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The primary '''alpha acids''' (humulones) in hops are humulone, cohumulone, and adhumulone. The ratio of these individual acids to each other can vary much like total iso-α-acid percent, though generally the primary acids are -------. While alpha acids are insoluble in wort, the isomerized alpha acids (also called isohumulones) which are formed during boiling are soluble. Isomerization leads to roughly a 70%/30% split between ''cis'' and ''trans'' iso-α-acids respectively, with ''cis'' iso-α-acids being more stable over time and more bitter<ref name="Schönberger and Kostelecky, 2012"> [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2050-0416.2011.tb00471.x/abstract Schönberger and Kostelecky, 2012]</ref>. Alpha acids themselves do not taste bitter, but isomerized alpha acids (iso-α-acids/isohumulones) contribute to the bitterness of beer and have antimicrobial properties. Isocohumulone is often cited as being more harshly bitter than the other iso-α-acids, but studies of taste perception of individual iso-α-acids have not agreed with this. However isocohumolone is slightly more soluble than the other acids and therefore a hop with a higher cohumulone composition may result in a beer with higher iso-α-acid for hops of equal iso-α-acid percent and use in brewing but different iso-α-acid breakdown<ref name="Schönberger and Kostelecky, 2012"/>. Alpha acids are susceptible to oxidation and the alpha acid content of a hop will decrease with storage.
'''Beta Acids''' (lupulones) are similar in structure to alpha acids and have the analogous individual beta acids (lupulone, colupulone, adlupulone, prelupulone, and postlupulone <ref name="Dušek_2014">[http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf501852r Qualitative Determination of β‑Acids and Their Transformation Products in Beer and Hop Using HR/AM-LC-MS/MS. Martin Dušek, Jana Olšovská, Karel Krofta, Marie Jurková, and Alexandr Mikyška. 2014.]</ref>) to individual alpha acids. In their original form, beta acids do contribute to the flavor of beer. They are also not able to isomerize and are therefore not soluble in wort unless they are chemically modified by a process such as oxidation <ref name="Algazzali_2014" />. Oxidatized beta acids are soluble and can contribute to bitterness in beer. Oxidized beta acids are discussed more under aged hops.
There are three primary classes of '''oils''' in hops: hydrocarbons (~64% of the total oils), oxygenated compounds (~35% of the total oils), and sulfur compounds (≤1% of the total oils)<ref name="Shellhammer, Vollmer and Sharp, CBC 2015"> Shellhammer, Vollmer, and Sharp. Oral presentation at the Craft Brewers Conference, 2015. </ref>. Individual flavor and aroma active oils each have different thresholds, solubilities, and volatilities, and individual oils can have synergistic interactions with each other. The chemistry of hop oil taste perception is therefore very complicated and overall is not well understood. While sulfur compounds make up only a very small fraction of the total oils, they have a significant impact on hop flavor<ref name="Shellhammer, Vollmer and Sharp, CBC 2015"/>.