BeerBorg

http://brulosophy.com/2016/07/18/bitter ... t-results/

This is an interesting experiment, basically comparing a smaller amount of high AA% hops against a larger amount of low AA% hops to achieve bittering.

What interests me more, though, are the comments at the bottom of the article. A couple of people mention they used Magnum exclusively for bittering, and have for years. I guess if they're happy with the results, that's good. But it just seems strange to me that people would purposely limit themselves and their beer this way when there are so many options out there. To me, the options are what makes homebrewing the fun, challenging hobby it is.

Some of my recipes I FWH. Some I use only a bittering addition. I've got one recipe where I add hops every five minutes for the first 30 minutes of the boil. It's labor-intensive, yes, but it produces the result I'm aiming for; a strong bitterness and higher IBU without being intrusive or unpleasant.

To me, this experiment does show how a higher AA% hops, in lower quantity, can supplant a lower AA% hops used in higher quantity, and produce a beer with the desired IBU and perceived bitterness for lower cost. And that's good to know, especially if your LHBS has run out of your first-choice hops and you need a substitute.

But I'm struck by the limits we sometimes impose on ourselves.

I think the style of beer you're brewing has a lot to do with the approach taken for bittering, at least that's true for me. If my goal is just to bitter a beer then FWH with a high AA% hop works perfectly, knowing that low AA% hops will require more than higher AA% hops.

On the other hand trying to cram as much hop flavor and aroma as possible into an IPA style eliminates FWH completely while increasing the beer's IBU just as much. In short I guess logically there's nothing new in that article that we already weren't aware of.

It's only one test, there are those who contend that bittering hops differ. Brulosopher has another experiment in which he tests two high AA hops with different cohumulene levels, resulting in a perceptible difference. I generally use only hops appropriate to the style, so this article is useful for me.

In my limited hands-on experience, I've also found the results there to hold up. I target IBUs/AAUs and adjust my quantity of hops accordingly. This has also resulted in adjusting the type of hops used on occasion. I can rarely, if ever, tell the difference.

There are a few beers where I *think* the type of bittering hop made a difference but I can't be sure it wasn't my own bias coming through.

I am one of those brewers that uses Magnum a lot because of the high AA% and ability to use it in many styles, inexpensively.

Lower cost is not the only reason they do this. If you use a low AA hop in large quantity to achieve the same bitterness a high AA hop can do in lower quantity, you run the risk of the beer tasting "grassy".

Gymrat wrote:Lower cost is not the only reason they do this. If you use a low AA hop in large quantity to achieve the same bitterness a high AA hop can do in lower quantity, you run the risk of the beer tasting "grassy".

That was my understanding as well. I think they mentioned that they expected that but didn't get it, but I've tasted that grass flavor come through in large other additions.

Kealia wrote:

Gymrat wrote:Lower cost is not the only reason they do this. If you use a low AA hop in large quantity to achieve the same bitterness a high AA hop can do in lower quantity, you run the risk of the beer tasting "grassy".

That was my understanding as well. I think they mentioned that they expected that but didn't get it, but I've tasted that grass flavor come through in large other additions.

To be devils advocate here, grassy is not the only flavor that you can get from this. And sometimes the flavor you can get from it is actually desirable to the style.

In that experiment his "large" amount of hops was ~2oz. That is not a large amount of hops, and I'm not surprised that it made very little difference in flavor.

But for example, if I made my Burton style ales / IPAs with a high AA hop for bittering instead of what amounts to 6-8oz of EKG at 5 gallons as bittering additions (T60 to T40), they would not taste the way they are supposed to taste. That much EKG gives you a slight but still quite noticeable vegetal tannin flavor that is better described as "tea like" and "dry lime" and "pithy marmalade" then grassy as as part of the profile, and if you are doing the Burton style ales correctly that flavor actually belongs. It is not supposed to be "clean bittering". It is not 'Merican beer for 'Mericans.

More EKG added later adds some sweet and floral and delicate citrus and spice which are all nice - but not those other flavors. So you can't do it right by adding them all at the end.

Many of the old British beer recipes you can find on Barclay Perkins are also like this... some of them might seem to use ridiculously large bittering additions of lower AA hops. But I guarantee they won't taste right side by side if you try to change them up with a small amount of a high AA hop.

The Brits saved money in these kinds of beers by using lots of sugar, corn/adjunct grains, cheap American 6-row, etc... - but not necessarily by subbing for high AA hops. Because the hop load was too intrinsic to the taste profile desired in many cases.