Tettnang hops are a useful starting point when you want herbal and spicy hop character. The important recipe decisions are the actual lot's alpha-acid percentage, the amount used and the stage at which you add it. A variety name alone cannot specify all three.
Tettnang at a glance
Hopsteiner's Tettnanger sheet describes a German landrace variety with herbal and spicy character, including pepper and black-tea notes. It lists a typical alpha-acid range of 2.5–5.5% and total oil of 0.4–0.9 ml per 100 g. Those are supplier reference ranges, not measurements of the bag in your hand. See the Tettnanger technical sheet.
| On your hop label | Why record it? |
|---|---|
| Variety and origin | Keep the ingredient identity clear when comparing batches. |
| Lot and crop year | Make it possible to repeat or investigate the addition. |
| Alpha acids | Use the measured lot value in a bittering calculation. |
| Product form | Keep whole hops, pellets and concentrated products separate in the recipe record. |
Adjust a bittering addition with a worked example
Suppose your recipe calls for 30 g of a 4% alpha-acid hop. Your replacement lot is labelled 5%. If the addition time and other utilisation assumptions stay the same, an alpha-acid mass adjustment is 30 × 4 ÷ 5 = 24 g. The original and adjusted additions each contain 1.2 g of alpha acids before brewing losses.
This is an illustrative calculation, not a tested recipe. Use the hop substitution calculator to check your own values. Changing hop form, timing or process can require a fuller bitterness model.
Quick challenge: what if the new lot is only 3%?
30 × 4 ÷ 3 = 40 g. A lower alpha-acid percentage requires more hop mass under the same assumptions. Equal alpha-acid mass does not establish equal aroma.
Choose a substitute for the job it must do
Hopsteiner lists several potential brewhouse alternatives, including Spalter, Saazer and Hersbrucker Spät. Treat that list as a shortlist for comparison. For a bittering addition, first check the calculation. For an aroma addition, compare the supplier descriptions and make a deliberate choice about which character you want to preserve.
A useful recipe note says “replace this late addition to explore a similar herbal direction,” rather than declaring the two hops identical. Keep the rest of the recipe steady so the comparison has a clear question.
Your next learning move
Make two copies of a recipe in the Beer Lab. In the first, change the alpha-acid value and leave the weight unchanged. In the second, adjust the weight using the calculation above. Compare the predictions and write down which assumptions you held constant. This is a planning exercise; a calculator cannot report how an unbrewed batch tastes.