Opposite Of Bitter
- Thread starter drag
- Start date
Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:
kevnlis
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 24/9/07
- Messages
- 612
- Reaction score
- 2
Anything that is acidic or sharp in flavour is bitter, this includes some salad greens, herbs, spices, fruits, vegetables etc.
There are styles of beer which call for little to no hop bittering and they can be fantastic drops when done right!
b_thomas
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 4/2/08
- Messages
- 202
- Reaction score
- 0
Except that sourness is also a result of acidity
Going by the location on the tongue I'd say Sweet was the opposite to Bitter, with Sour being complimentary to Sweet and Salt being complimentary to Bitter.
How good is sweet and sour pork, or a bag of smokey bacon crisps with a pint of bitter!
danbeer
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 11/7/03
- Messages
- 304
- Reaction score
- 9
Foods/drinks with significant amounts of caffeine tend to be bitter.
(Caffeine is used as a bitterness std in some taste testing)
The first things that spring to my mind when I think of "bitter" are: coffee, quinine (in soda water), really dark chocolate, and some nuts.
I don't think it really makes sense to think of the 4 major flavours as being opposites of one another. Flavours are grouped into those 4 areas because they stimulate quite different taste buds. Generally, if you mix flavours from different groups, you'll stimulate multiple groups of taste buds.
On a map, North and South can easily be seen as being opposite. North and south can cancel each other out - that doesn't really apply to tastes. Mixing sour foods with sweet foods might make them seem less sour, but so will mixing sour foods with salty or bitter foods.
Adamt's comment that the opposite of bitter is "not bitter" may seem like a joke, but it's right. In beer though, it makes sense to think of the opposite of bitter as being malty (mainly sweet, perhaps a little sour), because that's what's left when you make it "not bitter".
I don't think it really makes sense to think of the 4 major flavours as being opposites of one another. Flavours are grouped into those 4 areas because they stimulate quite different taste buds. Generally, if you mix flavours from different groups, you'll stimulate multiple groups of taste buds.
On a map, North and South can easily be seen as being opposite. North and south can cancel each other out - that doesn't really apply to tastes. Mixing sour foods with sweet foods might make them seem less sour, but so will mixing sour foods with salty or bitter foods.
Adamt's comment that the opposite of bitter is "not bitter" may seem like a joke, but it's right. In beer though, it makes sense to think of the opposite of bitter as being malty (mainly sweet, perhaps a little sour), because that's what's left when you make it "not bitter".
Thirsty Boy
ICB - tight shorts and poor attitude. **** yeah!
- Joined
- 21/5/06
- Messages
- 4,544
- Reaction score
- 106
perhaps... the opposite of bitter is actually sour.
Basic substances taste bitter and acidic substances taste sour... mix them together and you get neutral.
"
As for how it works with beer flavours, I don't think that things are that simple. For mine its not about being "opposite to" its about "Balancing with" and thats not about canceling out its about moderating the "punch" that a flavour carries without removing the actual presence or depth of the flavour.
Thus you can have a beer that is both very sweet and very bitter. Either without the other = overwhelming, but together there isn't any less bitterness or sweetness, nothing is canceled out, it's just that if they are balanced, then your palate can perceive both sets of flavours without getting crash tackled by one or the other.
Its two fat guys on either end of a seesaw, they balance with each other, but put em together and they don't add up to a skinny guy - so you better buy a few more sausages for the BBQ
Thirsty
Basic substances taste bitter and acidic substances taste sour... mix them together and you get neutral.
"
As for how it works with beer flavours, I don't think that things are that simple. For mine its not about being "opposite to" its about "Balancing with" and thats not about canceling out its about moderating the "punch" that a flavour carries without removing the actual presence or depth of the flavour.
Thus you can have a beer that is both very sweet and very bitter. Either without the other = overwhelming, but together there isn't any less bitterness or sweetness, nothing is canceled out, it's just that if they are balanced, then your palate can perceive both sets of flavours without getting crash tackled by one or the other.
Its two fat guys on either end of a seesaw, they balance with each other, but put em together and they don't add up to a skinny guy - so you better buy a few more sausages for the BBQ
Thirsty
wheat beers have very little in terms of bitterness, with very few hefeweizens going over 15ibu's.
ive done plenty of hopbursted apa/ipa's that have no "traditional" bitterness additions (ie, 60min) and they still come out plenty bitter enough with hop additions starting at 30min
i know thats not what you mean at all though.
Fatgodzilla
Beer Soaked Philosopher
- Joined
- 22/5/07
- Messages
- 4,459
- Reaction score
- 117
wheat beers have very little in terms of bitterness, with very few hefeweizens going over 15ibu's.
ive done plenty of hopbursted apa/ipa's that have no "traditional" bitterness additions (ie, 60min) and they still come out plenty bitter enough with hop additions starting at 30min
Hit the hammer on the head Adamt. You blokes raving on about sour, sweet,malty :icon_cheers: .. I thought benign might have got a jersey but no. Get a life. :icon_offtopic:
When used to describe hop bitterness, there is no opposite. The opposite of beer being bitter is beer not being bitter. Hops can't give you maltiness or sweetness. Its like sex appeal. Either you got it or you aint. :icon_cheers:
