Hops and Alpha Acids

[bigrbuk]

Just about to embark on a Bo Pils Extract recipe with late addition. I've stuck some numbers into calculators and have what appears to be an acceptable recipe (batch size just to work around ingredients and equipment I have)...

16 litre batch
6 litre boil

1kg LME Pilsner
1.72kg LME Pilsner (late addition)

100g Saaz 60m
50g Saaz 10m
50g Saaz 0m

Now the Hop amounts are playing on my mind. The AA of this batch is only 2% so I whacked up the numbers to make it fit the profile, but what I'm not sure is how that will affect flavour, specifically the 10m and 0m additions. Would I be better dropping these back down so it's not too hoppy (for the style) and sticking more on the front end to achieve the required bitterness?

 

[MaxM]

That's a lot of hops... A good alternative (if it's not too late...) would be to bitter with a 60 min addition of a high AA hop (I'd use Magnum here) to get your IBUs in good shape, then add your late additions of Saaz.

I'd do:
17g Magnum 60m
15g Saaz 10m
15g Saaz 10m

If my calculations are correct, that would give you about 31 IBU with a lot less hops. That way, you get the desired bitterness from the high AA hops and the noble flavor and aroma from the Saaz!

If you've already brewed it, how did it come out?

 

[HB_ATL73]

Would I be better dropping these back down so it's not too hoppy (for the style) and sticking more on the front end to achieve the required bitterness?[/QUOTE]

I would agree with MaxM on that approach. Also be aware of hop utilization with extract brewing. Use a calculator like this (https://www.brewersfriend.com/ibu-calculator/) to play around with gravity and boil volumes and see how IBUs change with smaller/larger boil volumes- this is something I missed out on with brewing for a long time I feel like many of my beers were probably not hitting my intended IBUs

 

[Northern_Brewer]

16 litre batch
6 litre boil

1kg LME Pilsner
1.72kg LME Pilsner (late addition)

100g Saaz 60m
50g Saaz 10m
50g Saaz 0m

Now the Hop amounts are playing on my mind. The AA of this batch is only 2% so I whacked up the numbers to make it fit the profile, but what I'm not sure is how that will affect flavour, specifically the 10m and 0m additions.

2% - wow, that's freakishly low even for Saaz. Normally it's closer to 3%, although it does vary a bit depending on vintage and supplier, and some years you can buy pellets that are significantly higher than cones and in other years it's the other way round.

But 6.25g/l for bittering is kinda nuts, you can see why hop breeders spent most of the 20th century trying to increase alpha content. I'd also be tempted to use something else for at least the bulk of the bittering - you could use Kazbek or Premiant if you're wanting a Saaz offspring.

"Flavour" other than bittering potential correlates at best loosely with alpha acids, so I wouldn't scale the 10/0 additions according to alpha.

 

[ncbrewer]

Unless the OP is a world class procrastinator, that batch is long gone.