Choice of hops for bittering?

Just curious how much difference it makes what you put in @60, as long as you get the target IBUs you're aiming for...

It does make some difference, but pretty subtle. What variety you choose for bittering is nowhere near as important as for flavor/aroma additions.

I don't worry about it too much, as the previous poster has indicated. I've made a number of bittering substitutions in the same recipe and, as long as the IBUs are coming out the same, there's little difference that I can detect. Keep in mind this is for heavy and rich beers that have both flavor and aroma additions; it might make more of a difference in a beer without the later hop additions.

From my limited understanding the only difference will really be the AA%. Higher the percent the more IBU's will be produce. Like Shawn said, you'll see more of a difference when it comes to flavoring and aromas later on in the boil.

Teacher said:

I don't worry about it too much, as the previous poster has indicated. I've made a number of bittering substitutions in the same recipe and, as long as the IBUs are coming out the same, there's little difference that I can detect. Keep in mind this is for heavy and rich beers that have both flavor and aroma additions; it might make more of a difference in a beer without the later hop additions.

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Hmm... I'm using Super Styrians in a Dubbel that wasn't going to have any later hop additions. Hopefully the flavors produced by the yeast and the malts will hide any off-flavors.

Thanks for the input.

Shawn Hargreaves said:

It does make some difference, but pretty subtle. What variety you choose for bittering is nowhere near as important as for flavor/aroma additions.

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not true. try using sorachi ace or something that is very flavorful for only your 60 minute addition. it will affect the beer.

60 minute additions do not add only bitterness, they add flavor as well.

if you use two different hops, you will get two different flavors. for instance, very soft hops like saaz will not even create as much bitterness as a high-alpha american variety. you actually would have to add more to get the same percieved bitterness, even though the IBUs are the same. and then it would still have a different flavor.

EDIT: super styrian will be great for bittering a belgian. it's rather smooth for a high-alpha hop.

There are two primary bittering alphas: humulome and cohumulome. The ratio varies from hop to hop and from years to year. Redvine and Chinook have high cohumulome and are somewhat harsher than low cohumulome hops. But, with a few exceptions, it doesn't matter all that much. Widmer blends their bittering hops and call the mix Alchemy. The blend varies year-to-year, but the humulome/cohumulome ratio stays the same.