Question about BU/GU Ratio...

My current grain bill (Black IPA) has a BU/GU Ratio of 1.65. I've read that traditional American IPA's are usually in the ~1.00 range (with APAs more close to 0.70 - 0.80).

According to my recipe calculator, this brew would be:

This is my planned hop schedule:

What should I strive for with this ratio i.e. should I adjust my hop schedule to get this ratio more balanced (closer to 1.000)? Thoughts?

Actually, your BU/GU ratio is currently at .8 (53/66), which is inline with an APA.

Move your 15 min addition to 30 min and you 10 min addition to 15 min. You'll infuse more hop flavor (not just aroma) and bump your IBU's up to around 65.

That should do the trick.

P.S. You might want to add some dry hops in there as well for a quaff-able IPA.

Tweaked the hop schedule. According to my calculator, that puts my IBU's at around 62, which puts the BU/GU Ratio at about 0.9393 (repeating) — .93

So, question, what is that telling me? That it will be more balanced than hoppy? Was definitely considering a dry hop, but wasn't sure how much or which type of hop to use... Thanks.

jlc767 said:

So, question, what is that telling me? That it will be more balanced than hoppy? Was definitely considering a dry hop, but wasn't sure how much or which type of hop to use... Thanks.

Click to expand...

It will be more balanced... and hoppier. I think a lot of time, people use "hoppy" and "bitter" somewhat interchangeably. By moving the hops back in the boil, you will integrate more flavor into the beer rather than just pure aroma. If you really want that fresh hop smell when you pour the beer, that's when dry-hopping comes in. Usually, it's nice to match a hop that was used earlier in the boil to round out that hop's presence in the beer. But, sometimes, it's also a chance to add some complexity in the hop profile and change things up a bit. For an American IPA, I think any of the following are pretty standard for dry-hopping:

Cascade (Citrus/Floral)
Centennial (Citrus/Floral - often described as Cascade on steroids)
Chinook (Piney)
Amarillo (citrus/lavender - at least this is what I get)
Citra (just what you would expect from the name)
Simcoe (Grapefruit/Catty)

These are just the few that spring to mind. Just look for aroma hops or dual-use hops, which can be used for bittering or flavor/aroma.

Great. Thanks for the feedback