A while ago I couldnt help my curiousity and brought myself to buy a ten dollar 4 pack of Dogfish 90 min IPA. Being that I'm broke in college, the 9% abv intrigued me more so than the detering price. My question is simple. I also saw a 60 min IPA there that was less ABV (i think around 7%) and was wondering why the 60 min version was less potent. I assume this is because the longer hop boil counteracts the greater amount of fermentable sugars and has nothing to do with the hops themselves. Someone let me know if I'm right on this reasoning, thanks.
IPA question
- Thread starter cdew4545
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Lounge Lizard
Well-Known Member
I believe that the hoppier a beer is, the more alcohol you need to balance out the flavor. That may be why the 90 minute is brewed stronger. Maybe balance isn't the right word, but it is something like that. The 90 minute is boiled longer with hops, so it is going to be more bitter. More alcohol balances it out. It should be all by design, and not a consequence of more hops doing anything to the fermentables.
Then again, maybe they just want the 90 minute to be more kick butt in all regards. After all, the 60 minute is pretty darn hoppy as it is....
Then again, maybe they just want the 90 minute to be more kick butt in all regards. After all, the 60 minute is pretty darn hoppy as it is....
Brewsmith
Home brewing moogerfooger
The more hops there are, the more malt you need to balance out the bitterness. The more malt you use, the more fermentable sugars you get. The more fermentable sugars, the higher the ABV. The longer boil doesn't affect the fermentable sugars or the IBUs from the hops that extreme. I believe that the 60 min is 60 IBU and 6% ABV, while the 90 min is 90 IBU and 9% ABV. The wort will concentrate some over the extra 30 minutes, but not enough to make that much of a difference. They are definately using more malt and hops on the 90 min, even though the boil is longer. Like Lounge Lizzard said, it's by design. Now if I could actually get a sample of both of them in Southern California, I could make an honest assesment. 
cweston
Well-Known Member
Put another way, the ratio of gravity to IBUs is what will really tell you about the perceived bitterness of a beer. An APA with a gravity of 1.050 and 37 IBUs will have about the same percieved bitterness as an Imperial IPA with a gravity of 1.080 and 60 IBUs, because they have the same GU/BU ratio.
