Widmer Hefe hopping question

[Beerbelly]

My latest batch of Hefe is identical in all areas; flavor, mouthfeel, color and head retention. But mine is slightly more bitter, even though Brewtarget tells me it's less bitter than Widmer's 26 IBU.
Could you please have a look at my hopping schedule and let me know if there's something I could adjust? And yes, I'm aware of Widmer's "Alchemy" mix of hops, but it's a trade secret and adjusted yearly, so I'm looking for a workaround. Thanks!
(Mine is on the left):

 

[Brew Cat]

well of course your water will affect the bitterness but also make sure you are adjusting the alpha % of your bag of hops in the recipe
for instance I have a bag of Tetnanger at 6.8% alpha

 

[Beerbelly]

well of course your water will affect the bitterness but also make sure you are adjusting the alpha % of your bag of hops in the recipe
for instance I have a bag of Tetnanger at 6.8% alpha

Yes, we use the same soft water source as Widmer, and the alphas shown on my post are the exact percentages of the hops I used. I believe German Tettnanger and US Tettnang are two different animals, with the US version being higher alpha.

 

[Brew Cat]

did you first wort hop

 

[Minbari]

My latest batch of Hefe is identical in all areas; flavor, mouthfeel, color and head retention. But mine is slightly more bitter, even though Brewtarget tells me it's less bitter than Widmer's 26 IBU.
Could you please have a look at my hopping schedule and let me know if there's something I could adjust? And yes, I'm aware of Widmer's "Alchemy" mix of hops, but it's a trade secret and adjusted yearly, so I'm looking for a workaround. Thanks!
(Mine is on the left):

View attachment 34824View attachment 34825

My favorite American hefe. Moved away from Seattle area and can't get it here

Send me the recipe?

 

[Sunfire96]

1.5 oz for a 60 minute addition seems like a lot. Typically recipes have a higher AA hop at lower amounts for the bittering addition. I'm sure you're following a clone recipe, but that would be my guess for being more bitter than the IBUs suggest

 

[Beerbelly]

did you first wort hop

No, but that's a good suggestion.

 

[Beerbelly]

My favorite American hefe. Moved away from Seattle area and can't get it here

Send me the recipe?

 

[Beerbelly]

1.5 oz for a 60 minute addition seems like a lot. Typically recipes have a higher AA hop at lower amounts for the bittering addition. I'm sure you're following a clone recipe, but that would be my guess for being more bitter than the IBUs suggest

I think you might be right. I may try 1 oz. Tett or 1st wort next time.
I've read that Widmer's 'Alchemy' hops are some combination of Warrior & Millenium, so I might play around with that also.

 

[Brew Cat]

No, but that's a good suggestion.

Widmer does FWH from what I've read
Some say it smooths out the bitterness
I've been doing it on most German styles

 

[Sunfire96]

I think you might be right. I may try 1 oz. Tett or 1st wort next time.
I've read that Widmer's 'Alchemy' hops are some combination of Warrior & Millenium, so I might play around with that also.

Not sure about Millenium, but Warrior is a very high AA bittering hop. That might be your answer