Bittering Hops v. use any type?

[BADS197]

When going for the bitterness hops, does it matter what you use as long as you get within the range for a style?

Say I have Nugget Hops (which i do) at 13%AA and Cascade at 5.5%AA.

I want to add bittering hops so I can use the Nugget hops and therefore use less than if I used the Cascade hops?

Or is there a certain flavor leftover from Nugget hops that I would detect?


I've read the section of "joy of homebrewing" by charlie papazian, pertaining to hops but it doesnt go into it at all.


Also do a lot of beers use bittering hops but no flavor/aroma additions?

Still trying to figure out how hops figure into the flavoring and aroma between types and times.

thanks
jake

 

[Aubie Stout]

Several sources have told me that the "bittering" hop additions are effectively flavorless. Meaning, use any high alpha hop you want in the 60-40 min range to bitter the beer. I have found that not to be true necessarily. How is it that Magnum is a "clean" bittering hop? If you can't taste a 60 min addition, then how can it be clean?

I love bittering with Centennial in my pale ales because I feel it comes through in the finished taste. I like Chinook for my IPA's for the same reason.

 

[petep1980]

I've been told that SOME bittering hops can taste different, but for the most part they are tasteless. I have no problem going from one to the other to maintain a consistent IBU.

 

[Schnitzengiggle]

I beleive that some of the characteristics of the bittering hops have a flavor effect, otherwise everyone would use the super high AA% hops such as Columbus, Chinook, Magnum, Zeus, Tomohawk, Warrior, etc... for all recipes. Of course we don't see these hops listed in many recipes that aren't Pale Ales of some sort.

I'm certain they can be used for any recipe as a bittering addition, but the higher AA% makes these hops better candidates for those brews that need to have a high style IBU rating.

Could you use a much smaller amount in say a Stout, Dubbel, or Tripel that require the IBU's be kept lower? Once again, you can, but would you want to?

 

[BADS197]

Thanks

I wasn't sure what taste would be/if any from 60minute bittering hops.

 

[944play]

Might want to pay attention to cohumulone in your bittering charge.

From HBT's own Wiki:

Cohumulone

Traditionally, cohumulone (R=isobutyryl) has been considered to add a harsh, unpleasant bitterness to beer, and so low-cohumulone varieties were considered more desirable for brewing purposes; most noble hops have relatively low cohumulone. For this reason, cohumulone is often the only alpha acid identified specifically by hop producers. Cohumulone is indicated as a percentage (by weight) of the total alpha acid content of a hop.

However, recently the role of cohumulone has been called into question, as new high-alpha hop varieties that are also high in cohumulone have come onto the market which are considered to impart a good bitterness.

 

[cdburg]

Might want to pay attention to cohumulone in your bittering charge.

From HBT's own Wiki:

+1 Bittering with Chinook versus Magnum is totally different due to the different cohumulone levels in the two hops. I don't know if it's a "taste" per say, but they have very different bittering characteristics. In my IPAs, I like to layer the bittering hops to get a multi-dimensional bitterness. Magnum and then Chinook or Columbus is very nice.

Also, in my very light beers, with only one 60 minute bittering addition, I do think that I can taste the hop character very slightly. It's not strong, but I do think it's there.