If an APA or IPA claims to be a "single hop" beer using, let's say Citra hops, does this mean it's automatically understood the bittering hops used to make this beer can be other than Citra? Is there a bittering hop version of Citra? Are bittering hops not used in a single hop beer? Please excuse my naivete and thanks for any enlightenment given.
Usually a single hop beer is showcasing one hop varietal and that particular hop may not have a high alpha acid bitterness so the beer may not come off as bitter. Depends on the grain bill of the beer though whether it is heavily a bitter tasting beer or more balanced.
There are plenty of alpha acids in citra and many other new age hops to provide substantial bitterness. The downside for Citra, at least, is that many palates perceive cat piss
If I purchased a beer advertised as being single (solely) hopped my expectations would be that only that hop variety was used in brewing that beer. I homebrewed an all Citra hopped IPA and yes I did use Citra hops for the bittering addition. Citra hops are high alpha acid hops (e.g., 11-13% AA) and therefore are well suited for bittering. Cheers!
Citra hops are dual purpose; meaning they have been deemed worthy of using anywhere, and rightfully so cos they are one of the autotune hops. I really pay no mind to if the hops are bittering, aroma or whatever because you can use whatever whenever, but that onus is on the brewer to make them work well and make sense when and where they are added. For dramatic purposes, we'll just do a single hop addition in a 5 gallon batch of a single malt single hop pale ale using esb malt and 2 ounces of citra. on First Wort, which is throwing the hops into the boil kettle while transferring the mash over to the boil kettle, the hops will be steeped as well as boiled, and it will be 80 ibus, which might and probably would not be as bitter as the 60 minute boil addition. On boil at 60 minutes it would be about 73 ibus, and you'd get ample bitterness. On boil at 30 minutes it would be about 56 ibu's, and have adequate bittering and some aromatics and flavor coming through. On post boil / whirlpool and for 60 minutes. You are steeping them at near boiling temps, and that drops the ibu's back to 36.5 ibus, and you are getting flavor and aromatics, but as the ibu's attest, the bitterness is going to be very mellow. A hop like Citra is a fantastic late addition hop cos you get all of its properties shining through, so you double the amount. Think tea when you think of hops. Tea is very different if it gets steeped for longer than recommended, and its very different indeed if it gets boiled. Hops are the same way. You're just making delicate compounds do different things to respond in an environment or range of environments to achieve a result, or a synergy.
You can provide the bittering charge with any hop. Some hops are just better suited for different contributions, flavor, armoma, bittering, etc. So yes, single hopped beers are most likely bittered with the same hopped used for flavor and aroma.
I agree with everyone else. If it is advertised as single hop, it most definitely should be just that. A single hop. Like stated, it all depends on when the hop is added to the boil if its going to be considered a bittering hop, or an aroma/finishing hop.
A local brewer is currently pouring draft "fresh hop" IPAs but is using a very bitter bittering hop to the point of an unpleasant, industrial menthol burn which in my opinion is throwing the beer completely out of balance. In fact I can't understand anyone liking a harsh, sharp, menthol burn to any degree in any beer. It seems this brewer uses this very hot, bitter hop in a lot of their offerings including the year round ones. Thanks for the replies.
Do you mind sending the brewery and beer name privately? Curious if I have it on my spreadsheet. The simplified version is that the hop cones contain alpha acids which produce bitterness in boiling water (isomerization) and oils containing compounds responsible for the other flavors. The flavor compounds are volatile and subject to "boiling off" when exposed to boiling and near-boiling temperatures. Some hop varieties have relatively high alpha acid levels, some have high oil content, some have both. Some are average or below average in both measurements but have other desirable traits to stay commercially viable.
As a beer geek I love that this is the "simplified version". To put it more simply though, single hopped beers only have one hop. Period. How much and when it's added to the process is entirely at the descretion of the brewer. As long as they use only that one hop during the process. Otherwise it's not a true single hopped beer.
It sounds to me like the brewer chose a hop variety that has bittering qualities only (no real flavor or aroma contributions), but did not add enough malt to try to balance the bitterness. Maybe you're drinking cold hop tea.
Both the beers this brewer released use fresh Citra and Simcoe, not exactly varieties in the "bittering only" camp. One of them uses dried hops for bittering while the other is 100% fresh hops. With only this report to go on, I suspect too long in the boil or some other technique applied is what's causing the sharp burn flavor.
There are other components to bitterness outside just hops. Proper water profile can have a positive or negative effect on the perceived bitterness. The wrong water profile can make hop bitterness really harsh and also add a mineral or soapy flavor. Based on your comments the brewery is adding too much early hop additions and has a water profile that sucks for IPAs. I wouldn't blame the hops but the brewery. Hope they brew good stouts
