http://wiki.homebrewersassociation.org/AmarilloPaleAle
I thought this gold medal APA recipe from NHC2007 looked intriguing with the absence of any crystal, and a relatively complex grain bill. Then I looked at the hop load, and plugged it into Promash. I come up with ~97IBUs, 75 of those IBUs coming from the 60 minute addition alone. Are my calcs wrong? Something’s not adding up here…
i get about 62 ibu from that hop addition. the one thing i would check is the batch size, that caught me off guard at 10.5 gallons at first.
That is my friend Bob’s Gold Medal winner. I have had it at Club meetings many times. I have also made that exact recipe a few times. It was also one the club bought ingredients to split up, and brewers that bought the ‘kits’ brewed on their own systems, with different results.
The IBU’s are out of style. It does not drink like it is over bittered, though. It has won several other awards and BOS in comps. Brew it!
Yep that is Bob’s recipe. He asked for my Amarillo PA recipe, and he made it better!
Thanks, Jeff. Were my numbers close? What are your thoughts as to why this beer is not over bittered in spite of the hop load, in fact, it was complimented for its balance? I ask this because I’m beginning to wonder what value BU:GU ratios (and maybe even IBUs) really have, i.e., what can I conclude from these ratios/IBUs in light of recipes like your friend’s, SSOS, and the like. Maybe this should be a separate posting.
there is another thread on this but I really struggle with the total ibu and use it as a guideline only. you could load the ibu with lots and lots of late hops thus affecting the flavor and really not as much of the bitterness as you would think etc.
I think it has to do with the grain bill and that Amarillo is a fairly smooth bittering hop. It is one of those recipes that work very well when brewed properly. Like SSoS, which take a little time to lose its harshness when young.
You will not know until you brew it.
Oh yeah - Bob had the BoS at the clubs competition last year. It was his Citramarillo. I think you can guess his hops. Same grain bill, same hop schedule. I think he uses a 1:1 blend, but don’t quite me on that. It was brewed at Arbor Brewing in AA as part of the winning prize. Everyone that had it, including at least 3 BJCP Nationals that were at the release party commented on the balance.
Hey, Jim, ya know in “Pirates of the Carribean” where they mention the Pirate’s Code, then say “well, it’s more of a guideline”? That’s how I think of BU:GU and IBU numbers in general. Don’t look at them as rules, but as guidelines that have to take into account grist and hop type, among other things. It helps to develop your intuition!