Beer Hops & Hop Varieties

Beer hops are the flower cones of the female hop plant. These perennial vine like plants can be grown wherever

there is 6- 8 hours of daily sun, water and good drainage.

There are over an hundred hop varieties in the world! Germany currently grows and harvests the most hops.

For many centuries, hops have been widely used as a bittering agent in beer. Hops helps to control the bitterness that will balance the sweetness of the malts. Hops also gives off an aroma which ranges from citrus to herbal.

Hops also supplies an antibiotic effect that prefers the natural action of brewers yeast over the less wanted microorganism. The bitterness in beer is generally measured on the International Bitterness Units scale.

Hops can significantly change the flavor and the aroma of your beer. AND help to preserve your beer.

Types Of Beer Hops

There are two main types of hops:

Bittering Hops
Aroma Hops

Bittering Hops are added to the beginning boil and contribute very little flavor or aroma. They are used to counteract the sweetness of the malt. These hops have high concentrations of alpha acids.
Examples of bittering hop varieties: Brewers Gold, Chinook, Magnum, & Millenium.

Aroma Hops have a high concentrations of oils and a low concentrations of alpha acids. These hops are added to the ending boil or after the boil and used to add aroma to your beer.
Examples of aroma hop varieties: Cascade, Crystal, Fuggle, Glacier, Golding, Hallertau & Willamette.

You can use a single variety of beer hops or 2 to 3 varieties to obtain different flavors and aromas. Some hop varieties have both bittering and aromatic qualities and can be used for both your bittering and aroma.

What Is Dry Hopping?

Hops are added to the beer after it is cooled to obtain a sweet beer with lots of aroma.

Availability

Most hop varieties are available in pellets, plugs, whole flower and extract form.

Pellets are highly processed hops compressed into pea sized tablets. Pellets are one of the most predictable forms.
Plugs are whole flowers that have been dried and compressed into a plug. They are generally used as aroma hops and for dry hopping.
Whole Flower Hops are the whole flower dried and uncompressed. These are also generally used for aroma and dry hopping.
Extracts are the liquid bittering essences of hops and used mainly for consistency and convenience.