Acidic hop flavor?

[bndooley]

Hello all. Once again, I hope to gain some insight from the collective wisdom. I've been fooling around with some new recipes, and I'm trying to figure out how to get the same acidic, no bitter, hop flavor I've tasted in SNV's Bigfoot Ale or Victory's Hop Wallop. Neither of those beers strike me as particularly bitter, but they have an intense acidity, almost sour character, that seems qualitatively different to me than the bitter flavor that's common to most heavily hopped beers. What gives? Any advice on how to achieve this? Is it a particular variety of hops or a technique?

Any help would be, as always, appreciated.

Best,
Ben Dooley

https://www.oldcrankybrewers.com

[tapuahk]

Timing and Types

<img src="http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/images/m-bistat.gif">
recipe info


Don't add any hops until secondary, and use "green" hops, which are less acidic.

I tend to like the hopless brews ....


Tapuahk

[BigWilley]

Push your hop additions to the last 20-30 minutes of the boil, you dont need to add a bittering charge at 60 minutes. Dry hop as well. I would not suggest only dry hopping without any kettle additions. You need some bitterness to balance the malt and provide the preservative quality. First Wort Hopping is another option, I often substitute the bittering hops with FWH for a smoother bitterness and some flavor contribution. Obviously from the posted recipe for Bigfoot there is quite a bit of bitterness 90 IBU's although such a rich beer with such a high terminal gravity can certainly handle it especially with proper conditioning. Your water chemistry will also have a major impact on percieved quality of bitterness as well, and dont forget co-humulone and mycrene levels of your hops.