Is 140 IBUs Too Much?

[ScrewyBrewer]

I brewed a 10 gallon batch of IPA yesterday using 1.5 ounces of hops per gallon of packaged beer, or 15 ounces per batch. The recipe I've brewed twice and the beer came out delicious both times, crisp, bitter and lots of flavor and aroma. All the IPA drinkers I shared it with loved it and the non-IPA drinkers all hated it, to me that's always the best indicator.

Except for the 4 ounces of Magnum hops that were added when starting the boil the remaining hops were added for flavor and aroma at 20, 10 and 5 minutes with 3 ounces added at flameout. The beer's fermenting now and it'll be a few weeks before I can get a taste to see how the extra 3 ounces of Cascades changes the original recipe.

I was wondering if anyone has used this many hops or more in an IPA?

[BlackDuck]

Hell no it's not too much....but I'm one of those IPA guys. Was the 3 ounces at flameout the extra 3? If so, you'll get a little IBU contribution, but most of it will be aroma...which will make it even awesomer!!

Plus, I think there is a perceived IBU threshold. It would be different for each person, but basically, there's a point where you can only percieve so much bitterness. For example, if the threshold for you is 110 IBU's, you would percieve a batch at 110 IBU's the same as you would a batch with 140 IBU's.

I sure would love to have 10 gallons of an IPA like that sitting around!!!

[Kealia]

Chris is right, there is a threshold and I've seen it mentioned that it's around 100 IBUs for most people. After that, it's just numbers.

I think Beer-lord has used over a pound of hops in a 5G batch so I think he has you beat Screwy! I'm sure he'll be along any minute....after all, this is an IPA thread.

[Beer-lord]

I think it was Avery's Maharaja clone that had over 1 lb in it. In fact, that's on my future list to do again for the early fall (well winter for you guys )
Much of the 1 plus pound beers I've made have come in dry hopping so no bitterness and all flavor and aroma were released.

[Stinkfist]

I have used 17 ounces in a 5 gallon batch no problem 140 is def not too high since it is just theoretical, measured would be much lower

[BigPapaG]

You know, the perception threshold is a thing... I think...

I love 2XIPA's, even 3X, and for me, about 90-95 IBU and it pretty much enters the threshold...

My guess is after 110 it's not getting any more bitter for me.

HOWEVER, the addition of more late stage hop oils and aromatic compounds and post-boil hopstands have really increased my enjoyment level... Haven't hit a threshold there yet...

Having said that, I find I'm using smaller bittering charges and more late hops but overall, I try to balance the recipe to get the most of what I want from the least amount of hops. And the bonus is, really great hoppy beer from less hops overall! Thus, I'm saving some money too!

[Inkleg]

The Colorful Dreams IIPA I did had a total of 19 ounces total, so I think your good.

[mashani]

Some of the Pliney clone recipes floating around have ~200 theoretical IBUs. Not that you can actually tell. That beer is still very well balanced somehow.

As long as most of the hops go in late, it's gonna be good like everyone said.

I'll probably be brewing some 80+ IBU "session ipas" in the fall. They will still end up balanced seeming, because they will be 25-30% Munich malt. I probably won't even use a true bittering charge in them, all the hops will go in T-20 or >, and then a lid on hopstand before I pull some of them out. I get great results doing that.

[Foothiller]

Besides our limit on ability to taste IBUs over somewhere around about 100, there are limits on what can actually get into the finished beer, becoming more difficult above about 60 and probably being limited to no more than 100. It can be fun to know we put more in, but before we actually believe it's in the beer, a lab test could be needed. Nevertheless, have fun and call your beer whatever you want.

[MadBrewer]

I did a Pliney Clone, a full pound of hops in a 6 gal batch and I think calculated IBU's where somewhere over 200.

This brings up a good point, when looking at a beer or recipe you have to keep in mind that calculated vs measured IBU thing. I would think most commercial beers are giving you the measured IBU say on their bottle or their description...etc. I have heard Stone talk about this with Levitation Ale on the BN of a CYBI podcast....when talking about the recipe he mentioned the 45 (I think IBU) for Levitation was measured IBU and that the calculated IBU for the recipe is somehwere near 70.

[mashani]

I've mentioned this before, but honestly we don't really know the IBUs of the hops we use. Sure it says 10% or whatever on the label. But do you know the storage conditions and age before you got it? If not you don't know the IBUs. They degrade over time, and degrade faster at warmer temps, and the amount of degradation over time is hop variety specific.

Hop Union has some info about storage conditions and IBU % lost over time per variety. But even knowing that you would need to know how it was stored and for how long before you got them.

So without a lab to test the hops right before you pitch them in, or to test that actual resulting product, the numbers are just that... numbers... theoretically possible numbers... but likely not accurate.

People confuse flavor and IBUs all the time too for some reason. Lots of flavor doesn't have anything to do with IBUs... it's go to do with all sorts of other hop oils and how much of them got into your beer. Sure you usually get more IBUs when you use lots of hops for flavor, but that's a "side effect", there isn't really a 1-1 correlation.

[Beer-lord]

mash is 1000% right. Even the breweries who get batches tested aren't 100% sure. A few days/weeks later and it's already changed in the bottle.

[Foothiller]

Adding to mashani's points, we buy hops year-round, but hops are not harvested year-round. Even with great storage, the calendar can have several months between the tests of the hops and when we use them.

[Gymrat]

I use 8 oz in all of my IPAs. None of mine have a bitter finish. But I never add any hops until the 15 minute mark.

[bpgreen]

Another thing to keep in mind is that IBUs don't tell the whole story. 100 IBUs in a beer that had a 1.060 OG and a 1.015 FG will be perceived differently from 100 IBUs in a beer that had a 1.060 OG and a 1.020 FG. The latter beer will seem less bitter because there are more unfermented sugars so there's more sweetness to offset the bitterness. Similarly, if you start with an OG of 1.060 and end with a 1.010 FG, the latter will seem more bitter because there's less residual sweetness.

Of course, similar things apply for different OG/FG combinations. A higher ratio of OG:FG means less residual sugar and more sweetness to be balanced by the hops and vice versa.