Do you follow Beersmiths hop schedule???

[olotti]

I've been using Beersmith for a few months now and wondered how do you guys input your hop schedule. Do you just put in your hop additions all at say 1oz then scale the recipe to the IBU's you want or do you input each hop and tailor it to the IBU's it will give at that given time in other words do you look for ascending IBU's towards the FO, desceding IBU's toward FO, do you like more IBU's at 15 min over 10 min or vice versa. I just input a recipe for an IPA I'm rebrewing this time at a lower abv and noticed when I plugged in the IBU's and Bitterness ratio I wanted Beersmith listed the exact same amounts for all my hop additions 15,10,5 and FO/Whirlpool and this just didn't seem right although I always adjust the whirlpool cuz I like 1-2oz whirlpool/steeps anyway. Is that right, would I get the same intensity of flavor I had in the original recipe which had ascending hop amounts towards FO, with this one that listed .41oz for every addition?

 

[Oginme]

I don't think you quite understand how BeerSmith works when adding items. Each item (grain, hops, yeast, misc.) has a default amount which is completely customizable. It is not a recommendation or standard.

When you then adjust the IBU, BeerSmith will adjust the quantities evenly to keep the percentage of IBU contribution from each add consistent.

So when you add a hop at 15, 10, 5 and at FO, you are adding the default amount listed in BeerSmith, unless you make an adjustment during the material selection. You can then adjust to get the amount of hops at each addition point to get the amount and type of bitterness you want in your recipe.

 

[olotti]

I don't think you quite understand how BeerSmith works when adding items. Each item (grain, hops, yeast, misc.) has a default amount which is completely customizable. It is not a recommendation or standard.

When you then adjust the IBU, BeerSmith will adjust the quantities evenly to keep the percentage of IBU contribution from each add consistent.

So when you add a hop at 15, 10, 5 and at FO, you are adding the default amount listed in BeerSmith, unless you make an adjustment during the material selection. You can then adjust to get the amount of hops at each addition point to get the amount and type of bitterness you want in your recipe.

So I usually put in every hop at 1oz then I change the ibus to where I want it. So what your saying is after plug in my personal default of 1oz then change the ibus and the hop amounts change that's just a default amount per beer smith not necessarily the recommended the amounts and the ibus are customizable to how I want the utilization in the boil.

 

[SnakeRidge]

The IBU's are a calculation based on Alpha Acid % of the hops and the length of the boil. You should input the AA% of your specific bag of hops into Beersmith, then adjust the amount at a given time to get the IBU's that you want.

 

[OswaldvW]

Maybe you shouldn't think about hops as having a "default amount." From year to year, the alpha acids in hops will be either stronger or weaker. You need to think in terms of how many IBUs you want for bittering and how much hops you want to add for flavor and aroma and adjust amounts and times according to that.

If you are following a specific recipe, you need to check the alpha acid % (AA%) of your hops (that you will be using, not just general information) and compare it to an established recipe in BeerSmith. You can adjust the AA% in BeerSmith so that you will have a more predictable IBU at the end of the brew session.

 

[olotti]

Maybe you shouldn't think about hops as having a "default amount." From year to year, the alpha acids in hops will be either stronger or weaker. You need to think in terms of how many IBUs you want for bittering and how much hops you want to add for flavor and aroma and adjust amounts and times according to that.

If you are following a specific recipe, you need to check the alpha acid % (AA%) of your hops (that you will be using, not just general information) and compare it to an established recipe in BeerSmith. You can adjust the AA% in BeerSmith so that you will have a more predictable IBU at the end of the brew session.

Ok thanks for the info. I've usually get 1/3rd of my buttering from the 60min addition then increase my amounts from 15,10,5 and then end the boil with a larger hop stand / whirlpool don't know if this is how it's usually done but the experimenting is fun.

