Author: Marshall Schott



Named for the town in which it was originally cultivated, Tettnanger is one of the four German noble hop varieties along with Saaz, Hallertau, and Spalt. Sharing some of the earthy characteristics found in classic English varieties such as Fuggles, Tettnanger is also known to impart a subtle spiciness along with balanced floral and herbal notes that work beautifully in lager styles.

Alpha: 3 – 6%

Beta: 3 – 5.5%

Cohumulone: 24% of alpha acids

Total Oil: 0.4 – 1.1 mL/100g

Myrcene: 20 – 35%

Humulene: 20 – 30%

Caryophyllene: 6 – 11%

Farnesene: 16 – 30%

Linalool: 0.4 – 0.9%

ß-Pinene: 0.3 – 0.5%

Parentage: German landrace variety

My first few experiences brewing with Tettnanger hops were with more malt or yeast forward ales, styles that arguably hid her more delicate characteristics. It wasn’t until I made a clean Kölsch a few years back with Tettnanger being the sole hop that I realized my love of this noble variety and began featuring it in the majority of the lagers I brewed. Curious how blind tasters would describe a beer hopped with only Tettnanger, I was duly excited to put it through The Hop Chronicles!

| MAKING THE BEER |

Given the noble nature of Tettnanger and its common use in lager styles, I decided to adapt our standard THC recipe to better fit the hop.

Tettnanger Lager

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5.2 gal 60 min 31.5 IBUs 5.1 SRM 1.048 1.013 4.6 % Actuals 1.048 1.01 5.0 % Fermentables Name Amount % Lamonta American-style Pale Malt (Mecca Grade) 8.5 lbs 89.47 Vanora Vienna-style Malt (Mecca Grade) 1 lbs 10.53 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Tettnang (2017) 28 g 60 min First Wort Pellet 4.4 Tettnang (2017) 28 g 20 min Boil Pellet 4.4 Tettnang (2017) 28 g 5 min Boil Pellet 4.4 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature Harvest (L17) Imperial Yeast 72% 50°F - 60°F Notes Water Profile: Ca 92 | Mg 1 | Na 10 | SO4 153 | Cl 50 Download Download this recipe's BeerXML file

This was an exciting brew day, as it marked my first batch on the new electric system. I started by collecting the full volume of water and adjusting it to my desired profile.

While the water was slowly being filtered, I weighed out and milled the grains.

Once the appropriate volume of water was collected, I turned on the element to begin heating it up.

When strike temperature was reached, I dropped the grain filled fabric filter into the water and stirred to ensure no dough balls.

A temperature checked revealed the mash was right about where I wanted it to be.

After setting the controller to maintain the mash temperature, I proceeded to weigh out the kettle hop additions.

At the end of the 60 minute mash, the grain bag was removed and allowed to drip until the expected pre-boil volume was reached, after which the wort was brought to a vigorous boil.

The wort was boiled 60 minutes with hops added at the times stated in the recipe before being quickly chilled.

A refractometer reading showed the OG was right where it was expected to be.

I then racked the wort to a sanitized Brew Bucket.

Given my cool groundwater this time of year, I was able to chill the wort to 64°F/18°C and immediately pitched a pouch of Imperial Yeast L17 Harvest.

The cool winter months mean my garage maintains an ambient temperature range of 58°F/14°C to 65°F/18°C, ideal for when my fermentation chamber is full of xBmt beers.

I observed airlock activity 6 hours after pitching the yeast and fermentation chugged along uneventfully. With signs of activity absent a week post-pitch, I took an initial hydrometer measurement that matched a second measurement taken 5 days later, indicating FG had been reached.

The beer was racked to a sanitized and CO2 purged keg.

The filled keg was placed in my keezer and burst carbonated overnight before the gas was reduced to serving pressure. After 5 days of cold conditioning, the beer was carbonated and ready to serve.

| 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 15 people participated in the evaluation of this beer, all blind to the hop variety used. 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:

Aroma Flavor Apple/Pear Floral Tropical Fruit Apple/Pear + Melon (tie) Citrus Tropical Fruit + Stone Fruit + Citrus (tie)

The 3 characteristics endorsed as being least prominent by participants:

Aroma Flavor Onion/Garlic Onion/Garlic Dank/Catty Dank/Catty Resinous Berry

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: I went into this a huge fan of Tettnanger and felt completely validated by my personal experience with this single hop beer. To me, it had everything I expect from a beer moderately hopped with this variety, the most prominent characteristics being floral and herbal with a hint of noble spiciness in the background. This all worked in concert with the malt and yeast to produce a pleasantly well rounded beer. Yum, yum, yum!

| CONCLUSION |

As a classic hop that’s been around seemingly forever and lacks the fruity oomph of modern American varieties, it’s easy to see how brewers might overlook Tettnanger when crafting their recipes. But there’s a reason it has such a rich history in German brewing and is still around today– it’s simply fantastic! Combining floral and earthy characteristics with subtle fruity notes, Tettnanger works as well on its own in delicately flavored lagers as it does in conjunction with other varieties in more robust styles.

As is the case with many classic European hops, particularly when compared to modern aroma varieties, Tettnanger’s characteristics tend to be perceived as generally mild, something that can modulated by the grains it accompanies in a recipe. It’s been my experience that Tettnanger presents as slightly more pungent in paler styles like Kölsch and Pilsner, while its use in recipes with more characterful grain bills tends to impart a very “beery” flavor.

The aromas and flavors this variety contributes to beer tickle a sense of nostalgia in me, an admittedly subjective experience that reminds me why I started brewing in the first place. I truly believe Tettnanger is an ideal hop for fellow lovers of beer flavored beer and absolutely plan to keep ample supply on hand at all times for use in styles ranging from German lager to Irish Red Ale.

Tettnanger 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.

Support for The Hop Chronicles comes from Yakima Valley Hops who supply hops ranging from classics like Saaz and Cascade to unnamed experimental options fresh from the source. Offering great prices with reasonable shipping, consider Yakima Valley Hops for your next hop purchase.

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