[BikeGeek]

I just read in the Nov/Dec Mid-Atlantic Brewing News that this years winner of the coveted "Alpha King" title was Pliny the Elder from the Russian River Brewing Company. Alpha King is awarded to the GABF entry deemed to be the "hoppiest beer in America" while maintaining balance and drinkability. PtE, a "double IPA" comes in at a mouth-puckering 100 IBUs.

Anyone had this?

 

[BadDNA]

Never had PtE, but my IIPA was an estimated 120 IBUs and there are plenty of Monkeys who will vouch for the drinkability and balance. Maybe I should share the recipe and get it done commercially...

 

[BikeGeek]

...120 IBUs...

Damn! I have yet to break 50 IBUs, but I've been going through a classic European styles phase. Some of the guys at the Bootlegger's Bliss suggested I was afraid of hops so I want to come up with a nice American Amber or Brown recipe for next year's ride.

 

[narlus]

how are IBU's measured?

 

[BadDNA]

Cool. I'm working through a couple of classics myself. I've recently finished and kegged a Classic American Pilsner and a clone of Magic Hat's Humble Patience (Irish Red). I had a Bourbon Porter that was insanely popular and will definitely become a regular brew for me. I'll be brewing again after the holidays and will probably do another batch of that as well as a Maibock.

 

[BadDNA]

how are IBU's measured?

A formula craft brewers use to calculate IBU is:

Wh × AA% × Uaa ⁄ ( Vw × 1.34 ), where

* Wh refers to the weight of the hops used, in ounces
* AA% refers to the alpha acid percentage, which is influenced by many factors, including cultivation method, species, and time of year — hops are often sold labeled with this percentage
* Uaa is the percentage of alpha acid that is actually used during the boiling process
* Vw means the volume of the wort, in gallons
* 1.34 is a constant factor that adjusts the measurement to account for the use of U.S. customary units

There are several different methods for finding Uaa, which can yield very different results. Generally, Uaa increases with longer boiling times and decreases with higher boil density.

 

[BadDNA]

Talking about it last night reminded me that I still needed to enter that recipe into my new copy of ProMash, which I just did. When we built the recipe at the brew shop he used whole hops in the calculations but we brewed it with pellet hops which change the numbers considerably...it's not 124 IBU as we originally thought, but when I put it all in, as I brewed it, it's an astounding 202.3 IBU.

Drunken Monkey's Ex-Girlfriend IIPA

A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

14-C India Pale Ale, Imperial IPA

Min OG: 1.075 Max OG: 1.108
Min IBU: 60 Max IBU: 100
Min Clr: 8 Max Clr: 15 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 16.50
Anticipated OG: 1.093 Plato: 22.22
Anticipated SRM: 8.2
Anticipated IBU: 202.3
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 6.45 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.072 SG 17.53 Plato

Formulas Used
-------------

Brewhouse Efficiency and Predicted Gravity based on Method #1, Potential Used.
Final Gravity Calculation Based on Points.
Hard Value of Sucrose applied. Value for recipe: 46.2100 ppppg
% Yield Type used in Gravity Prediction: Fine Grind Dry Basis.

Color Formula Used: Morey
Hop IBU Formula Used: Rager

Additional Utilization Used For Plug Hops: 2 %
Additional Utilization Used For Pellet Hops: 10 %


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.0 0.50 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt 1.033 2
9.1 1.50 lbs. Crystal 10L America 1.035 10
87.9 14.50 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.50 oz. Chinook Pellet 13.00 79.0 60 min.
0.50 oz. Chinook Pellet 13.00 24.7 50 min.
1.00 oz. Columbus Pellet 15.00 46.2 40 min.
1.00 oz. Galena Pellet 13.00 26.9 30 min.
1.00 oz. Centennial Pellet 10.50 11.3 15 min.
2.00 oz. Centennial Pellet 10.50 14.2 5 min.


Yeast
-----

White Labs WLP007 Dry English Ale

 

[BikeGeek]

Anticipated IBU: 202.3

My tongue went numb just reading that.

edit: Just plugged it into Beersmith. I get the same OG but an anticipated IBU of 157. Weird that there's that much difference between the Rager and Tinseth IBU formulas.

 

[BadDNA]

Yeah, little changes in the way they calculate things, too bad there's not a way to measure it like there is for gravity or color.

 

[Heidi]

I'm gonna have to try this recipe. I LOVE HOPS

 

[I Are Baboon]

I want to try Pliny the Younger, but the odds of getting my hands on it are between slim and none.

 

[BikeGeek]

I need to find the passage again, but I recently read that typical human perception of bitterness maxes out around 100 IBUs. In other words, a 200 IBU beer isn't going to seem any more bitter than a 100 IBU beer. That said, a beer with lots of hop aroma is going to seem more bitter than a low aroma beer of the same IBUs. Something about the brain associating the aroma with bitterness that isn't really there.

Something to consider in these post-shortage, expensive-hop times.

 

[4xBoy]

I love da hops.

 

[Heidi]

I need to find the passage again, but I recently read that typical human perception of bitterness maxes out around 100 IBUs. In other words, a 200 IBU beer isn't going to seem any more bitter than a 100 IBU beer. That said, a beer with lots of hop aroma is going to seem more bitter than a low aroma beer of the same IBUs. Something about the brain associating the aroma with bitterness that isn't really there.

Something to consider in these post-shortage, expensive-hop times.

Interesting to know. When are you going to open your own brewery?

 

[BikeMike]

Yeah, little changes in the way they calculate things, too bad there's not a way to measure it like there is for gravity or color.

If someone was interested in developing a standard ratings system, it could be done with HPLC. It is how they measure the Scoville rating of chilis these days.

The main problem would be expense.

 

[BikeGeek]

Interesting to know. When are you going to open your own brewery?

Ha! Now that I'm actually working in a brewery I don't think I'll ever own one. I see the owners every day and there's a lot of stress that goes along with owning a brewery...or any business for that matter.