Brewing a beer over 120 IBUs. Is it possible???

[Delerium_Hopturnum]

Hey all,

My first post on this forum. This is a question I could not find anywhere on the forum.

Some of my favorite brews are East Coast IPA and Stone Ruination. These are truly hoppy beers, but I think I am developing LTS... They dont seem as bitter as they once did. So being a homebrewer, for my next beer I want to brew something several times more intense than these beers. Something in the range of 200+IBUs.

I looked around everywhere on the forums and many people said that brewing a beer over 120IBUs is not only impractical when it comes to money, but impossible, since there is a limitation to the amount of IBUs that can get dissolved in the beer. Is this really the case??? Will this hold true even if I use a lot of bittering hops and long boil times???

This leads me to my next question... can hop bitterness be increased past the 120 IBU limitation with the use of hop bitterness extracts such as this one:

IsoHop Bitterness Extract (1 oz) | MoreBeer

If I where to say brew a 120 IBU beer, dry hop the hell out of it, and then add some of this to the beer, would i get a beer that would TRULY TEST 200+IBU in a lab setting???

The whole point of this is to brew an extreme brew, so don't respond saying this is a bad idea. I want to experiment and brew a true triple IPA, with actual bitterness to match the hop flavor. Im going to shoot for 1.070 and even then its probably not going to be balanced.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

It's not that you can't brew a beer over 120 IBU's, because it is possible. I've brewed a few that are over 200 when you calculate everything out. The reason it's not practical is that our taste buds can't register much above 100-120 IBU's. No matter how many bittering hops you use, it still won't taste more bitter. It will taste hoppier, just not more bitter.

Also, dry hops don't add anything to bitterness. Bitterness is only extracted during boiling.

 

[CoalCracker]

As mentioned above, you can only perceive bitterness up to 120IBU. I wouldn't waste your money to reach above that. Brew something that you enjoy drinking. Don't try to make a big hoppy beer "just because".

If you don't have a balanced beer, it's just going to taste like hop tea. Your malty notes are going to be so subdued you won't taste it. My prediction it will taste awful but your free to try it out.

Try a Pliny the Elder clone, I hear they are super hoppy.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I believe the calculated IBU's of pliny are around 230-240 IBU's...but from what I've read, it tastes like 90-100. Calculated IBU's can be decieving though.

 

[terrencepickles]

Calculated IBU's are only one aspect of how bitter the beer tastes. Anytime you add hops the perceived bitterness increases.

If you want something more bitter than pliny or runation you have to increase the IBU/OG ratio.

Shoot for +100 IBU's, lots of late hops, dry hop, and a FG around 1.010 with only a little bit of crystal malt. Won't be balanced, but should taste very bitter.

 

[bovineblitz]

I believe the calculated IBU's of pliny are around 230-240 IBU's...but from what I've read, it tastes like 90-100. Calculated IBU's can be decieving though.

I read that the actual measured IBUs were around 80-85

 

[mlyday]

Drink a normal IPA then eat some whole hops.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I read that the actual measured IBUs were around 80-85

You're probably right. I couldn't remember exactly what the number was, I just knew it was way lower than the calculated IBU's.

Delerium...I think your best bet is to make a low gravity beer (somewhere around 1.040-1.050) and boil for a longer period of time. The goal is to get your utilization numbers up.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Drink a normal IPA then eat some whole hops.

Or just dry hop right into the glass, making sure you drink the hops with the beer

 

[jonmohno]

Why do that when you can just mainline hop extract?

 

[supe_kitchen]

I might be totally making this up, but I remember reading in a BYO or zymurgy that you can't really make a beer that is over 100ish IBU. The reason for this is that around 100 IBU's the beer solution is totally saturated with alpha acids from the hops and you get no extra effect from hops added after this point because the acids will drop out of solution.

I think it was in reference to a Pliny the elder clone that someone calculated the IBU's on and it was like 200, but the recipe says it is 100.

If you want to throw hops at beer, I would say make a few different batches with different hops and do tons of late additions. You will get all the bitter you want plus a better understanding of what each hop variety is bringing to the party.

My best 5gal IIPA has a pound of hops and 12oz of those hops are in increments over the last 15 min of boil. Kinda want to experiment with dry-hopping but I have just never gotten around to it.

 

[scottland]

You're not going to hit 200IBU in in a lab setting, it's just too difficult. 100 is the practical max. If you want a truly bitter tasting beer, dry it out. The drier your beer, the more bitterness you'll taste. Pliny and Ruination are bitter because they are super dry.

 

[Apendecto]

Get 7 gallons of that hop extract and use it as your water.