Post Page
Last week we had a virtual BJCP beer tasting workshop, a continuation of our in-person workshops, led by Jeff Whelpley and me. Over twenty folks participated and we tasted Burnt City Brewing’s The Dankening (NEIPA) and Around the Bend’s Villainous (American IPA). Both breweries are a part of the District Brew Yards.
Before getting into the tasting portion of the workshop, to help us understand some of the significant differences between IPAs and NEIPAs, I spent a few minutes going over some basics of hop science. Here are my notes:
Notes for BJCP NEIPA and IPA Tasting Workshop
Intro to Hop Science as it Relates to IPAs and NEIPAs
Resources
John Paul Maye, Ph.D., researcher, technical director at Hopsteiner
Stan Heironymous, journalist and author
Last week we had a virtual BJCP beer tasting workshop, a continuation of our in-person workshops, led by Jeff Whelpley and me. Over twenty folks participated and we tasted Burnt City Brewing’s The Dankening (NEIPA) and Around the Bend’s Villainous (American IPA). Both breweries are a part of the District Brew Yards.
Before getting into the tasting portion of the workshop, to help us understand some of the significant differences between IPAs and NEIPAs, I spent a few minutes going over some basics of hop science. Here are my notes:
Notes for BJCP NEIPA and IPA Tasting Workshop
Intro to Hop Science as it Relates to IPAs and NEIPAs
Resources
John Paul Maye, Ph.D., researcher, technical director at Hopsteiner
Stan Heironymous, journalist and author
- Hops contribute:
- Alpha acids
- Essential oils
- When alpha acids are isomerized, they provide the traditional bitterness to beers
- Isomerization is a chemical reaction where one molecule is transformed into another by rearranging its atoms
- When it undergoes isomerization, the alpha acid humulone is converted into iso-humulone, the compound that gives the bracing bitterness we associate with American IPAs
- Heat is the catalyst for this reaction – we boil the alpha acids from hops and they become iso-alpha acids
- No boil hops in NEIPAs, no isomerization, no iso-humulone or iso-alpha acids = reduced bitterness
- Oils – focus on three kinds
- Hydrocarbons – specifically myrcene – highly volatile, not very soluble, only perceived when added late in the boil or in dry hopping; myrcene is the most prominent oil in most hop varieties – 50% in Cascase and Simcoe for example
- Oxygenated Hydrocarbons – more soluble than myrcene and aromatic, includes the compounds geraniol, linolool and citronellol and hundreds more
- Thiols (sulfur compounds) – very small part of the hops oils but we have a very low perception threshold for them, so thiols can have a significant impact on aroma; thiol compounds have linked to aromas like passion fruit, tropical fruit and sauvignon blanc grapes – typical NEIPA aromas
- American IPAs
- Rely on isomerized alpha acids, specifically iso-humulone, for bitterness
- Rely on essential oils (hydrocarbons and oxygenated hydrocarbons), from dry hopping for aromas
- The chemistry associated with these beers seems to be well-researched and established
- NEIPA
- Hop chemistry in NEIPAs is less well understood and our understanding is evolving
- Bitterness does not come as much from iso-humulone or isomerized alpha acids because of the emphasis on late hop additions
- Bitterness comes more from alpha acids and humulone, not iso-alpha acids or iso-humolone
- Analysis shows a much higher presence of alpha acids and humulone in NEIPAs than in IPAs, but lower levels of iso-alpha acids and iso-humulone, which makes sense because of the lack of boil hops
- Humulone does provide bitterness but at a lower level, about 60% of the intensity compared to iso-humulone; the bitterness also has a different character, sometimes described as softer
- Biotransformation
- NEIPAs rely on dry hopping during active fermentation, unlike IPAs where dry hopping is traditionally done post-fermentation
- Biotransformation refers to essential oils, specifically oxygenated hydrocarbons like geraniol, linolool and citronellol, being transformed by the yeast and fermentation
- During biotransformation, yeast metabolize the oxygenated oils into compounds that are floral and fruity – what we describe as juicy
- Hops and Haze
- NEIPA haze does not come from yeast, but rather from protein; many NEIPA grain bills have up to 50% high protein grist, such as oats or wheat
- Some hop compounds, such as alpha acids, myrcene, and beta acids, are kept in solution by protein haze
- The haze acts as a carrier, solubilizing the hop compounds, protecting them
- Haze is not stable and when turbidity lessens and the beer clarifies, the hop compounds in solution dissipate
- Synergy and Masking
- Combining hops and hopping processes are complex in part because of the concepts of synergy and masking
- Synergy = two or more compounds interact to create a sensory perception that is different from either independently
- Masking = a compound suppresses our ability to perceive another compound