Bitterness

[pith-head]

Hi, i hope this is not a stupid question but could i just ask what gives beer its bitterness? Is it just the hops? If it is could i ask which hop is the most bitter? Thanks for any replies.

 

[Smileyr8]

Hi, yes its the hops that give beer its bitterness and also other tastes, different hops impart different tastes, boiling times and different hopping methods and also play different roles.

Here is a list of hops towards the bottom is a grid showing alpha acid %, the higher the alpha acid % the more bitter.

I hope this helps.........

 

[Brew_Mike]

As smiley says its the alpha acids from the hops that contribute most bitterness, although straight alpha acids are not bitter, during teh boil they become isomerised and iso alpha acids are bitter.

The 'strongest' hop with the highest Alphas is probably currently apollo at 19.5% (and the base for my SMASH IAPA Moonraker beer)

Bitterness is beers is measured in international bittering units (IBU) which is calculated from a function of time (in the boil) and alpha content of the hops Glen Tinseth has a good page Here on how to calculate the bitterness in a beer. a 'bitter' beer generally has about 30-40IBU but as the gravity goes up so does the bitterness to balance it

 

[pith-head]

Thanks Smileyr8 and thanks Brew_Mike greatly appreciated, i will check those web sights out right now and add them to my book marks for future reference. Cheers guys.