MeridianFC
11-12-2007, 10:07 AM
The discussion on the crunch for raw materials here:
http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16508
And some comments made by the folks at Troegs (they said some brewers they knew of were looking at alternatives) got me thinking, are there any good substitutes for hops, specificially the bittering element? I'd guess if you could get the bittering from something else you could use a theoretically smaller amount of hops for flavor and aroma. As many know hops were a relative late comer to the brewing world and there are a few brews that, partially at least, use other items in the normal bitter flavor role, Alba Scots Pine Ale being the first that comes to mind.
So are there any ingredients out there that could be realistically used to fill in for hops during this "dry" season? Is a new twist in the craft brewing revolution going to happen. Is the death knell (recession) of the imperial/doubl IPA sounded? DFH 120 minutes for $82/4 pack?
Thoughts?
http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16508
And some comments made by the folks at Troegs (they said some brewers they knew of were looking at alternatives) got me thinking, are there any good substitutes for hops, specificially the bittering element? I'd guess if you could get the bittering from something else you could use a theoretically smaller amount of hops for flavor and aroma. As many know hops were a relative late comer to the brewing world and there are a few brews that, partially at least, use other items in the normal bitter flavor role, Alba Scots Pine Ale being the first that comes to mind.
So are there any ingredients out there that could be realistically used to fill in for hops during this "dry" season? Is a new twist in the craft brewing revolution going to happen. Is the death knell (recession) of the imperial/doubl IPA sounded? DFH 120 minutes for $82/4 pack?
Thoughts?