Rager or Tinseth? which formula is better? what are the differences?
March 20, 2008 - What Is an IBU . . . Really?
John Palmer, author of How to Brew, shares information from a conference that challenged his concept of what defines an International Bitterness Unit (IBU).
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should have produced 67 IBU actually came in at 37.
lockwom,
I agree with Martin's position, that you should stick with one formula and calibrate your bitterness expectations. In case of your Sumpin clone, adjust the hops until it tastes like the commercial example. If that means that your estimated IBUs will be 40 while the measured IBUs of the commercial beer is 65, then that's what it is. Next time you want to brew a beer with a similar bitterness, shoot for an IBU estimate of 40.
That's one of the first things I learned in home brewing when I brewed a SNPA clone, aimed for 39 IBUs and found that the beer was way too bitter.
Kai
Added to the list will now be an IBU formula preference.
I'm especially interested where the formulae fail in underestimation. I recently brewed a Lil Sumpin Sumpin (Lagunitas) clone where Rager estimated 40s, and Tinseth 30s, but Lagunitas claims 65, and Jamil translated hop additions straight from their brewers.
Beer color can be decently collapsed to one dimension like SRM.
Limiting IBUs to hops and not other factors like minerals really 'dilutes' the value of the metric.
I'd be interested in hearing how you came to that conclusion. The statement is perfectly true but not many people are aware of this (AFAIK).
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