brewers have been completely free to add wheat malts to their inventory and schedule a play date. Even the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) guidelines for the style can be distilled down to, “Made with wheat? No banana or cloves? Carry on.”
If you’d like something more to go by, think of the American pale wheat as the good looks of a hefeweizen crossed with the character of a pale ale. Fluffy cap of foam, light golden color, creamy mouthfeel, but nix the bananas and cloves in favor of a dose of citusy or perfumey American hops. Some versions are filtered (because why not throw that in the air too?), but most are usually left with at least a little haze in a nod to the original style.
Brewing an American Pale Wheat
Such a permissive, open-ended style can feel equal parts invigorating and overwhelming, especially after the neat, compact guidelines for brewing classic hefeweizens and witbiers — like discovering beat poetry after nothing but sonnets and haikus. But it’s all cool, daddy-o. Make it into a choose-your-own-adventure for wheat beers.
Start with a grain bill of 30% to 70% wheat — malted, torrified, or flaked is your call. Supplement that with some American pale malts. You could throw in some specialty malts for a deeper color and toasty flavor, if you like. You crazy kid, you. Just don’t forget the rice hulls to avoid a stuck mash. A basic 60-minute infusion mash at 150 °F (66 °C) is a solid choice when it comes time to brew.
Hops are fair game with American pale wheats. They’re so restrained in traditional hefeweizens and wits, and American palates are so bonkers for bitter, that it’s tempting to just dump a bunch into the brew pot. But I advise a modicum of restraint. I feel that overly aggressive hopping can start to mask some of the more subtle flavors in a wheat beer. Of course, you might disagree, which is very American of you.
Lay the groundwork with a basic bittering hop like Centennial or Chinook, and then pick a direction for the flavoring and aroma hops: citrusy, piney, floral, or tropical. I particularly like citrusy hops like Cascade or Amarillo® since they play up the refreshing nature of a summer wheat ale. Fruity tropical hops like GalaxyTM and MosaicTM are a playful riff, particularly if you throw some ripe mangos or pineapple into the brew somewhere along the way. It’s also totally allowed to add other spices or flavoring ingredients along with the hops, like grains of paradise, lemon peel, or even ginger.
Use an American ale yeast strain when it comes time to ferment, or basically anything except a hefeweizen or other German weizen strain. Avoiding any hint of bananas or cloves is about the only steadfast rule for this style. Keep the beer at moderate temperature during fermentation, and once in the fermenter, think about dry hopping for extra aroma impact.
Like our other wheat beers, this American pale wheat can be bottled (or kegged) fairly quickly once the fermentation party has settled down. Drink it young, cold, and preferably on a back porch.
Three Ways with Wheat
All three of the recipes included with this article (see pages 59–61) use the same basic ratio of half wheat and half barley, along with a simple infusion mash, standard boil, and three weeks in the fermenter before bottling. I think it’s so interesting to see how very different and unique these three beers end up in the glass given their (more or less) common beginnings. Yeast plays such a big role in the finished flavor and character of each one. Which is obvious when you think about it, but always fascinating to witness.
Of course, there are plenty of ways that you can tweak these recipes. Add that 10 to 15 minute rest at 110 °F (43 °C) when brewing the hefeweizen to bump up the cloves, or ignore my advice and try a protein rest for the witbier. Feel free to swap out the hops in the American pale wheat for ones you like better. You could also add some fresh summer berries or stone fruit to any of these beers and they’d thank you for it — throw in a few pounds of fruit in the last few minutes of the boil.
For homebrewing wheat beers with extract, know that most wheat malt extracts are actually a blend of wheat malt and pale barley malts (usually 50% to 65% wheat). It’s usually fine to just use wheat malt by itself, though you can add additional barley malt extract if you’d like to play with the ratio. Since there are no specialty grains (and raw wheat relies on the enzymes in the barley malt to convert its starches to sugar), a partial-mash doesn’t usually make sense for classic wheat beers. If you make an extract witbier, it will have a slightly different character than the all-grain version since the wheat extract contains malted wheat, but it will still be delicious.
See You on the Back Porch
Whether you end up brewing a hefeweizen, a witbier, or an American pale wheat, just make sure to get it going with plenty of time to enjoy the finished beer while the days are still sunny and hot. When it’s ready, find yourself a back porch, a front stoop, or at the very least, an open window — open air is the ideal context for drinking a wheat beer. Pour your beer into a glass and take a second to appreciate that hazy glow, the proud cap of foam, and all those beautiful aromas. Then quaff it down and pour yourself another.
American Pale Wheat
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.049 FG = 1.011
IBU = 27 SRM = 4 ABV = 5.1%
The hallmark of a modern American pale wheat is a dose of North American hops. This recipe punches the IBUs up with Centennial and Amarillo® for a profile that’s totally USA.
