Low Cohumulone

[Clarke]

How does Cohumulone differ from Alpha Acid?

I was on the hop union website looking for information about Cohumulone and they use the word Humulone and it seems to be near the same as Alpha Acid in reference.

What is the difference between Cohumulone and Humulone?

 

[Yooper]

Hops have a lot of different compounds in them that make them what they are. The alpha acids, like cohumulone and adhumulone and humulone, combine in different amounts to give different characteristics.

Cohumulone is thought to contribute to a "harsher" bitterness, although there are some high cohumulone hops that are smoother than others.

 

[Clarke]

Is there an internet resource where I can start to learn the components?

 

[TimBrewz]

Is there an internet resource where I can start to learn the components?

I have geeked out on hops at the Mad Fermentationist's site, here is one of his articles with links about the components of hops. http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2012/12/west-coast-ipa-recipe-hop-oil-analysis.html

Current convention regarding cohumulone is that lower levels will give a smoother bittering, especially when used as the bittering hop. But as you will find out, there is a LOT going on with different hop oils that contribute all sorts of flavors and aromas that may be perceived in many ways.

 

[Clarke]

thanks

 

[novahokie09]

There was a talk at NHC on the myth of cohumulone creating a harsh bitterness.

The argument was that cohumulone has the highest solubility with respect to low pH among other alpha acids. This is relevant because beer pH drops during fermentation from 5.2ish at boil to around 4.2ish after fermentation. Therefore, if you calculate 40 IBUS with a high and a low cohumulone %AA hop, the one having the higher cohumulone content will actually have a higher measured IBU count due to the increased solubility at lower pH. The take away being that it's not a harsher bitterness; it's just higher IBU than the lower cohumulone hop.

The speaker handed out two samples with identical measured IBUS at 33.7 of two hop varieties: 1) high cohumulone; and 2) low cohumulone. The audience opinion was split, but the lower cohumulone hop had higher perceived bitterness at equal measured IBU.

The speaker inferred that the lower cohumulone beer required more hops to achieve the same bitterness. More hops increase polyphenols, which increase perceived bitterness. I'm not sure I buy it, but it was an interesting talk. It would have been nice had he actually presented the solubility differences for the alpha acids as a function of pH.

 

[Clarke]

But as you will find out, there is a LOT going on with different hop oils that contribute all sorts of flavors and aromas that may be perceived in many ways.

You where right sir, there is a lot going on with hops, acids, oils, temp, timing etc....

I am about to officially geek out...