how do you calcuate ibu's

Physics, chemistry and biology of brewing. The causes and the effects.

Moderator: slothrob

Post Reply
stouts
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
Posts: 73
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2002 12:21 am
Location: katy, TX, US

how do you calcuate ibu's

Post by stouts »

how do you calcuate ibu's in homebrew?
dartedplus
Strong Ale
Strong Ale
Posts: 339
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2001 11:33 pm
Location: Hummelstown, PA, US

Check a brewing book...

Post by dartedplus »

Most brewing books will gove you a simple formula to figure this out. I'm not going to put it here because you also need to consult the hops utilization chart to get part of the equation. So giving you the equation would not help without the chart. This should just give you a good reason to go out and buy yourself a homebrew book from the very many that are available. I'm sure if you ask, many of us would give you advice on which one. I personally have Papazian's "Joy of homebrewing". Some of his stuff is outdated and I know there are newer books available. So just check out the links provided here or ask what some of the other guys think. Ed
User avatar
KBrau
Pale Ale
Pale Ale
Posts: 75
Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2001 10:13 pm
Location: Melville, NY
Contact:

Formula

Post by KBrau »

G = (IBU x L) / (1000 x AA x U)

Where :-
G = grams of whole hops to add (for pellets use 10% less)

IBU = required IBU level (for example 20)
L = litres of wort
AA = alpha acid level of hops (i.e. for 4% use .04 in formula)
U = utilisation factor (it depends on time in boil and level of SG) . . .

for practical purposes (normal strength of beer of about SG 1.040), use the following :-

Time in boil U
15 minutes 0.08
30 minutes 0.15
45 minutes 0.27
60 minutes 0.30

Hope this was helpful and if you are still looking for a homebrewing book, I recommend Homebrewing for Dummies.
Post Reply