Is alpha acid % relative to flavour/aroma?

[denimglen]

Kind of a newbie question but...

In general is alpha acid percentage relative to the amount of aroma and/or flavour the hops have?

Will a high alpha acid hop have a more intense or stronger aroma/flavour compared to a low alpha acid variety?

Also, if I'm using a recipe that calls for say goldings at 5%AA but the goldings I have contain 4%AA should I adjust the aroma and flavour additions or leave them the same?

Hope that makes sense.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

yup you want to hit you AA so just add more to hit what your recipe calls for.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter5-4.html

 

[denimglen]

Thanks, I know you'd want to up the weight to compensate to hit the target IBU but I was more wondering about the flavour/aroma VS AA.

 

[Orfy]

No, AA is not related to flavour or aroma.

The the majority of the bitterness will come from the first additions so you should up them to get the required IBU's if you don't mind the possible increase in flavour and aroma then I'd also adjust the other additions.
It's all a bit hit and miss anyway because different batches of hops will differ any way.
One years crop will differ from another years so to get exactly the same results you should change the recipe year on year. That's going to the Nth degree and not really needed.

 

[homebrewer_99]

...if I'm using a recipe that calls for say goldings at 5%AA but the goldings I have contain 4%AA should I adjust the aroma and flavour additions or leave them the same?...

What Orfy said...

For bitterenss: What you need to adjust is the AA%. It's pretty simple math actually:

If a recipe calls for 5% but only have 4% then you already know you're going to need MORE than 1 oz so divide smaller into the larger:
5 / 4 = 1.25 oz. (of the 4%)

If the recipe calls for 4% but you only have 5.3% then you already know you're going to need LESS than 1 oz so divide the larger into the smaller: 4 / 5.3 = .75 oz. (of the 5.3)


I recommend you write the above down on a post it and put it inside one (or all) of your book covers for safe keeping so you don't forget it. It's a good memory jogger.

 

[denimglen]

...I recommend you write the above down on a post it and put it inside one (or all) of your book covers for safe keeping so you don't forget it. It's a good memory jogger.

Thanks, I know how the AA% to IBU works, I was just wondering if the AA was related to the amount of flavour/aroma compounds in the hops, ie like more AA means more flavour/aroma.

Cheers Orfy, thanks for clearing things up.

 

[homebrewer_99]

No problem...just trying to help a brother out... Maybe someone else can use the info.

 

[david_42]

There are bittering hops that have almost no flavor/aroma (Brewer's Gold & Magnum) and some that can be used in any stage of the process (Nuggett, Columbus). Genetically, there is no link between the two aspects. The bulk of hop breeding is aimed towards high AA%, because that's where the money is.

Named Hops shows the breeding of many hops. Great aroma hops are frequently open pollinated, meaning the father came from a good neighborhood.