INGREDIENTS
5 lbs. (2.3 kg) 2-row pale malt
5 lbs. (2.3 kg) wheat malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) rice hulls
5 AAU Centennial pellet hops (60 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 10% alpha acids)
4.3 AAU Amarillo® pellet hops (20 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 8.5% alpha acids)
0.75 oz (21 g) Amarillo® pellet hops (0 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or Safale US-05 yeast
4 oz. (113g) corn sugar (if priming)
STEP BY STEP
Mill the whole grains, then mix in the rice hulls. Heat 16.5 qts. (15.6 L) of water to 160 °F (71 °C) and mix in the grains. Target a mash temperature of 148–150 °F (64–66 °C) and hold for 60 minutes. Use direct heat or add boiling water to raise the temperature to 170 °F (77 °C) to mash out. Sparge with enough 170 °F (77 °C) water to collect about 6 gallons (23 L). Bring the wort to a boil and begin adding the hop additions at the times indicated in the ingredients list. Boil for 60 minutes.
When the boil is complete, chill the wort to 70 °F (21 °C), then transfer to the fermenter. You should have about 5 gallons (19 L) of wort; add additional water if needed to top up. Pitch the yeast and aerate the wort. Ferment for at least three weeks until final gravity is reached, ideally at 65–70 °F (18–21 °C). Bottle with priming sugar or keg (3 volumes CO2).
American Pale Wheat
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.049 FG = 1.011
IBU = 27 SRM = 4 ABV = 5.1%
INGREDIENTS
6.75 lbs. (3.1 kg) wheat liquid malt extract
5 AAU Centennial pellet hops (60 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 10% alpha acids)
4.3 AAU Amarillo® pellet hops (20 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 8.5% alpha acids)
0.75 oz (21 g) Amarillo® pellet hops (0 min.)
White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or Safale US-05 yeast
4 oz. (113g) corn sugar (if priming)
STEP BY STEP
Dissolve the liquid malt extract in 5.5 gallons (21 L) of hot water, and bring the wort to a boil and begin adding the hop additions at the times indicated in the ingredients list. Boil for 60 minutes. When the boil is complete, chill the wort to 70 °F (21 °C), then transfer to the fermenter.
You should have about 5 gallons (19 L) of wort; add additional water if needed to top up. Pitch the yeast and aerate the wort. Ferment for at least three weeks until final gravity is reached, ideally at 65–70 °F (18–21 °C). Bottle with priming sugar or keg (3 volumes CO2).
Tips for success
Homebrewing with wheat often makes for a sticky mash, even when mixed with a good amount of barley malts. Wheat does not contain a husk, which helps create space ordinarily in the mash. Rice hulls are one substitute typically available at homebrew stores that can aid in creating space in the mash bed. Be sure to add 1/2 to 1 pound (0.23 to 0.45 kg) of rice hulls to each 5-gallon (19-L) batch as recommended in the ingredients list of this recipe. Rice hulls don’t add any flavor or fermentable sugars, but they prevent the mash from compacting and make the mash much easier to sparge.
Belgian Witbier
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.050 FG = 1.011
IBU = 14 SRM = 4 ABV = 5.2%
Belgian witbiers are traditionally brewed with a large portion of unmalted wheat in the grist, which lends a silky mouthfeel and good head retention to the finished beer.
INGREDIENTS
5 lbs. (2.3 kg) Belgian Pilsner malt
5 lbs. (2.3 kg) torrified wheat
1 lb. (0.45 kg) rice hulls
8 oz. (227 g) flaked oats
4 AAU Hallertauer Hersbrucker pellet hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 4% alpha acids)
0.50 oz. (14 g) Hallertauer Hersbrucker pellet hops (0 min.) (4% alpha acids)
0.75 oz. (21 g) whole coriander seed, crushed (5 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) dried bitter orange peel (5 min.)
White Labs WLP400 (Belgian Wit Ale) or Wyeast 3944 (Belgian Witbier) yeast
4 oz (113g) corn sugar (if priming)
STEP BY STEP
Mill the whole grains, then mix in the rice hulls and flaked oats. Heat 17.25 qts. (16.3 L) of water to 160 °F (71 °C) and mix in the grains. Target a mash temperature of 148–150 °F (64–66 °C) and hold for 60 minutes. Use direct heat or add boiling water to raise the temperature to 170 °F (77 °C) to mash out. Sparge with enough 170 °F (77 °C) water to collect about 6.5 gallons (25 L).
Bring the wort to a boil and begin adding the hop and spice additions according to the ingredients list. Boil for 90 minutes. After the boil is complete, chill the wort to 70 °F (21 °C), then transfer to the fermenter. You should have about 5 gallons (19 L) of wort; add additional water if needed. Pitch the yeast and aerate the wort. Ferment for at least three weeks, ideally at 65–70 °F (18–21 °C). Bottle with priming sugar or keg (3 volumes CO2).
