Extract Single Hop IPA - Recipe question about hop utilization

[am-fmbrewing]

Hi all... I'm an extract brewer. I've recently upgraded from a 5 gallon kettle, brewing 3 gallons water and topping off, to a new 8.5 gallon kettle in which I plan to start with 5.7 gallons for a 5 gallon batch. I'm making a single hop Azacca American IPA recipe in Beersmith. When I changed equipment profiles from 3 gallon boil volume to 5 gallon boil volume, my IBUs shot up exponentially. Why should I need less hops in a larger amount of water? It says I can get 73 IBU with 1 oz Azacca, but that just seems like too little of hops. Should I stick with the 3 oz that I was originally planning to use?

 

[tjmac5071]

The more concentrated the wort the lower hop utilization. Now you are boiling a less concentrated wort meaning more bitterness will be extracted. Simple adjustment is to use a small or zero charge at the beginning of the boil and move more later in the boil. Another option is to shorten your boil time. With extract you can easily do 15 or 30 minutes.

So don't lower the amount of hops just adjust timing.

 

[am-fmbrewing]

tjmac, thanks for the reply! More concentrated wort, lower hop utilization, got it... now the scary thing is, I have a favorite stout recipe that I'm going to have to change the hop amounts on as well. Good to know.