Is there a taste to bittering hops?

[Scooby_Brew]

For some reason I always thoght that there is no differance what kind of bittering hops you use, as long as there is the right amount of IBU's. Untill now, that is.

Recently I have brewed one of my "regular" beers, one that I've brewed many, many times, and this time I've run out of my usual bittering hops for it, so I've replaced them with the equal amount of IBU's from different hops. And guess what, I can taste the new bittering hops in it!

The beer was American Wheat, the old bittering hops - 0.75 oz. 8.5% AA Hallertau Northern Brewer. The new, "accidental" hops: 1.1oz 5.5% AA Cascade (I always shoot for about 6% AA total in this beer).
And yes, you can taste the Cascade hops in this beer as clear as day. I just thought I'll share it with you guys.

BTW, I do like my "new" beer

 

[BierMuncher]

You'll definitely detect distinct aromas from vastly different hops used for bittering.

American hops in particular are pretty resilient in aroma retention, even when used in a 75 minute boil for bittering.

 

[david_42]

Cascade isn't a bittering hop, so I'm not surprised. What makes a bittering hop is low oil levels and a neutral flavor. We're used to thinking of the super high AA% hops as bittering hops, but they are a relatively new thing.