Belgian Witbier
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.050 FG = 1.011
IBU = 14 SRM = 4 ABV = 5.2%
INGREDIENTS
6 lbs. (2.7 kg) wheat liquid malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Belgian Pilsner malt
8 oz. (227 g) flaked oats
4 AAU Hallertauer Hersbrucker pellet hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 4% alpha acids)
0.50 oz. (14 g) Hallertauer Hersbrucker pellet hops (0 min.) (4% AA)
0.75 oz. (21 g) whole coriander seed, crushed (5 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) dried bitter orange peel (5 min.)
White Labs WLP400 (Belgian Wit Ale) or Wyeast 3944 (Belgian Witbier) yeast
4 oz (113g) corn sugar (if priming)
STEP BY STEP
Make a partial mash with the Pilsner malt and flaked oats and steep for 45 minutes at 150 °F (66 °C). Strain and combine with enough hot water to make 5.5 gallons (21 L). Dissolve the LME in the water off of heat and stir until the extract is fully dissolved. Bring the wort to a boil and begin adding the hop and spice additions according to the ingredients list. Boil for 90 minutes.
After the boil is complete, chill the wort to 70 °F (21 °C), then transfer to the fermenter. You should have about 5 gallons (19 L) of wort; add additional water if needed. Pitch the yeast and aerate the wort.
Ferment for at least three weeks, ideally at 65–70 °F (18–21 °C). Bottle with priming sugar or keg (3 volumes CO2).
Tips for success
It is best to use torrified wheat or flaked wheat instead of raw wheat berries when brewing a recipe calling for raw wheat. This is because both torrified and flaked wheat are pre-gelatinized, so you don’t have to perform an adjunct mash or a multi-step mash. Torrified wheat can be milled along with the rest of the grains, and flaked wheat can be added to the grains after they are milled.
German Hefeweizen
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.049 FG = 1.012
IBU = 11 SRM = 3.5 ABV = 5%
Hazy and aromatic with banana and clove thanks to their signature yeast, hefeweizens are made with at least 50% wheat malt in the grist, though you can use up to 70% if you feel confident about your mashing and lautering skills. Hefeweizens are best enjoyed fresh — bottle or keg directly after primary fermentation is complete.
INGREDIENTS
5 lbs. (2.3 kg) German Pilsner malt
5 lbs. (2.3 kg) German wheat malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) rice hulls
3 AAU Saaz pellet hops (60 min.)
(0.75 oz./21 g at 4% alpha acids)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Saaz pellet hops (0 min.)
White Labs WLP300 (Hefeweizen Ale) or Wyeast 3333
(German Wheat) yeast 4 oz. (113 g) corn sugar (if priming)
STEP BY STEP
Mill the whole grains, then mix in the rice hulls. Heat 16.5 qts. (15.6 L) of water to 160 °F (71 °C) and mix in the grains. Target a mash temperature of 148–150 °F (64–66 °C) and hold for 60 minutes. Use direct heat or add boiling water to raise the temperature to 170 °F (77 °C) to mash out. Sparge with enough 170 °F (77 °C) water to collect about 6.5 gallons (25 L).
Bring the wort to a boil and boil for 90 minutes, adding the first charge of hops with 60 minutes left in the boil. Add the second charge of hops at flameout. After the boil is complete, chill the wort to 70 °F (21 °C), then transfer to the fermenter. You should have about 5 gallons
(19 L) of wort; add additional water if needed to top up. Pitch the yeast and aerate the wort.
Ferment for at least three weeks, ideally at 65–70 °F (18–21 °C). Bottle with priming sugar or keg (3 volumes CO2).
German Hefeweizen
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.049 FG = 1.012
IBU = 11 SRM = 4 ABV = 5%
INGREDIENTS
6.75 lbs. (3.1 kg) wheat liquid malt extract
3 AAU Saaz pellet hops (60 min.)
(0.75 oz./21 g at 4% alpha acids)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Saaz pellet hops (0 min.)
White Labs WLP300 (Hefeweizen Ale) or Wyeast 3333 (German Wheat) yeast
4 oz. (113 g) corn sugar (if priming)
STEP BY STEP
Dissolve the liquid malt extract in 5.5 gallons (21 L) of hot water, and bring the wort to a boil.
Boil for 60 minutes, adding the first charge of hops with 60 minutes left in the boil. Add the second charge of hops at flameout.
After the boil is complete, chill the wort to 70 °F (21 °C), then transfer to the fermenter. You should have about 5 gallons (19 L) of wort; add additional water if needed to top up. Pitch the yeast and aerate the wort. Ferment for at least three weeks, ideally at 65–70 °F (18–21 °C). Bottle with priming sugar or keg (3 volumes CO2).
Tips for success:
The key to hefeweizen is in the fermenter — use a true Bavarian hefe strain and aim for a fermentation temperature between 65 and 70 °F (18 and 21 °C). You can even push it into the mid 70s (low 20s C) if you want to bump up the bubble-gum/banana characteristics. For all-grain brewers, if you’re really a fan of that spicy clove flavor, add a 10 to 15 minute rest at 110 °F (43 °C) before bringing the mash up to 150 °F (65 °C).
