Flavor hops scaling questions

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Baron ken

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If a recipe calls for a 15 min flavor hop addition (say 1 oz @ 6% AA) and I have that hop @ 9% AA, how much impact will scaling the amount down (to maintain IBUs) have to the flavor? Or should I stick to the original amount and just live with the extra IBUs?
 
I generally use the same amount, because the AAUs at 15 minutes really don't give you many IBUs anyway. However, if it's a harsh hop (maybe like Chinook), I might scale it back a tad.
 
I generally use the same amount, because the AAUs at 15 minutes really don't give you many IBUs anyway. However, if it's a harsh hop (maybe like Chinook), I might scale it back a tad.

Thanks. Any problems with keeping the flavor hop at the called for amount and scaling back the bittering hop to make up for it?
 
Thanks. Any problems with keeping the flavor hop at the called for amount and scaling back the bittering hop to make up for it?

I doubt you will really be able to tell the difference from what calculates out to be 3 IBUs. Studies have shown that it takes about 5 IBUs before you will notice a difference.

That said, in the case that you were going to alter the amount, I would suggest adding the desired amount of flavor and aroma hops, determining their IBU contribution, then determining how much bittering hop you need to achieve your desired overall IBU rating.
 
Original recipe hop schedule:
original hop.jpg

IBUs: 43.4

Modified to use my current hops at original amounts:
orig mod hop.jpg

IBUs: 60.4
It calculates a 6 IBU difference for the flavor hops (15 min) from 6.5% to 9.6% AAs.

Modified to use my current hops at scaled amounts:
modified hop.jpg

IBUs: 45.7
I dropped the bittering hops down to 0.5 oz and it's still 2.3 IBUs high (but as stated above, I probably won't be able to tell), so I'll use the schedule from the last pic.

My hops:
1.5 oz @ 9.6%
1 oz @ 9%
1 oz @ 7.8%
If someone can come up with a better schedule (meaning closer to original and using 1.5 oz flavor and 1.5 oz aroma hops) using my hops, go ahead (and thanks).

EDIT: images from Beer Tools Pro (Mac) and using the Rager method for hop utilization.
This one gets closer to original recipe IBUs:
best sched.jpg

IBUs: 44.4
May use this one now, but will I really get 10 IBUs from an aroma hop addition?!
 
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