IBU is 118 - should I be worried?

[DrumaKeg]

I brewed up a batch today, my third ever. i found the last few brews a little less hoppy than i like so i went a bit heavier on the hops. Recipe as follows-

0.9lb crystal 60
0.5 carapils
Steeped for 30 mins
3.1lb extra light DME at boil and same agin at 5 mins
1.1lb table sugar at 5 mins

1oz at each addition
Columbus @60
Amarillo @20
Centinal @15
Centinal and Amarillo at flameout and left for 10 mins before I chilled.

The brew log app said I have anIBU OF 118. Og is 1068 and heading for about 1012 fg giving me abv of 6.5%

Is this an insane IBU, I love hoppy beers but don't want to strip my taste buds. Will this mellow out after time in the bottle? I was thinking of dry hopping an oz each of centinal and Amarillo for 7 days after primary. Any thoughts? Will this send it over the edge?





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[tdbc2011]

I hope not....I have a Belgian IPA in the fermenter with 139.

I brew an imperial IPA with 95 and a Black IPA with 97. Both are really good and I don't think they are too bitter. I use Brewers Friend for the calculator.

Dry hopping will add aroma and no IBU's so I would do it.

I think you will have a great brew!!

 

[DrumaKeg]

Thanks for the assurance. I tasted the wort and it wasn't bad. Bitter but not too much. It smelled amazing and had a nice malt taste so hopefully after the dry hop it will be even better. This will be my first dry hop. Planning on trying as many techniques as I can before I get my ag set up up and running.


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[brdb]

I wouldn't worry about it, plus the actual IBUs are probably not anywhere near 118. Almost all beer calculators use a fairly simple formula for calculating IBUs, but it doesn't translate perfectly to reality. For example, a lot of Pliny clones call for ~200 IBUs of hop additions, but in reality Pliny is 100 IBUs. Then there's the whole discussion on whether we can even perceive anything over 100 IBUs.

 

[DrumaKeg]

I put the aa quoted on the hops packet. Would this make it more accurate? How could the Pliny be quoted as 200 and end up at 100. Are the calculators that far off?




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[tdbc2011]

I use a ss hop spider that hangs on the side of the boil kettle. I am sure that the hops are not fully utilized but it is to easy to use.

 

[brdb]

Yeah the calculators won't give you anywhere near actual IBUs. For example, if you sent your beer to a lab to be tested for its bitterness level, I can guarantee it'd be nowhere close to 118. Deschutes tested a beer that they had brewed to a calculated value of 243 IBUs and the results came back at an actual 80 IBUs post bottling. Why use the calculators then? The calculators are useful for getting an idea of bitterness so that if you make a pale ale that was calculated at 60 IBUs, but you found it to be a little too bitter, then next time you can adjust it to maybe a calculated IBU level of 50.

 

[DrumaKeg]

Thanks for the info. I'm not as worried about it now. Just gotta sit back and wait. I remember with my last brews they tasted bitter after brewing and then they got sweeter and then bittered out nicely. Hopefully this is the case wit this one. I didn't use a calculator on the last brews so was never anxious about the outcome. Damn technology


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