Post
by slothrob » Mon Nov 09, 2009 7:40 am
Like sutherncomfort said, t's all about the beer you want to make, and what is appropriate to the style if you want to make a particular type of beer.
IBUs are a measure of hop bitterness, so if you think your beer would be balanced with 24 IBUs, then you could add less hops at 60' and get mostly bitterness and little flavor or aroma, add more at 30'-20' getting the same bitterness (though some believe the bitterness from later additions has a milder quality to it) and a lot of hop flavor, add them ad 5-0' and you'll get little bitterness, some hop flavor, and more hop aroma the later you add them.
It's really about what you want your beer to taste like. Some beers benefit from just bitterness to balance them, beers like Pale Ales get a lot of their character from earthy or citrus hop flavors, and a great Pilsner should have a beautiful floral or spicy aroma.
As a starting point, when formulating recipes, if I want hop flavor in a beer, I consider getting 60% of my IBUs from a 60' addition and 40% from a 30' addition as a "standard" amount of hop flavor. If I want more hop flavor, I first move the 30' addition to 20', then increase the % of IBUs from that addition as high as 100%.
For hop aroma, I consider 1/2 ounce at flameout to be subtle, 1 ounce immediately noticeable, and 2 ounces a strong hop aroma. There are enough variables between peoples systems that you'll probably need to experiment a bit to get a really strong hop aroma.
BTP v2.0.* Windows XP