How Many Hops are too Many?

This was a fun one to do - I blog about an IPA with a full pound of hops.

I’m beginning to think that there is no answer to the question…

Disclosure - that’s a pretty routine AIPA for me and a few others here. I brew a lot of subtle styles as well, but IPA gets a lot of hops for me.  ;D

That question is going to take some serious meditation.  All the Ultimate Questions do.

Well, a pound isn’t too much. I’m with Jon… That’s pretty routine. I just weighed out 30 ounces for a 10 gallon batch.

Keep pushing the limits!

I’ve done a pound.

Isn’t there a monastery in the Himalayas that will answer that question if you come on foot?

My IPA gets a pound total after dry hop

Maybe. You’ll have to meditate until the answer comes to you. When you smell the aroma of Centennial for no reason, you’re getting close.  :wink:

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A pound per gallon is too much. I’ve tried it with both whole cones and pellets.

I routinely use a pound of hops in a 3 gallon batch of IPA. So the answer to your question is somewhere between 5 and 16 oz/gallon.

Entertaining article. I’m brewing an IPA this week that has 10 oz of hops, which is the most that I’ve brewed with yet. I have the ability to step it up and now I feel a little inspired.

lol @ a pound per gallon.

10 ounces?  Sweet.  I won’t say that “MOAR HOPS” is the only answer… but for IPAs, it’s a darned good one.

Just for kicks I converted my current pale ales from grams to ounces to see where I’m at. 13+ ounces in 6 gallon batch. Seems reasonable. I’m dry hopping these just for fun. Normally I don’t

yeah - 2# in a 10 gal DIPA is not uncommon for me.

How long is a piece of string?

you already did the string thing on Facebook, Denny!  :stuck_out_tongue:

Yeah, but it’s my best line!  :wink:

I read somewhere that after 70-80 IBU(s) your just wasting hops because the human taste threshold cannot discern any further “hoppiness”.  That being said my son bought me a can of IIPA with 100 IBU(s) for Christmas.  It’s still in the fridge.

BTW: A standard piece of string is 12 inches.  (I slept in a Holiday Inn last night).

Too much hops? Obviously depends on the beer.  But if you’re going for that thing.  I would say it’s about mouth feel and color.  Syrupy is just about right with a beautiful green hue.  :slight_smile:

Understand, I’m not looking at this from the perspective of “how bitter can I make this beer?”.  It’s more of “how much aroma can I pack into this beer?”.

lol @ syrupy w/green hue.