Two questions RE ingredients (hops and malt)

[zippyslug31]

Guys and gals...
I've been reading a lot of faqs lately on ingredients and have a couple of questions on hops and malts.

Hops: Is the alpha acid level of a hop all that matters or do they have a specific/preferred "lot in life"? Hypothetically, lets say you had cascade hops from two different sources, both with different alpha levels... could one be used as a bittering hop and the other a flavor?
Just not clear if various hops have different tastes or is it just that certain species tend to be in a certain alpha level, thus making them more appropriate for a given role in your beer.

Malt: Why do some recipes have both LME and DME? Why not just stick with a single type of the appropriate amount? What does the combination of the two do versus simply having a single type?

Thanks.

 

[kryolla]

Some hops has dual purposes such as bittering and flavor aroma and some just for bittering or some for flavor aroma. There is more to Hops than just AA especially for bittering but I forgot the name that makes it a nice clean bittering hop or a harsh bittering hop.

For malt all LME or all DME is good, some extract you can only get in LME or DME. DME has a longer shelf life than LME. Some people just stick with DME for base and add specialty grains. It all depends

 

[McGarnigle]

Malt: it's usually a question of hitting the right amount. LME is typically sold in ~3 lb. cans and doesn't store well. If you want 5 lbs. you throw in two one pound bags of dry rather than 2/3rds of a can of liquid.

Hops: different species tend to lean toward different alpha acid levels. Two different levels of cascade probably don't taste appreciably different from each other. You could use them for both bittering and aroma, but you lose a lot of its taste if used for the former. Higher alpha acids give better bang for your bittering buck (not sure if that's your question).

 

[zippyslug31]

Hops: different species tend to lean toward different alpha acid levels. Two different levels of cascade probably don't taste appreciably different from each other. You could use them for both bittering and aroma, but you lose a lot of its taste if used for the former. Higher alpha acids give better bang for your bittering buck (not sure if that's your question).

Sorta..... perhaps my question isn't a real world scenario.
I was just imagining if a recipe called for a 5% AA hop and a 10% AA hop (to be used at various times in the hop schedule) am I free to simply replace the 5% hop with ANY hop at 5%?
-OR-
when they say 'cascade', you should stick with cascade to end up with the brew you are trying to make (and specifically CLONE).

It might be the case that I simply don't know enough about hops and that hops generally don't tend to cover the spectrum of a wide alpha acid percentage???

 

[zippyslug31]

...and, if I understand the malt posts above, it's simply a case of cost, quantity, and life span. Provided I keep the appropriate amounts (where DME is more 'potent' compared to LME) the two are completely interchangable.
Correct?

 

[McGarnigle]

Malts: From a recipe standpoint they are the same (except DME is more potent). Some prefer DME for taste, but that may just be a freshness issue. And different brands of the same thing (e.g., Munton's LME vs. Alexander's LME) are somewhat different.

Hops: You can substitute hop varieties of the same alpha acid, but they will taste quite different. Two Cascades, one 5% and one 5.5%, won't be much different. But 5% Cascade <> 5% Fuggles for taste.

 

[McGarnigle]

when they say 'cascade', you should stick with cascade to end up with the brew you are trying to make (and specifically CLONE).

Just noticed this. if you are trying to clone a certain beer, you really should stick with the same hop variety.

John Palmer gives a beginner's recipe where he just says to use 5 AA units of any aroma hop, or something like that. What hop variety you select will make a noitceable difference, but most any should be tasty. But fiddle with the amounts, and you're on your own.

 

[mkling]

Personally, for longer boils (more than 60 minutes, and especially those that go 90 minutes), I'll substitute hops pretty liberally with just trying to keep the IBUs the same. But I'd never do this for 30 minute or less additions where flavor & aroma matter. There I might substitute in family (like Willamette for Fuggles), but usually not across family.