Bitterness calcs

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 10:28 am

What's everyone using for full-wort boils?

I think Glenn Tinseth's formula is close to what I get with pellets:
http://www.realbeer.com/hops/research.html

The Java calculator is pretty handy:
http://www.realbeer.com/hops/bcalc_js.html

Some more fun...

Garetz, Tinseth &Rager:
http://www.brewerslair.com/index.php?p= ... al04&u=eng

Mosher:
http://www.djmphotography.com/www/Brewi ... /Hops.html

Daniels:
http://members.cox.net/boxelderbrewers/tools/IBU.html

Gedge · Post by **Gedge** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 10:38 am

I use the IBU calculator in Promash. Now when I say I use it I don't know if I have it calibrated properly, but I find it's enough to give me ballpark for figuring out a hop addition schedule.

jaymack · Post by **jaymack** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:00 am

I do most recipe formulations in beer smith. It seems to give an approximation on bitterness though I really don't know how accurate it is.

Recently, I've been trying to get my ABV more in spec. Unless I'm trying to pump out a IPA, I try do get just enough hop balance to satisfy my own palate.

J

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:25 pm

I haven't looked at it too carefully either.

Here's a short article on some of the early forumula's, with a nice graph:
http://users.rcn.com/thor.dnai/dboard/d ... t9509d.htm

(I should plot out Daniel's & Mosher's formulas as well).

As the amount alpha acids added to the kettle increases, the utilization also decreases... which doesn't seem to be accounted for, so bitter brews will come up short.

jaymack · Post by **jaymack** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:28 pm

Nice link. Thanks for posting

cannondale · Post by **cannondale** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 6:54 pm

I like the TastyBrew calculator..

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/recipe.html

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:51 pm

Based on some lab analysis of homebrews I took part in at Sierra Nevada, the Tinseth formula was most accurate, though hardly perfect. There are just way too many variables to consider when estimating IBUs. Sticking to one formula for all your recipes is a good idea, but to go around telling people "try my 100IBU IPA," is a crapshoot at best.

Same goes for hydrometer readings; they are useful for determining attenuation and when fermentation is complete, but wildly inconsistent when used to estimate ABV.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 8:34 pm

cannondale wrote:I like the TastyBrew calculator..

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/recipe.html

Their bitterness calculator & recipe calculator give me 2 different utilizations?

I do like how the bitterness calc explicitly states the volumes & gravities... such as "Calculated for 5.5 gallons with original gravity of 1.060, and for a boil volume of 7.5 gallons with a calculated boil gravity of 1.044."

I don't think I was using the Tinseth calc correctly...

"Wort Specific Gravity (during the boil)" seems to actually mean pre-boil gravity. When I enter that, it agrees with the tasty brew bitterness calc (but their recipe calc has higher utilization for some reason).

All of which are a little better than what I think I get... but then my hops aren't typically vacuum-sealed, frozen & fresh!

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:47 pm

So does anyone factor in the storagability?

Garetz has some numbers:
http://brewingtechniques.com/library/ba ... aretz.html

markaberrant · Post by **markaberrant** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 9:55 pm

Derek wrote:So does anyone factor in the storagability?

Garetz has some numbers:
http://brewingtechniques.com/library/ba ... aretz.html

I'll check this out later, looks like a great read, but yeah, I use the Beersmith Hops Age utility to estimate current AA.

cannondale · Post by **cannondale** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 8:06 pm

Derek wrote:
cannondale wrote:I like the TastyBrew calculator..

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/recipe.html
Their bitterness calculator & recipe calculator give me 2 different utilizations?

I do like how the bitterness calc explicitly states the volumes & gravities... such as "Calculated for 5.5 gallons with original gravity of 1.060, and for a boil volume of 7.5 gallons with a calculated boil gravity of 1.044."

I don't think I was using the Tinseth calc correctly...

"Wort Specific Gravity (during the boil)" seems to actually mean pre-boil gravity. When I enter that, it agrees with the tasty brew bitterness calc (but their recipe calc has higher utilization for some reason).

All of which are a little better than what I think I get... but then my hops aren't typically vacuum-sealed, frozen & fresh!

Derek I believe both tastybrew.com calculators use the Tinseth formula. I think that you may have seen differences in the 3 sig fig utilization result due to minor differences or rounding issues with one of the other variables. I played around with it a bit to verify that if all values are identical, then both calculators will return identical utilization results.