Shift Your Lupulin Threshold

My brother was brewing a batch of beer some time ago, and became a little too curious about his hops.  He caught the fresh, grassy, citrusy aroma from the hops as he opened the bag, and thought, “They smell so good.  I wonder what it would taste like if I just popped one in my mouth.”

Big mistake.

Want to know what a hop flower tastes like?  Hops are bitter – very bitter.  So bitter, in fact, that if you ate one whole, you would probably taste bitterness and nothing else for about two weeks.  The end result of my brother’s experiment is that he developed a month-long aversion to all things hoppy and that he learned a valuable lesson about putting things in his mouth.

As amusing as it was to hear my brother relate this story about him, it illustrates just how diluted most hops are in beer.  Every beer fan worth his salt knows that hops contribute bitterness and flavor, but unless they brew, they probably underestimate just how diluted the hops are.

Hops in the final product of beer are usually measured in International Bittering Units, or IBU’s.  For an American Lager, such as Budweiser or Miller Genuine Draft, you’d probably see between 8-15 IBU’s.  That means that in 5 gallons of beer, you would have about 1 oz of hops. (This is dependent greatly on the hops, but I’ve assumed a 5% alpha acid hop, for all you hop fans out there who know what that means).  For an American Wheat beer, you could see anything from 15 to 30 IBU’s, and for an American Pale Ale, you’d see anywhere from 30 to 45.  IPA’s are the big boys, weighing in at 40-70 IBU’s, and sometimes more than that.  I have seen a couple of “Hop Monsters” reach upwards of 100 IBU’s, but once you get that high, it really doesn’t matter any more.

These IBU’s are usually contributed and calculated based on the alpha acids in the hops, which are held in the lupulin glands on the plant.  If you were to look at a hop flower, you would see what looks like a yellowish powder on the bottom of the hop.  These are the lupulin glands, which contain all the essential oils and tasties which we put in our beer.

Every beer drinker has a limit to how bitter they like their beer.  This is called their Lupulin Threshold. (Named for the lupulin glands.  Get it?)  If a beer fan develops a taste for more and more bitter beers, they experience what is called a Lupulin Threshold Shift.  So, where do you stand?  Where is your Lupulin Threshold, and can you remember a beer which triggered a Lupulin Threshold Shift in your tastes? 

Here is a brief list of some beers which have the right kind of hop flavors and balance to contribute to your first or next Lupulin Threshold Shift.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale – Sierra Nevada Brewing – American Pale Ale – 5.6% ABV – This beer is a benchmark for American Pale Ales.  Weighing in at 37 IBU’s, this beer falls right into the heart of the APA range and has the flavor to back it up.  Some beer fans have been tempted to attribute this beer’s high ratings as sentimentality (Sierra Nevada was among the pioneers of the craft brewing movement, acting fully 20 years before most people even realized that there as such a thing as Craft Brewing), but the fact is that this beer is good.  Very good.  It pours a sparkling amber with a white head, has an aroma of lemon, grapefruit, and a little pine, and has a flavor seamlessly balanced between sweetness and bitterness with just a little spiciness.  5 out of 5 pints.

Schlafly APA – Saint Louis Brewery – American Pale Ale – 5.9% ABV – I just had a bottle of this the other day, and it is always a surprise to me.  Anyway, it pours amber in color with a quickly dissipating head, but it has a lot of carbonation, which gives the aroma a bit more punch.  While this beer has all the bitterness and hops flavor you would expect in an American Pale Ale, it is extraordinarily well balanced.  The fruity hop aromas and flavors are mixed with just the right amount of bitterness, caramel sweetness, and bready goodness to make a complex, delicious beer.  Pour this one in a glass and really sip and taste it.  You’ll find a lot of flavors in there.  You might detect some orange, pine, grapefruit, or herbal notes.  I think everyone who drinks it finds different flavors.  Try it and find out what you can find in there.  4.5 out of 5 pints.

Single-wide IPA – Boulevard Brewing Company – India Pale Ale (IPA) – 5.7% ABV – What I love most about Single-Wide IPA is that it is readily available here in Springfield.  It has six varieties of hops in it, and weighs in at a commanding 59 IBU’s.  It pours a hazy orange with a rocky head, and has plenty of carbonation to carry the grapefruit and pine aroma.  The flavor starts out with a little bit of sweetness, but that is followed by a punch of hops.  If you’re looking to shift your threshold into the IPA range, you could do worse than to grab one of these.  4 out of 5 pints.

Bell’s Two-Hearted – Bells Brewery – IPA – 7% ABV – Where Single-wide has 6 flavors of hops, Bell’s has one.  It doesn’t lose any complexity or quality, though.  Two-Hearted is known as one of the absolute best IPA’s in the American market, and with good reason.  The all-Centennial hop schedule gives this beer a huge citrus and pine aroma.  Two-Hearted is a monster, but a delicious one.  Every drop of this beer is a grapefruit and citrus thrill, and finishes with a dry bitterness that leaves your mouth begging for more.  If you hadn’t noticed, this is one of my favorite beers.  5 out of 5 pints.