Figuring IBU's

[ray m]

Can anyone tell me how to figure a finished beer's IBU's? I just tapped into my extraordinary American Pale Ale and am very curious what the IBU is for it.

[sullydavid]

Check out the following link....you can put the recipe in and it will show you what you are getting out of them.

http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator

[brewmonkey]

You can also adjust your IBU's before with a simple formula.

(Boil Volume in Gal's)(Desired IBU's)
--------------------------------------------- =weight of hops in OZ's
(%Utilization)(% Alpha Acid)(7489)

[b3s]

if you want to learn how to do it by hand, then john palmer's online book (how to brew (http://www.howtobrew.com)) will help. i cheat and use recipator as mentioned above.

the specific url for learning how to calculate IBUs is: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter5-5.html

[ray m]

Thanks, guys...these suggestions help...

[sallad]

i was just fooling around with the beer recipator mentioned in a link above, and got some major differences when calculating IBUs with the tinseth method vs the rager method.

tinseth told me IBUs will be 60 (which is about what i want), rager told me 104 IBUs. my personal experience makes me think that the tinseth estimate will likely be closer to my observed results.

why the big difference? what are the mathematics behind the different methods?

[brewmonkey]

The amount of Iso-Alpha acid that can actually go into solution has been debated for years. Some will tell you that it is 60, some will tell you that it is 100 and still others have no solid numbers.

As to how you get to the amount (which formula) does not matter. What you need to do is pick one and use it, and adjust your recipe as needed. That way every time you calculate IBU's you will be doing so to your palate. If someone asks you what the bitterness is, give it to them in HBU's.