Hop Swap: weight or alphas?

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evilgiraffe

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So I'm doing a little experiment just to satisfy a curiosity I have that was sparked from a chart in Randy Mosher's Mastering Homebrew. I want to make two IPAs keeping everything else as constant as I can and just swapping out the flavoring and aroma hops. I want to use Cascade for one brew and then use Simcoe for the other. Originally, I just figured I would use the same weight of each at the same addition times and see what I got. But after some more thought, I'm wondering if the better way to compare them is to focus more on alpha acids and to try to match bitterness units as best I can. The Cascade I ordered is 5.5%AA and the Simcoe is 11.1%AA. I'm planning on a 20-minute (to go) addition, a 5 minute addition, and then dry hop once the fermentation settles down a bit.

So the question is: Should I match weights? Or alpha acid levels?
 
If I were doing the brewing you described, I would match the AAU or IBU contribution for each of the hop additions made during the boil when switching the hops.  For steeping and dry hopping, I would match the total hop oil content.  Matching the total oil content will take a bit of pencil, paper and calculator work.
 
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