subject: How To Select The Variety Of Hops For Your Home Brewed Beer [print this page] Brewing your own beer at home can be an amazing experience. It offers you the opportunity to create a brew to your exacting tastes when Brewing your own beer at home. Brewing your own beer can also give you the opportunity of home brewing a beer you can't get very easily where you live. Making your own beer also gives you the freedom to play with the exact ingredients that will determine the final taste of your batch of beer. But sometimes choosing those exact ingredients can be a difficult process. For example, there are dozens of hops varieties that you can come across. The information that follows will discuss how to select the right hops for the particular beer you want to makeup at home.
There are actually so many different kinds of hops that it actually can be confusing at first. There are different varieties that are grown in North America, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and New Zealand that have different properties. And often these varieties of hops can be used in the brewing of one or more beers. For example, the hops variety known as Strisslespalt can be used for brewing Pilsner, a lager or a wheat beer, Santiam can be used in brewing a Lager, an American ale or a pilsner, First Gold (U.K.) can be used in brewing Ale or Extra Special Bitter while U.S. Northern Brewer is great for ESB (Extra Special Bitter), bitter, English pale ale, porter as well as California (steam) beer.
There are a number of things you need to look for when choosing your hops. You have to know the alpha acid "rating" for a particular hops you are considering. This rating let you know how much of the weight of the hop consists of alpha acids. Hops that have a higher alpha acid content will add more bitterness than a low alpha variety when using the same amount of the hop.
For example, Ultra has an Alpha Acid % of 2% to 4.1%, Centennial offers an Alpha Acid content ranging from8% to 11.5% while Admiral (U.K.) gives you an Alpha Acid content of13.5% to 16%. Ultra is only 2% to 4.1% while Satus goes from 12.5% to 14%. Each variety of hops contributes a bitterness that will balance the sweetness of the malt in your beer recipe so you need to choose wisely.
In addition, each hops variety will add a specific aroma or flavor to the beer you are brewing. For example, Fuggles is said to have a grassy and somewhat cheesy flavor to it, German Brewer's Gold it is said to have a black currant aroma that is described as fruity and spicy while Chinook is described as having a mild to a medium-heavy, spicy, piney, and grapefruity flavoring. As you can easily see, each of these hops has a particular characteristic to add to your beer.
While all this might seem to be confusing at first, the good thing is that you will find charts available that will describe the alpha acid rating as well as the aroma or flavor of each variety of hops. You can also find information that will describe exactly which hops are best for which variety of beers. You can visit your local home beer making store or you can look on the Internet for charts and information to help you pick a variety of hops for your next batch. Having this information available will also help you to select and even to experiment with a specific variety of hops that will lesson or add to the bitterness you prefer. Or you can experiment with the flavoring that you would like to add to your next beer.
There are some home beer brewing aficionados who prefer to try and grow their own hops rather than getting them from hop suppliers or your nearby home beer brewing hobby store. If you decide to try this yourself remember that it may take you two or three years to harvest the full crop. But this can definitely be another way of having full control over another ingredient in your home home made beer.
As you can see, hops are a major ingredient in beer and they provide much of the flavor and spice that defines many different categories of beer. Don't be afraid to experiment and to try a different variety of hops to add to the flavor of your home made beer. Take a new variety of hops for a spin and create a personalized beer that will take your friends (if not the world) by storm!
