Hello old fren. It’s been a while. You’re looking well. Me, oh nothing really, just smacking a bunch of Raw Beers. On the cards this week was a Raw Oatcream, focused on a new hop variety from the legends at @freestylehops, called Manilita.
The characterisation of this hop is Gummy Candy, Red Grapefruit and Red Berries, with an alpha acid concentration of 8.9% and a total oil composition of 1.9mL/100g. And this of course, got me thinking about total oils.
While the oil component of hops accounts for only about 4% of the total weight, it has all the flavour molecules we crave. And within those oils, the big four; myrcene, humulene, caryophyllene and farnesene account for 70-90% of the entire shindig. Each varietal has a unique array of each oil, as well as a differing total concentration. Hops with less total oils are, in general, attributed more herbal/floral characteristics, while hops with more total oils are, also in general, attributed more fruity/tropical flavours. But the exact composition as well as total oil must be considered when using hops in particular ways. Massive total oil is great but if myrcene is super high expect that onion/garlic thing. Or if total oils are low you might need more on the hot side to get the flavour you want, and then alpha acid concentration needs to be considered.
Take Wai-iti, for example, one of my favourite hops. With only moderate total oils of 1.6mL/100g it’s pretty mid. But with low alphas of around 3%, you can overload the hot side and get a mountain of melon, with very little bitterness.
Manilita with a moderate alpha of 8.9% and total oils of 1.9mL/100g places it as a solid dual purpose hop. We smacked it in a DDH and that red grapefruit and gummy candy thing is absolutely spot on.
Want to try it first? You gotta come to our Mixed and Matched beer dinner. We can talk about humulene.
The characterisation of this hop is Gummy Candy, Red Grapefruit and Red Berries, with an alpha acid concentration of 8.9% and a total oil composition of 1.9mL/100g. And this of course, got me thinking about total oils.
While the oil component of hops accounts for only about 4% of the total weight, it has all the flavour molecules we crave. And within those oils, the big four; myrcene, humulene, caryophyllene and farnesene account for 70-90% of the entire shindig. Each varietal has a unique array of each oil, as well as a differing total concentration. Hops with less total oils are, in general, attributed more herbal/floral characteristics, while hops with more total oils are, also in general, attributed more fruity/tropical flavours. But the exact composition as well as total oil must be considered when using hops in particular ways. Massive total oil is great but if myrcene is super high expect that onion/garlic thing. Or if total oils are low you might need more on the hot side to get the flavour you want, and then alpha acid concentration needs to be considered.
Take Wai-iti, for example, one of my favourite hops. With only moderate total oils of 1.6mL/100g it’s pretty mid. But with low alphas of around 3%, you can overload the hot side and get a mountain of melon, with very little bitterness.
Manilita with a moderate alpha of 8.9% and total oils of 1.9mL/100g places it as a solid dual purpose hop. We smacked it in a DDH and that red grapefruit and gummy candy thing is absolutely spot on.
Want to try it first? You gotta come to our Mixed and Matched beer dinner. We can talk about humulene.
