Bittering Hops

[donburke]

I recently started all grain brewing BIAB and now I'm like a kid fat kid in a candy store ...

I've tried a few recipes from the DB and now want to experiment

My question is, does is matter what hop you use for 60 minute additions ? Obviously your AA % will be important in calculating your IBU but given they will be boiled for 60 minutes I presume they will lose their flavour and I will be tasting the 20 minute and later additions

does it matter if I use .. for example ... a few grams of galaxy as opposed to a truckload of saaz to achieve the same IBU ???

 

[manticle]

Some say yes, some say no.

Using higher aa bittering hops is reasonably common but some are better suited for the purpose than others. I find Northern brewer to be a clean, reasonably high aa bittering hop. Magnum is another some swear by.

 

[matho]

look at the description of the hops and put like with like
ie fruity with fruity and citrusy with citrusy

i bittered with galaxy once and used hallertau for the rest it was not right

my belief is some flavour does come thru from the bittering hop not much but some

 

[Bribie G]

Yes quite a bit of flavour can come through, otherwise a Coopers Sparkling would taste like a Corona - one of the most fragrant and tasty beers I have ever made was a Cerveza done on just 20g of Chinook for 90 mins, no further additions. Personally I think that this idea of hops at 60 or 90 minutes then additions at 20 mins then 10 mins then 5 mins then flameout is an artifact of modern American 'craft' brewing which is not echoed in many brewing traditions. For example in the UK there is a 90 minute addition then nothing till the last 10 minutes when they whack in the Goldings whatever, or hopback with the Styrians. Yet the UK beers have a wide difference in character that is not just down to the late hops.

 

[nickel]

:icon_chickcheers: Me personally I tend too use the higher AA hops for my bittering or balancing, For flavour I'm more a POME steered with the northdown hops with aroma I suppose a nobble hop of your choice. That's the beauty of our brewing world is your oyster.

 

[Nick JD]

There's more than one thing in hops that makes the bitterness. All hops have different ratios of these bitterness compounds, so even if we disregard any flavour remaining after 60 minutes, each hop variety will give a slightly different bitternessness (that's the technical term).

Since hops are sold by their weight not their strength, it's much cheaper to buy high AA%.

It's almost never worth it buying cheap hops as they have such a huge influence over the quality of your beer.

Make two SMaSH beers back to back, with only 60 minute additions - one with Galaxy, or Nelson or Amarillo, and the other with a noble hop to the same IBU. They'll taste very different and IMO the first one will taste much better.

That said, a while back I used up a whole bunch of cheap czech saaz by doing one massive 25 minute addition only (calculated to still give the correct IBU) and it came out okay if a little grassy. EDIT: IIRC the beer was also slightly green (colour!).

 

[benno1973]

2 things...

Firstly, quite a bit of flavour can come through from some strongly flavoured hops. As BribieG mentioned, Coopers sparkling is bittered with POR at 60 minutes, and this definitely comes through as a character in the final beer.

Secondly, different hops impart a different type of bitterness. I find Cascade to be a fairly rough bittering hop, while thers provide a sharp bitterness.

 

[Bribie G]

Marco Polo imparts a distinct bitterness h34r:

 

[glaab]

- one of the most fragrant and tasty beers I have ever made was a Cerveza done on just 20g of Chinook for 90 mins,

hey!, I thought whenever the yankee "C" hops got a mention you went on a killing spree???
pour out all that pomee swill and make youself a nice batch of APA!, you know you want to!

 

[donburke]

thank you for all your replies,

looks like i should start experimenting with a few different smash beers and see what impact different additons have

 

[hefevice]

In addition to the wise advice you have received so far, one of the reasons some hops are better than others for bittering is because the Cohumulone content as a percentage of all alpha acids (Humulone and Adhumulone) is relatively low. It is thought that the bitterness of Cohumulone is perceived as harsh compared to the other alpha acids.

So, aside from the possibility of flavour (as indicated by others, some varieties will still contribute flavour after 60-90 minutes of boiling) and mouthfeel effects (in particular resinous character) of the hops you are considering, it is worth trying to minimise the Cohumulone ratio.

Some examples of reasonably low Cohumulone bittering hops (from the specs on the Craftbrewer site):

Glacier AA 5%, Cohumulone 11-13%
Horizon AA 11-13%, Cohumulone 16-19%
Nelson Sauvin AA 12-13%, Cohumulone 24%
Magnum AA 12-14%, Cohumulone 24-28%

Some examples of relatively high Cohumulone:

Pride of Ringwood AA 7-10%, Cohumulone 33-39% (can be harsh if overused)
Chinook AA 12-14%, Cohumulone 29-34%
Green Bullet AA 11-14%, Cohumulone 41-43%.

 

[Nick JD]

Pride of Ringwood AA 7-10%, Cohumulone 33-39% (can be harsh if overused)
Chinook AA 12-14%, Cohumulone 29-34%
Green Bullet AA 11-14%, Cohumulone 41-43%.

After reading that I could almost guess that it's the Cohumulone that give me a hangover. All the commercial beers that use these hops are shockers for headaches!