Hop Flavor Choices

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I want to brew an American Amber Ale for my next batch. Based on the information here and at hop union, I had originally picked UK Challenger for bittering flavoring and late addition. The choice was based on UK Challenger being one of the few hops that claims strong hop flavor. Then I picked Liberty for dry hopping due to its less aggressive aroma profile. After researching the UK Challenger/Liberty pairing it became pretty clear to me they aren't in style. The BJCP for the style says, "Moderate to high hop flavor from American hop varieties". The problem I am running into as a new brewer is a dearth of information on specifically hop flavor.

Sure I can do whatever I want, but for these first 10 or 20 batches that I make, my goals are to make a solid personal process, do things on purpose, make beer that I and others want to drink, get some experiential knowledge and have fun.

Where is there information on specifically hop flavor profile? Or perhaps people consider hop aroma and hop flavor the same thing? Is it more about when the hops are added i.e. flavoring additions at 30, 20, 15, 10 to get hop flavors and then use the aroma profiles to translate to flavors? But then what does floral taste like? To me floral is a smell not a taste.

By the way, I chose to play it safe and went with Centennial for bittering and flavor with Chinook for dry hopping.

 

[ncbrewer]

Here are some websites that might help:

http://www.freshops.com/hops/usda-named-hop-variety-descriptions

http://brew365.com/hop_substitution_chart.php

http://hopunion.com/aroma-wheel/

http://beersmith.com/hop-list/?utm_...tm_content=[BSHB] Preserving and Storing Hops

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Here are some websites that might help:

http://www.freshops.com/hops/usda-named-hop-variety-descriptions

http://brew365.com/hop_substitution_chart.php

http://hopunion.com/aroma-wheel/

http://beersmith.com/hop-list/?utm_...tm_content=[BSHB] Preserving and Storing Hops

Thanks for the links ncbrewer. I hadn't seen the fresh hops website before and it looks like an outstanding resource. I also think the hop union aroma wheel is pretty fun and a great way to organize hops by profile.

I think that based on this information that flavor is not something that most brewers are interested in. Of the 168 hop varieties on the fresh hops page there are only 3 references to flavor or taste (not also associated with aroma) and one of the three is negative. Either that or in describing hops, flavor and aroma are synonymous. Maybe I'm over thinking this, but if recipes are calling for flavor hop additions, shouldn't brewers be talking about hop flavor?

 

[k-moe]

Complex flavors (beyond salty, bitter, sweet, sour, and umami) are all developed via aroma. Your nose "tastes" much more than your tongue does.