Which bitterness formula do you use?

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Which bitterness formula do you use?

  • Garetz

  • Rager

  • Tinseth

Results are only viewable after voting.
Whatever beersmith is defaulted to. I don't even know. As long as it stays the same on one level it really doesn't matter. The only real issue is if you are typing in someone else's recipe like from byo or somewhere and they are using a different one then you.

Also something to realize is a ton of folks use beer calculus and they used to use their their own "formula."

Previously, the default IBU calculation for Beer Calculus was based on an average of a few popular formulas. It did four calculations (Garetz, Rager, Tinseth, and the legacy Hopville calc) and averaged them together. I chose to blend a few conflicting numbers together instead of committing to a single one by default. That neutral position tended to cause some confusion among both types of brewers: those who cared which formula was in use, but didn’t know you could change it, and those who didn’t care at all. Plus, the only indication that a formula selection was being made was a subtle message “avg” near the IBU result – pretty vague about what was happening behind the scenes. Recipes now default to the Tinseth formula. Hopefully this will satisfy those who prefer this formula, and also clarify the default calculation to folks who don’t really care.
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Basic Brewing did a comparative podcast between the formula and tested results.

There were innacuracies accross the board when compared to tested samples but Tinseth was determined to be the most accurate across the range of OG's.

IIRC, they were all fairly accurate to a certain gravity and then the differences became apparent but Tinseth faired the most consistent across all gravities.
 
I use Rager, mostly because that's what all the recipes in Brew Classic Styles uses, and that's where a lot of recipes I brewed early on came from, at least when I started really paying attention to details at that level. So in that way, internally, my recipes are calibrated to Rager, even though I admit it might not be the absolute best, it works for me.
 
Revvy said:
The only real issue is if you are typing in someone else's recipe like from byo or somewhere and they are using a different one then you.
Click to expand...

This is really why I am asking. I like the recipe database here but the IBU #'s never include the formula used. I always wonder.

Tinseth and Rager seem to start to drift at around 1.050 SG which is right around the OG of lots of good beers.
 
kehaar said:
This is really why I am asking. I like the recipe database here but the IBU #'s never include the formula used. I always wonder.

Tinseth and Rager seem to start to drift at around 1.050 SG which is right around the OG of lots of good beers.
Click to expand...

I wonder if the default scale on all the major software is the same (beersmith, promash, etc) since most of the folks who post are probably using some form of software, the default must be the same.

I've never typed a recipe from here into BS and never had the IBU's not match.
 
Tinseth. I find Rager overestimates the IBUs from late additions. Tinseth overestimates late additions as well, but not nearly as much.
 
kehaar said:
This is really why I am asking. I like the recipe database here but the IBU #'s never include the formula used. I always wonder.
Click to expand...

Just match the HBUs (AA%*oz of hops) if you are using someone else's recipe.

Beersmith default is Tinseth, Promash default is Rager.

I use Tinseth in general but I do a lot of whirlpooling hopping or hot steeping and I believe Tinseth underestimates the IBU contribution for that so I have my own estimate of the utilization for that.
 
I have been working with an iPhone app called Hopularity, and that uses Tinseth. Working with other recipes and the formulas they utilize (e.g. "Brewing Classic Styles," which uses Rager) is really no problem. I just enter the basic info from the recipe into Hopularity, and see what the original hop schedule looks like when converted to Tinseth.

Then, if I want to substitute hop varieties or fuss with the addition amounts or timing, at least I'll know where the recipe started from, and how my changes would effect balance.
 
tonyolympia said:
I have been working with an iPhone app called Hopularity, and that uses Tinseth. Working with other recipes and the formulas they utilize (e.g. "Brewing Classic Styles," which uses Rager) is really no problem. I just enter the basic info from the recipe into Hopularity, and see what the original hop schedule looks like when converted to Tinseth.

Then, if I want to substitute hop varieties or fuss with the addition amounts or timing, at least I'll know where the recipe started from, and how my changes would effect balance.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is what I do too. I work in Tinseth. If a recipe calls for Rager I input the numbers and then switch the setting to Rager to see if it's matching up.
 
tonyolympia said:
I have been working with an iPhone app called Hopularity, and that uses Tinseth. Working with other recipes and the formulas they utilize (e.g. "Brewing Classic Styles," which uses Rager) is really no problem. I just enter the basic info from the recipe into Hopularity, and see what the original hop schedule looks like when converted to Tinseth.

Then, if I want to substitute hop varieties or fuss with the addition amounts or timing, at least I'll know where the recipe started from, and how my changes would effect balance.
Click to expand...

Another good idea. Thanks.

I use brewpal on iphone. I could do the same thing.
 

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