calculating FWH IBU

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tberry

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Ive read a bunch on FWH additions and I just had a Beersmith specific question. I typically substitute my 60 min bittering hop addition for FWH. When calculating in Beersmith should I enter these hops as 90 or 120min First Wort Hops. My reasoning is I put the hops in the boil kettle during the mash out and I target a mash out of 30 to 60 mins. So the hops are in the wort for 90 to 120 mins total. Does that sound correct or should I be doing something different as far as how to enter into Beersmith?

Thanks and happy Holidays!
 
Good, bad or ugly, my process has been to set FWH as -10% and then enter the hops as 60min FWH additions. My Reasoning was that they are in the boil for 60 mins and the time above 180, but below boiling, shouldn't have a large effect. Also, that my calculation should under-calculate, if anything.
 
Ok so in this case I have a 60 min Centennial (10% alpha) addition of 2oz. So in Beersmith I would keep my 60 min addition of Centennial and then add another 60 min addition of 2oz at and alpha of 1%?
 
No, there is a setting (under Options, IIRC) where you can change the utilization factor for hops. Under FWH I entered -10%; this was a suggestion that I picked up in these HBT forums when I first bought BeerSmith. Then on your actual hop addition, set it as FWH and 60 mins.
 
When I do a FWH in BeerSmith, I enter the time as the time of the boil. Yes, the hops sit in hot wort while being heated to boiling, but I find that the impact of FWH additions is a smoother, less harsh bittering. The actual IBU, for me, are unimportant at this point because the sensory impact is different from how the numbers would indicate. Since I don't have a laboratory to test nor a lot of excess money to test the actual results versus the projected results, this approach is fine with me.
 
You are just going to have to learn what is best for you. Lots of people do it differently.

I have not changed my BeerSmith default of +10% for FWH, but I enter them as 30 minute hops in the recipe, and it seems to work out fine for me. I've done a few FWH only brews now (no 60 minutes additions), and they have turned out pretty good.
 
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