difference in bittering hops?

[DaveyT]

Hello
I've got the impression from a couple of people recently that different strains of bittering hops make little difference to the final taste of the beer.
Specifically, I asked at my LHBS about Styrian Goldings and the chappy said I could use Fuggles without any real difference. He said I'll be boiling the flavour out of it and retaining the bitterness.
I've got some cracking Aurora and some OK-ish Fuggles. Would it be OK to bung the Fuggles in and save the Aurora for late hopping?
Thanks in advance.

DaveyT

[Scotty]

Yep, no problem. The only downside is that Fuggles have a low Alpha Acid % so you may need a lot of them to obtain the desired bitterness levels.

[chris_reboot]

or use something else entirely for bittering (like a higher AA% hop), and save the fuggles for aroma.

saying that, I've made an all-fuggles brew before and it was cracking.

[lancsSteve]

Hello
I've got the impression from a couple of people recently that different strains of bittering hops make little difference to the final taste of the beer.

I disagree - while you definitely lose the aroma after that long the flavour difference between different hops, even for 90 minute boils IS very much there for flavourful hops - but there are good 'generic' neutral bittering hops (such as Northern Brewer and Magnum - see thread at viewtopic.php?f=11&t=38659 ) that seem to work well as generic bittering hops. However some hops will leave a distinctive flavour after 90 minutes of boiling and different beers with different hops taste properly different. My experience is that subtle differences are erased are substitutions are very possible (so fuggle for styrian goldings isn't bad as SG's were bred from fuggles) but it's DEFINITELY NOT "any hop for bittering, you'll never know" and rather "the right style of hop - preferably the exact one".

Also high alpha acid hops are often harsher and arguably less useful in homebrewing as cost saving is minimal and a decent hop bed really helps your filtering. Buying hops form someone like malt miller is so cheap you can get 300g for price of 100g in most LHBS.

[mysterio]

I don't know, there are some very good high alpha hops out there. Magnum is very nice for bittering.

[lancsSteve]

I don't know, there are some very good high alpha hops out there. Magnum is very nice for bittering.

Totally agree - there are some very good high alpha ones and I think the old equation 'high alpha = harsh' is no longer valid with lots of new high alpha hops that are fantastic as copper hops or even late for their aroma and flavour (e.g. US 'c' hops) but it's not a bad rule-of-thumb, and like all one to break once you know the size of your thumb and how to measure with it.

I do prefer to brew with large amounts of noble hops - especially first-wort hopping, just prefer the boil, smooth flavour and filtering and see no reason to switch to a generic bittering hop when I'm usually after much more distinctive flavour at every stage of the brew instead of saving money or establishing a baseline - though I see the logic for both.

[DaveyT]

That's given me lots to think about; thanks a lot.
I'll give the original recipe a shot (Aurora bittering, Saaz aroma) then perhaps experiment later down the line. There's lots here to guide me and it's most appreciated.
Thanks again
DaveyT

[mysterio]

Aurora is a fantastic aroma hop, worth a try in any style of beer. Really good in a blond ale. Tropical fruit flavours and can be drunk young with no sharpness.

Compared to Saaz, which don't age particularly well as whole hops, and are very sour tasting as a late hop (although admittedly very nice once aged out).

[DaveyT]

The recipe is for a wheat beer from Hop Back. The head brewer (no less) passed it on. It's on a thread in the recipe section, or the extract section, I forget.
The Saaz goes in with a bit of coriander seed.
When you say Saaz don't age well, is that once they're opened, or will this need drinking quickly once it's matured?
In terms of waiting for the sourness to mature out, I usually leave beers to condition once bottled for about six weeks once bottled. Would that be about right? I'm not making much (12l) so I don't want to go crazy sampling it too soon.

[Rookie]

I prefer to use hops higher in AA to bitter, magnum is a good choice for ales and horizon goes good in lagers.