I’ve read how several people here prefer to use nothing but bittering additions for their projected IBUs and use the remainder as whirlpool and dry hopping for their flavor and aroma
I’m curious how others perceive the bitterness added at the flavoring/aroma addition times in comparison.
I once tried the no bittering hop addition for an IPA, but felt it was strange, almost as though it was lacking a decent bitterness.
What I’ve been doing is using 1/2 an oz of a high AA hop for bittering giving me an IBU in the 20’s and giving a fair amount split between the flavoring and aroma times, along with a whirlpool and dry hop. I’m using about as much hops (12-14 oz) as many do (5.25 gals) but using a portion in the boil.
I’ve generally shot for 100 IBUs though, and these don’t come across as any more bitter than a typical west coast IPA.
My understanding has been that the contribution (flavors and aromas) are better locked in by being boiled.
My upcoming Falconer’s Flight IPA is formulated to have 104 IBUs using 1/2 oz of Warrior @70 mins (27 IBUs), 2.5 oz FF @ both 21/7 mins (54/23 IBUs), and using 4.5 oz FF for a whirlpool and dry hop. I expect it to come across as a 45-60 IBU IPA.
So I’m curious why I might be better off increasing my bittering addition to say 54 (doubling the addition) and moving the rest to the whirlpool and dry hop. It seems the reduced boil time would reduce the actual bitter you get almost as I understand a highly increased boil might smooth it out.
Your process has a lot to do with how much bitterness comes out in the 0 min and later additions.
Pros often showcase beers that are whirlpool hopped only. In my system, I don’t get anywhere near that kind of extraction, so I do as you said and add a small bittering charge to bump up the quality of the bitterness.
I typically use 3 charges in my (D)IPAs. I do a FWH, Whirlpool, and either dry or keg hop addition. FWH will measure at 110% of a similar timed addition, but most people seem to perceive it as not as bitter (or at least not as harsh). Most of my calculated IBUs come from that addition. I then do a flameout/whirlpool addition, but at the homebrew scale, we’re not going to get anywhere near the extraction that a commercial brewer will for bitterness simply because of the temperature/contact time differences that scaling brings.
I did a pale ale a while back and I used Beersmith’s bitterness calculation for my hopstand addition. I used 2 oz of high alpha hops for 30 minutes which according to Beersmith extracted considerable IBUs. The beer ended up not being close to bitter enough. From now on, I will only use bitterness figures for hops added during the boil.
Yeah, those hop stand IBU estimates are worthless IMO. The IBUs are there in theory but not always to your palate. I like controlling the bitterness in the boil a lot better.