I hope you can help me understand....

[sputnam]

I usually keep 2 IPA's on tap with an IBU rating at 70+ (per brew calculator). I typically try to get most of my IBU's in at 20 minutes or less. Beer is good but missing something. I went out to dinner last night and had a Sweetwater 420 (on tap)(pale ale listed at 37 IBU's). My tongue tingled with excitement and nearly went numb with each delicious sip. If I hadn't known the IBU's and based on what I know about my IBU's, I would have guessed that SW had produced a beer in the 200+ range. In contrast, I had a Sierra Nevada Hoptimum (on tap at the brewery) and it was just a smidge more potent than mine (it clocks in over 100 IBU).
So how does SW with their 37 IBU's have more punch than SN and how the hell do they do that?


Could temp be a thing? I keep keezer at 40°...Gonna go cut it down a bit and see.

 

[ejf063]

My guess would be the mineral content of the water from the different breweries. SW may have a high so4 in their water which enhances the perceived bitterness .....

 

[kombat]

As ejf063 suggested, water composition can affect perceived bitterness. Also CO2 "bite." Maybe the alcohol content was a bit higher, increasing perceived "punch" of the beer. Perhaps one was dryer than the other. Or fresher (bitterness and hoppiness fade a bit with age). Temperature can affect flavour perception. A colder beer will seem a little "sharper" on the tongue.

 

[Qhrumphf]

There's more to perceived bitterness than IBUs. The higher the gravity (both original and final) the lower the perception of bitterness will be for the same IBUs. Not even that, but the actual composition of that gravity matters too. Is it actually sweet, or is it dextrinous? If it's the difference between a high-attenuating yeast and a high mash temp (leaving behind mostly unfermentable dextrins that leave fullness but not as much sweetness) and a lower-attenuating yeast with a lower mash temp (leaving behind more actually sweet tasting malt sugars), then the balance could be different. Or water could be different. Or temperature. Or simply age. Not only hop flavor and aroma fades with time, but hop bitterness does as well.

My guess is that the starting (and probably finishing) gravity on the SW was lower in both cases than both your homebrew and almost certainly lower than Hoptimum, which allows the bitterness to pop a bit more.

 

[bobeer]

how the water is built is a good place to look. Also, mash temp and whirlpool/hop stand time and amount of hops used.

I always do a low mash for my IPA's; around 148 or so. I put all my IBU's in first wort hop then a huge amount in the whirlpool after flameout. Like 6+ ounces. Then a big dry hop before kegging. I get a nice, dry, sticky, resiny, smelly, IPA every time. I try to keep them between 6.5%-8.5% so I can drink them fresh and also to not introduce too much boozyness in the nose.

 

[Psylocide]

Water chemistry could be playing a big part in this.