When you all are making recipes, just wondering about what % of the total IBUs you like to get out of the 60min bittering addition vs late hops?
I’ve been using 2-3 oz at 60 minutes for my last several IPAs. More than likely I’ll add a couple oz of FWH (calculated as 20 minute addition). I might have a 10 minute addition, but definitely a large flame out addition. I’ve been using an oz/gal of flame out hops with a 30-45 minute hop stand. Then I’ll dry hop with at least an oz/gal. Typically I’m using about a pound of hops in a 5 gallon batch. Most of my IPAs are usually in the 1.065-1.075 OG range.
I decide what IBUs I am shooting for, then subtract my late and flavor additions contribution.
It depends on the beer I am targeting. It can go from heavy on the early additions, to none before 30 minutes, to FWH then a huge charge at flame out then whirlpool.
If you are an AHA member you can find Mitch Steele’s presentation from last year. He talks of traditional and new techniques.
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/lets-brew/resources/conference-seminars/
I have two different hopping schedules for my IPA’s. I use 1/3 FWH, 1/3 at 60-min from Chinook, Columbus or Nugget, and 1/3 from late additions when I want a solid bite from the bitterness. Or I just use an insane amount at flameout with a long hop stand and no other boil additions. That gives a smoother bitterness, and massive hop flavor and aroma. The former is close to commercial West-Coast IPA’s, but tends to leave me wanting more hop flavor. The latter drinks like an APA on steroids - like drinking hop juice, but without the enamel-stripping bitterness.
+1 to Steve and erockrph. I either subtract my late hop IBUs from my target and add the balance @ 60 minutes and/or FWH, or add all late (last 15 minutes) for a hop bursted IPA.
This might help.
/attachments/0000/1249/MJzym06_LateHops.pdf
I shoot for about 30 ibu from the 60 minute and first wort hops addition, and then load up on hops at the end.
I approach it differently. I decide how much hop flavor I want, along with any other bitterness from later additions, and start from that. I look at how much bitterness those will give me, then I add enough hops for bittering to get to the IBU goal I have in mind.
Are we all talking Tinseth or Rager?
Tinseth for full boils, Rager for partial boils for me.
I do the same, but after making a few IPA’s I have found that I like to get about 30 ibu from the first bittering hops. The problem is that it is hard to figure out how much bitterness you are really getting from those late hop additions. I don’t think the brewing software does a good job of accounting for things like flameout or whirlpool hops.
I use Tinseth. I also list flameout hops as a “4 minute” addition in BeerSmith.
For me, desired hop flavor = ∞ in most IPA’s 
But seriously, the majority of my IPA’s are close to, or over (and often well over) the 60 IBU threshold where most people’s bitterness perception maxes out. To me, I think the bittering quality starts to come into play more than bittering quantity at that point. Whether or not you use a 60-minute addition, and what varieties you use, have more impact than whether you measure 60, 80 or 100 IBU’s, at least with the IPA’s I brew.
It didn’t get a ton of responses, but there was some good discussion on this a couple weeks ago. https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=18321.0
In an IPA, I target about 30 IBU from the bittering addition (Tinseth), then don’t worry about what the late hops are contributing. Adding roughly 1 oz/gal in the last 20 min could calculate out to anywhere from 20 to 50 IBU depending on the alpha acids, but I don’t feel like the flavor is going to reflect nearly that much of a discrepancy.
My sixty minute addition is around 40 IBU. I add around 3 to 5 IBUs five minutes before knockout and about an ounce of aroma hops at knockout (I shoot for a final kettle wort of volume is around 3.67 gallons, 3.33 to 3.5 gallons in the primary). I use whole hops exclusively.
The reason I started the post is that I recently made an IPA with IBU of 76 (Calc by beersmith) with only 20 IBU from 60 min magnum bittering. 14 IBUs from centennial FWH, and the rest from centennial/columbus 15,10 and 5 min. It was bitter, but very smooth and pleasing if I do say so myself. I tested it against several commertial IPAs and most found it more pleasing (which is of course personal preference). I was just wondering if it was that most of the IBUs were late?
That, and your choice of Magnum for your bittering hop. Magnum gives a pretty smooth/clean bitterness. There are other varieties that have more bite to them like Chinook and Columbus. When used at 60 minutes, they leave a more aggressive, lingering bitterness.
First Wort Hopping and late/flameout/whirlpool hopping leave a much smoother bitterness than a traditional 60-minute bittering charge.