Glossary
Cohumulone
One of the three main alpha acids, quoted as a percentage of total alpha and traditionally believed to produce a harsher bitterness than the others.
Pronounced co-HYOO-myoo-lone.
Low-cohumulone hops have long been marketed on the claim that they bitter more smoothly. The evidence is weaker than the confidence with which the claim is repeated: controlled sensory trials have struggled to reproduce a clear effect at the levels found in real beer, and cohumulone also correlates with other compositional differences that could account for perceived differences.
BeerHQ records cohumulone because brewers select on it and suppliers publish it, and notes that the sensory claim attached to it is contested rather than settled.
Commonly misunderstood
"Low cohumulone means smooth bitterness" is trade convention rather than established sensory science. The correlation may be real; the causal claim is not well supported.
Related
- Alpha acid — The group cohumulone belongs to.
More vocabulary
ABV · ABW · Alcohol unit · Alkalinity · Alpha acid · Apparent attenuation · Attenuation · Beta acid · Degrees Lovibond · Degrees Plato
See every term on the glossary index.
Last reviewed 2026-08-16.
Evidence
What BeerHQ knows about this, and how. Every statement carries the state of the evidence behind it rather than being presented flatly as fact.
Whether a high proportion of cohumulone in a hop’s alpha acids produces a harsher bitterness than low-cohumulone varieties is contested: it is long-standing trade conviction, and controlled sensory work has struggled to reproduce a clear effect at levels found in real beer.
— Trade and much brewing literature hold that low-cohumulone hops bitter more smoothly, and brewers select varieties on this basis.
— Several controlled sensory studies have failed to demonstrate a reliable difference attributable to cohumulone alone at realistic concentrations, and cohumulone co-varies with other compositional differences that could account for perceived effects.
BeerHQ records the figure because suppliers publish it and brewers select on it, and records that the sensory claim attached to it is unsettled.
Genuinely contested Credible sources disagree, so both positions are given rather than one.
Sources: For the Love of Hops — print; Journal of the Institute of Brewing