Adjusting Hop Amount or Boil Time for Different Alpha Values

Got a question here on IBU's adjustment for actual Hop ALpha values compared to recipe values......:

The hops I have are "German Tradition"....which are supposed to be the same (or very similar to Hallertau.

They have 6% Alpha......quite a bit higher than the 4-4.5% I was expecting for Hallertau.

The recipe calls for Hallertau....and of course the alpha values in my hops are significantly higher (percentage-wise)

Anyway, I know I can plug in the 6% value into Beersmith and adjust the boil time and/or amount of Hops to get in the Correct IBU range for my recipe.

So my question.......is it better to keep the same weight of hops and adjust the boil times for each hop addition or is it better to adjust the weight of hops and keep same boil times......OR does it not matter as long as I get the right IBU range and maintain the same ratio of bittering to aroma?


Any thoughts, opinions, experiences?

Thanks!

Better to adjust hop weights and keep same boil times.

I have this same exact problem, only opposite - I need my hops to be 4.50% but I mistakenly grabbed a 3.80% package. So assuming the boil times are kept the same, how much would I adjust my hop weights (and in what configuration) to account for the different AA levels?

An old school method would be to simply use HBUs (Homebrew bitterness unit).

Simply multiply the AA% by the amount. So if you are suppose to use .25 ounce of a hop at 5% you get 1.25 HBUs (5 x .25) Now, if your hops are 7% you do some reverse math and figure out that your formula looks like this:

7x = 1.25

Think back to the lovely days of middle school and you figure out that you need .178 ounces of hops. Hope this helps

Battlegoat.....what Calichussetts said is right on....but....I recommend you download Beersmith (it has a free 21 day trial for you to try it)......it is great....not just for the hop adjustment but for all aspects of designing your brew or making adjustments to variables.....it is only $20 I think if you decide you want to buy...

Just google BEERSMITH