Is there such thing as too many IBU's?

[Pneill316]

I started brewing in February and I'm currently brewing my 4th batch. My 3rd batch was a 350 IBU +/- IPA (8.5% abv) and I must say is awesome. I've had my fair share of top commercial IPA's and I think my brew is better, so does my wife. I know that I'm probably being partial, but I really like the huge hop profile. I'm fermenting my 4th batch which I calculated to be about 450 IBU's (10.5% abv). Do other consistantly brew this high of IBU's or am I just crazy?

 

[avidhomebrewer]

You can get them that high on the recipe, but in reality, you will get about ~120 or so, max, depending upon how high the abv is, how thick the wort is, etc.

 

[Pneill316]

So am I just wasting hops or does the higher IBU's add flavor just not bitter.

 

[seabass07]

How are you calculating that? I think you are wasting hops to get that high since your beer is probably saturated with tons of hops still in there. You are likely just boiling off all of the stuff you want. What's the recipe?

 

[Yooper]

So am I just wasting hops or does the higher IBU's add flavor just not bitter.

I think you still get great flavor from the hops, even though the theoretical maximum you can isomerize is 100 IBUs or so. I've done several (calculated) 200+ IBU brews, and I won't stop just because all of the hops oils may not isomerize into "bitter" tastes to our palate.

 

[Pneill316]

I did the pliny the bastard clone. I up the hops since I can only buy hops by the ounce, so I just added the extra. I also replaced the simcoe with citra due to local availability.

 

[danorocks17]

I heard the human tongue can only taste up to ~130 IBUs, but I can't state it as fact.

 

[HomebrewMTB]

With the price of hops these days, you might try to back down and see if it's still enjoyable. It's not germane to the question but I can't imagine what that recipe cost. I know I would just hate to waste good hops.

 

[seabass07]

I think you still get great flavor from the hops, even though the theoretical maximum you can isomerize is 100 IBUs or so. I've done several (calculated) 200+ IBU brews, and I won't stop just because all of the hops oils may not isomerize into "bitter" tastes to our palate.

Is that still true if he's adding a ton of hops at the beginning of the boil? Wouldn't that result in wasted hops? How much flavor will be remaining at the end of the boil and how would those be different than adding less hops further into the boil? Not arguing, just trying to understand.

 

[Crustovsky]

Too many IBUs? I don't understand.

You might not notice a difference knocking back your theoretical IBUs a bit given that your tongue stops perceiving bitterness after awhile, and being that after a certain point you're just going to boil off the things you want in your beer but if you're liking your results then really what's the issue? At most I'd say don't go overboard with early bittering additions as you're going to getting diminishing returns but for everything else I'd say go crazy. Experiment using a ton of late additions, first wort hopping, mash hopping, and dry hopping and find what works best for your palate.

 

[SHOOK]

lol.. this is what came to mind when i saw this post

 

[Tyru007]

At what point does it turn from a beer into a salad?

I love hot wings, and a lot of the times, the hotter the better. But there is a point where all you taste is heat and the chichen wing becomes a utensil for eating chili peppers.

Too many IBUs in many beers is just not balanced when all you taste is hops. I would rather proclaim that I created a very hoppy but well balanced imperial IPA than say I brewed and/or drank a 10,000 IBU beer.

If you really enjoy the tast of hops, then buy yourself a bottle of hop extract and pour yourself a shot. Why waste the beer?

I apologize in advance for the rambling and editorial. Let the flameage commence.

 

[rewster452]

My initial response is "oh my, yes." Too many IBUs is a waste of hops and a waste of beer, from my perspective. Starting early last decade there was this whole movement toward hopping the hell out of beer, and at first I was into it, but as I've gotten more into brewing, I get off a lot more on malt character now, and bottom line is, balance is at the heart of brewing. And I think beer is starting to trend back to Malta, possibly because of the cost of hops, possibly because trends don't last.

That's my initial response. But it's important to remember, you brew because you like beer, so brew what you like. God knows you aren't saving any (or very little) money by doing it. It's your beer.

That being said, there's also a strong case for not being able to taste anything at all besides bitter if you go too far, and has been mentioned, they make hop extract for that.

*malta =malts stupid autospell. Malta is something else entirely, and for another thread.

 

[edie]

as a wheat beer drinker my answer is yeppers!

 

[jeffjm]

My personal feeling is that if all the hop resins make you want to brush your teeth after you've drunk the beer, you've gone too far. I've never been able to correlate that with IBUs, though.

 

[Tyru007]

If you are measuring your hop additions in lbs instead of oz, you've gone too far.

 

[Pneill316]

I see your point about about balancing and what not. Again this was only my 3rd batch and my fourth got higher because I didn't adjust for the higher AA%. Plus my wife was adimant about brewing this one again because she thought it was the best beer she ever tasted. I figure the only way I'll learn my lesson is to brew a beer that I don't like or is too hoppy/bitter, but it seems each batch is better then the rest.

 

[Crustovsky]

I would rather proclaim that I created a very hoppy but well balanced imperial IPA than say I brewed and/or drank a 10,000 IBU beer.

Know what the key word in there is, right? "I". If someone is loving their eleventy billion IBU creation then there's absolutely no reason for them to tone it down just because other people who aren't drinking it find it odd to hear about.