Guess the IBU

So I ordered some hops from an online store (hopsanddreams.com). The packaging was great, but they forgot a pound of roasted barley. No big deal. Mistakes happen.

They also forgot to tell me the IBU for the Whitbread Gold UK Hops and Phoenix Hops that I ordered.

I've been trying to get a hold of these guys by email and phone for the past 4 days and there is just no answer. Should I just ballpark the IBU for these hops? I'm at a loss. What do you guys do when you can't find out the IBU for a hop?

That only happened to me once, but I just used the generally accepted alpha acid value for that variety. I doubt it was very accurate, but the beer was tasty!

bradsul said:

That only happened to me once, but I just used the generally accepted alpha acid value for that variety. I doubt it was very accurate, but the beer was tasty!

Click to expand...

Heh. It goes against the engineer in me, but I guess it is what it is. I was planning on doing an Irish Red, but it looks like it is going to be a English Mild. I have some Black Patent for a planned Porter, that can be used for the Mild.

I really don't want to guess the IBU for the Porter though. It's a much more expensive recipe and Phoenix is a helluva strong hop.

Good news! They got back to me with the IBU info before I brewed on Saturday.