Bittering/Aroma hop ratio

[cc986]

Hello,
Is there such a thing as a ratio between bittering hops and aroma hops when designing a recipe? I understand that some styles will have more of one than the other, but generally speaking is there something to aim for?
For example, in the book 'Brew like a monk' it suggests aiming for 66% bittering hops for Belgian beers. Is there something similar for traditional British or German beers?
Thanks,
Chris

[MashBag]

Chris

That's a good thought, but it isn't something I have heard of.

Modern hop types & strengths vary so wildly, I think it would be of little help.

Just my tuppence

[cc986]

Chris

That's a good thought, but it isn't something I have heard of.

Modern hop types & strengths vary so wildly, I think it would be of little help.

Just my tuppence

Ok thanks Mashbag.

[bitter_dave]

I'm sure Graham Wheeler talked about the ratio of bittering to late hops is one of his books, although the amounts of late hops in his recipes would be considered modest by the standards of today (leaving aside ridiculous craft beers)

[MarkA]

I've only heard of bitterness ratio for balancing beers to style, but not for bitterness/aroma. There are so many variables, I wouldn't think it would be possible to pin it down to a figure.

[guypettigrew]

If the bittering:aroma hop ratio was only one value, you'd only get one type of beer. The only variations would be the malts used and the variety of hop used.

Vary it as much as you want, cc986. Brew beers to the taste and aroma you want.

Guy

[MashBag]

That's a good point.

[cc986]

Thanks very much for the replies everyone - some good points. I use the 66% (roughly) bitterness mentioned in the Brew Like a Monk book for Belgian beers and it does seem to work for that style which made me wonder about other styles. But as you have all mentioned, there are a lot of variables and probably not a good idea to pin it down to numbers.

[JonB]

Best advice I can give on this one is find a recipe for a commercial example that you like and go from there.

Assuming the recipe is legit*, a good starting point would be to keep the mass values of anything added at 20 minutes or less, and change for the hops of your choice. Then modify the bittering addition to preserve the overall IBU value.

Certain hops may need more or less mass per litre to provide the expected flavours contribution, but it's as good a starting point as you will get...

*this is a minefield in itself, and you need to critically evaluate the source. However any recipe from Greg Hugh's book "Home Brew Beer" or any of Graham Wheeler's books will fall into the "legit" category if this helps...

[cc986]

Best advice I can give on this one is find a recipe for a commercial example that you like and go from there.

Assuming the recipe is legit*, a good starting point would be to keep the mass values of anything added at 20 minutes or less, and change for the hops of your choice. Then modify the bittering addition to preserve the overall IBU value.

Certain hops may need more or less mass per litre to provide the expected flavours contribution, but it's as good a starting point as you will get...

*this is a minefield in itself, and you need to critically evaluate the source. However any recipe from Greg Hugh's book "Home Brew Beer" or any of Graham Wheeler's books will fall into the "legit" category if this helps...

Thanks JonB. I was actually trying to do that this week when trying to design a Pilsner Urquell clone using GW's recipe in Brew Classic European beers as the template. Hoping to brew it in the next week, so we'll see how it turns out in a month or two!