hops

Jan 18, 2008 3 Replies

I'm looking at a recipe that calls for 2.0 oz of 4.4 Alpha Acid Hops. I don't have a clue what type of hops those are can anyone help?



Thanks, Shane


news.bresnan.net is of the opinion:

Take a look at

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-- there's several possibilities there. Best thing to do is go to your local home brew store and ask them -- they'll know what they've got in stock and what it's alpha acid content is. If you go in and say "I'd like some Fuggles please" (for instance) and they're out, then you're up the creek unless you've memorised some other likely candidates. There's also the issue of what you're actually going to be using the hops for, and your LHBS can help you select something appropriate on that basis, too.

- Matt

Several are in that range. Saaz, hallertauer, tettnanger, sterling, crystal, goldings, mt hood, willamette, fuggle, and probably others.

Shane, it is _EXTREMELY_ strange for a recipe to list the AA% of a hop but not specify the variety. During more than 10 years of brewing, I don't think I have _ever_ seen such a thing. It is very common for people to specify the variety without giving the AA%, because that will usually vary a bit anyway. As was already pointed out by Matt and 'abw', the problem is that there are a number of hops that will contain that percentage or something close to it, and using one instead of another can produce significant differences. Failing to name the variety of hops just had to be an oversight by the author ... unless he did the same for the other hop additions (generally you will have three hop additions: bittering, flavor, and aroma), in which case I wouldn't put much faith in the recipe. I'd say you have three options: try to contact the author for an answer, experiment and take your chances while realizing that it is very improbable that you will produce the same beer as the author, or just find another recipe.

Cheers.

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