![]() |
Triticum IPA from HaDubim: "Not a wheat beer; an IPA brewed with wheat malt." |
The latest IPA from the HaDubim brewer-brothers, Rotem and Dagan Bar Ilan, is called Triticum IPA. I looked it up in my old high school Latin-English dictionary and (re)learned that triticum means wheat. So this is a Wheat IPA, also known as a White IPA. The style guide book says it should be a hybrid of an IPA and a Belgian Witbier.
Rotem explained that the tastes we get from a wheat beer (German-style or Belgian-style) come mostly from the wheat beer yeast, and Triticum is not made with wheat beer yeast. "This is not a wheat beer," he emphasizes. "It's an IPA that's brewed with wheat malt (40%) along with the usual barley malt. This mix gives Triticum a lighter body and a slightly different style of malt sweetness. The hop flavors come from Magnum, Chinook and Citra hops."
Triticum is brewed at the BeerBazaar Brewery in Kiryat Gat. ABV is 7%.
![]() |
Beer from golden fields of triticum aestivum. |
Recipe details aside, Triticum pours out a very clear golden-orange color with a long lasting foamy head (one of the results of using wheat malt). You get hop aromas of grapefruit, pine and spice. The taste is very bitter, but still with flavors of grapefruit, spice and some bread coming through.
Bitterness can be black like kola nuts, or sharp like horseradish. But this bitterness is bright and herbal, and does not dominate the true flavors. It continues through the long and dry finish.
If you're looking for the wheat in Triticum, you might have a hard time. If you're searching for a strong IPA that delivers on hoppy bitterness and flavor, you'll find it here.