Hops Schedule: Extract vs All-Grain

[dokken5]

When I started out I bought an extract kit from Brewers Best and now I am trying to duplicate that recipe doing all grain. When I put my new recipe into the brew calculator I get 60 IBUs, where the original recipe was only 30. What am I doing wrong?

Why does adding more volume to your boil size increase the IBUs??

 

[khillian]

Increasing boil size allows more room for hops to swim and increases isomerizarion due to the fact your not diluting in the fermenter. Let's say you did a boil and ended up with 2.5 gallons of wort, then added 2.5 gallons of water to your fermenter, you basically took your IBU and cut it in half, versus boiling the full volume.

Also watch out for the differing formulas for IBU calculation, Tinseth vs Rager, both produce slightly different numbers. Stick with one and learn what a number means/tastes like ie. 50 IBU

 

[McGarnigle]

If you want a larger boil without changing the IBUs, you could use fewer hops or boil them for less time (if you go too far with the latter, you'll get noticeably more hop flavor).

 

[dokken5]

Great comments, very helpful. I guess the part that I still don't understand though is how you can increase your IBUs with a larger boil. You cant increase salt content, or chicken stock flavor, ect. by adding more water to a boil. You get watered down flavor.

 

[McGarnigle]

You are doing a larger boil but (presumably) the final batch size is the same. So it's going to be 5 gallons either way, it's just a question as to whether you boil all the water, or hold it back until later.

As mentioned above, the boil gets crowded (more or less) and the hops don't isomerize as well.

There are (inexact) analogies to cooking. Boil pasta or rice in little water, it becomes starchier. Stuff cooks differently depending on how much water there is.

 

[dokken5]

No, my original recipe kit was five gallons. I am going up to eleven gallons. Increased the amount of hops to go with the larger batch, but it doubled the IBU from the original batch.

 

[Subdivisions]

Were you doing full boils or partial boils with extract? Most extract recipes are set up for a partial boil so they add more hops to make up for the dilution you'll get when you top off with water. If you use the same amount of hops in a full boil all grain then your IBUs will be higher since your using more hops than required. Also, like stated earlier, the hop utilization rises when they are boiled in more water

 

[dokken5]

Were you doing full boils or partial boils with extract? Most extract recipes are set up for a partial boil so they add more hops to make up for the dilution you'll get when you top off with water. If you use the same amount of hops in a full boil all grain then your IBUs will be higher since your using more hops than required. Also, like stated earlier, the hop utilization rises when they are boiled in more water

Yes it was a partial boil. 2-2.5 gallon and then added in water to make up for the rest at the end. Now doing all grain. From what I am learning here its like an putting an apple up to an orange. I have figured out that I didn't learn much extract brewing, and if anything it kind of set me back.

 

[khillian]

Extract is never a waste of time, IMHO Fermentation control and proper sanitation are more important then Extract vs All Grain. I still brew mostly Partial Mash or Extract but been doing full boils for 2 years now. This is where I learned the most, ie. not buying kits, because I setup my system in beer smith, so I aim for 6 gallon batches due to protein/hop sludge at the bottom of my kettle below the ball valve line. So none of those partial boil 5 gallon sized kits will work regardless of Extract vs All Grain. There are no set backs everything is a learning experience. You can make great beer with any of these techniques, the most important thing is to Dial in your system and hope to not upgrade for a while because then you have to re-dial everything.