 

[brewguyver]

Ok thanks for the info. I've usually get 1/3rd of my buttering from the 60min addition then increase my amounts from 15,10,5 and then end the boil with a larger hop stand / whirlpool don't know if this is how it's usually done but the experimenting is fun.

Personally, i get all my buttering from DMS - but it really only comes out when i lager .

Seriously though - what you've described above is standard and reasonable. Typically i'll follow the approach mentioned above - build the recipe with the quantity of hops i need based on the assumed aa%, and then update the recipe with the right aa% once i have the hops on brew day.

You *could* create a new inventory item for each alpha % of each hops you use, but A) that's going to clutter up beersmith, and b) you'll have to hunt around for the exact hops every time. It's better just to update your recipe version and tweak the AA. OR (sacrilege!) you could just not tweak anything, go with the flow, and just make notes on your brew sheet. Thats dangerous with some hops (a lot of the cascade last year was really high for some reason), but it doesn't really matter if you're not brewing the recipe all the damn time.

Re: hopping schedules - different schedules will give different results. Some breweries are strict "60 min, whirlpool, dryhop, nothing else" and others (dogfish) are like "hey, let's put hops in every 3 minutes for a 90 minute boil!!!!!" Most come out well, and beersmith will give you a good idea of what happens with the bitterness so you don't end up way sweet on an IPA or with an unpalatable cream ale.

Best of luck!

 

[Ben58]

You can also update the profile of the hops for your inventory.

 

[olotti]

Personally, i get all my buttering from DMS - but it really only comes out when i lager .

Seriously though - what you've described above is standard and reasonable. Typically i'll follow the approach mentioned above - build the recipe with the quantity of hops i need based on the assumed aa%, and then update the recipe with the right aa% once i have the hops on brew day.

You *could* create a new inventory item for each alpha % of each hops you use, but A) that's going to clutter up beersmith, and b) you'll have to hunt around for the exact hops every time. It's better just to update your recipe version and tweak the AA. OR (sacrilege!) you could just not tweak anything, go with the flow, and just make notes on your brew sheet. Thats dangerous with some hops (a lot of the cascade last year was really high for some reason), but it doesn't really matter if you're not brewing the recipe all the damn time.

Re: hopping schedules - different schedules will give different results. Some breweries are strict "60 min, whirlpool, dryhop, nothing else" and others (dogfish) are like "hey, let's put hops in every 3 minutes for a 90 minute boil!!!!!" Most come out well, and beersmith will give you a good idea of what happens with the bitterness so you don't end up way sweet on an IPA or with an unpalatable cream ale.

Best of luck!

Ha know in all the "am I doing this right" thinking I forgot that in brewing there really is no "right" way of doing things and so far when I've followed beersmith to a t or changed things on my own I've had no complaints so I guess something's going right.

 

[Oginme]

So I usually put in every hop at 1oz then I change the ibus to where I want it. So what your saying is after plug in my personal default of 1oz then change the ibus and the hop amounts change that's just a default amount per beer smith not necessarily the recommended the amounts and the ibus are customizable to how I want the utilization in the boil.

What I was trying to say, maybe not clearly enough, is that I adjust each add individually to get the IBU and type of bittering that I would like to experience. For example: in an Irish Red, I will add the majority of the bittering with the 60 minute hop addition and follow up with smaller additions (in terms of IBU contribution) at 15 and 5 minutes.

For an American Pale Ale where I want the hop aromas to be dominant, I will add only about 15% of the IBU at 60 minutes and do equivalent IBU contributions at 15, 10, 5 minutes and finish with a whirlpool to give the final IBU content.

The later additions do not have to be equivalent in IBU contribution either. In some of my recipes I weight them heavily to the less than 10 minute addition and whirlpool adds.

 

[SquidPope]

Speaking of BeerSmith and bitterness, has anyone else noticed any problems with how it actually calculates IBUs? The owner of my Friendly Local Beer Store* says he's been getting skewed results lately, but I can't notice anything myself.


*(Noble Hop in Toronto, shameless plug )