Beer Styles: Hops in your beer - part 7

Gemstones of the craft brewers world.  Hop
varieties and the use of whole or pelletized
hops play an immense rold in determining
beer character. 

Many beer enthusiasts are developing such an appreciation for hops that new styles have emerged based solely on intense hop characters.  Hop  varieties play huge and traditional role in recipe formulation. 

Hop variety and quality decisions, timing of their addition, amount used and combination of hop varieties create thousands of different nuances in beer character.  Interestingly, when identical hop varieties are grown in different areas of the world, the resulting hop is different in character from the originally grown hops.  Certain styles of beer derive their unique qualities from hop varieties grown in specific areas of the world.  Hop extract while contributing to the perception of bitterness contributes little to flavor and aroma characters which are so important in the profile of many historic beer styles.

Also see:

• Beer and hops - popular American dry hop varieties 
• Top ten hop varieties used by American craft brewers 
• Hops and nobility in your beer – What’s in a name?
• American brewers on the frontier of hopping beer  
• Having to taste beer and calling it work - assessing American hop character
• Homegrown hops are ripening on my vine. Harvest brews imminent.  
• Beer and hops - popular American dry hop varieties 

Next: Beer Styles: Yeast at work – part 8
 

Guide to entire 27-part Beer Style Series - table of contents