[Slow Willy]

Hey all,
I have an American Amber recipe that I have made which I very much like. Even though the IBU's for this beer calculate out at 41 according to BeerSmith, I get more of a maltier and slightly sweeter taste up front and want to try and get a more assertive up front bitterness out of it the next time I brew it.

This recipe has an OG of 1.063 and FG of about 1.016. The initial 60 minute hop addition is .6 oz of Magnum and the rest of the hops are Cascade and Centennial that come at the last 10 minutes and at flameout to make up the rest of the IBU's.

My question is what would you recommend to get a more assertive bitterness out of the beer? Increase the Magnum at 60 minutes and lighten up on the late hop additions to keep the IBU's around the same? Slightly increase the Magnum and do nothing to the late additions to increase IBU even more? Use a different, more aggressive bittering hop than Magnum?

Thanks

[denny]

I'd use a different hop and some gypsum, of you aren't already.

[mabrungard]

More drying on the beer finish might be enough to improve that beer. As 'some guy' previously mentioned, increasing the sulfate content would help . You can check the effect out now by adding a thin pinch of gypsum powder to a pint of that beer and mixing it in. That amount should be around 100 ppm sulfate.

[Robert]

Ignore IBU calculations, trust your taste buds.  I've never tasted a number!  If you like the flavor and aroma and just want a more assertive bitterness,  don't change the late hops.  Denny's suggestion is one option.  (Sulfate doesn't make it more bitter, but makes it seem drier and less malt-forward in the balance.)  Chinook would be my first choice for a different bittering hop.  Or you could stick with the Magnum and increase it a bit.  Just don't change too many things at once or you won't learn which ones do what you want.

[Slow Willy]

Great feedback so far, thank you. I brew this with water from the Great Lakes and used the Amber Balanced profile on Martin's spreadsheet which had me put in a total of 2.5g of gypsum already.

[Robert]

Great feedback so far, thank you. I brew this with water from the Great Lakes and used the Amber Balanced profile on Martin's spreadsheet which had me put in a total of 2.5g of gypsum already.

If you're using Bru'n Water already, try Amber Dry and see how that does.  It might just be a little adjustment like that.

[Kevin]

Brad Smith's most recent Beersmith video podcast is with Stan Hieronymus and they talk about hops and bitterness. You might find some insight on how to achieve the hop characteristic you're looking for.

https://youtu.be/mm3YpLlRSlA

[RC]

Bump up the magnum @ 60 a tick, it'll be fine. I would not ignore Beersmith BU numbers, but they need to be relative to your palate. For my recipes/processes, I know what ~40 BUs brings to my palate, but 40 BUs won't necessarily be the same for your recipes/processes.

[BrewBama]

Hey all,
I have an American Amber recipe that I have made which I very much like. Even though the IBU's for this beer calculate out at 41 according to BeerSmith, I get more of a maltier and slightly sweeter taste up front and want to try and get a more assertive up front bitterness out of it the next time I brew it.

This recipe has an OG of 1.063 and FG of about 1.016. The initial 60 minute hop addition is .6 oz of Magnum and the rest of the hops are Cascade and Centennial that come at the last 10 minutes and at flameout to make up the rest of the IBU's.

My question is what would you recommend to get a more assertive bitterness out of the beer? Increase the Magnum at 60 minutes and lighten up on the late hop additions to keep the IBU's around the same? Slightly increase the Magnum and do nothing to the late additions to increase IBU even more? Use a different, more aggressive bittering hop than Magnum?

Thanks

Have you calculated your hop schedule with another calculator as a sanity check?  I found a box checked in my BeerSmith profile that significantly influenced the number of IBU(s) in late hop additions. Basically, with this box checked, BS was grossly overstating IBU(s) for late hops additions which would have produced a very low bittered beer. When I looked at the numbers it just didn’t look right so I checked with Brewer’s Friend and found the error (with some assistance from the good folks here). 

As others have said, the IBU number these calculators estimate is just a reference point for your pallet on beer produced in your brewery using your processes. IMO, It does not import/export well from/to other breweries and other people.  OG, FG, yeast, water and who knows what else also have roles in how bitterness is perceived. Jim may have the best idea to describe bitterness as very low, low, med low, medium, medium high, high, or very high vs using the number a calculation provides. I like the BU:GU ratio and Relative BU:GU (which takes attenuation into account) to help me cage my perceived bitterness as well.

BTW, a while back I used the pinch of gypsum trick Martin recommends. I was amazed at the difference it made.


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[MNWayne]

I live north of Lake Superior. My water is very low in minerals. My notes are in my garage-brewery but I believe I use around 1.5 grams gypsum per gallon water. My typical 60 min hopping rate is 1oz Magnum or Northern Brewer per 5 gallons. I'd bump up the Magnum first.

[Steve Ruch]

I use simcoe, summit, and saphir in my amber.