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There is a huge variety of hops,
each with its own distinctive character, aroma and flavour. Using
combinations gives the home brewer a freedom to really let their
imagination go wild.
Hops
are usually infused into the brewing process in much the same way as
you would brew tea. They are usually added in 3 stages to the boiling
wort to inpair different qualities to the beer. First the boiling
(copper) hops - to give the bitterness, then hops for flavour and
finally aroma (usually in the last few minutes).
The
bittering strength of the hops is measured by the Alpha acid content,
represented in a percentage. The higher the percentage the stronger the
hops.
The
internationally recognised standard for measuring bitterness in beer is
the European Bittering Unit (EBU). Most beers fall between EBU 25 and
EBU 65
The following is a guide to typical EBU levels for the more popular beer styles.
- Mild, Brown Ale, Sweet Stout, Wheat Beer, British and Munich type Lagers -EBU 15-25
- Bitter, Pale Ale, Porter - EBU 30-50
- Irish Stout, Imperial Stout, Barley Wine - EBU 4O-75.
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