Mad at myself(a lot)!!!! and at Jamil(just a little)

[Q2XL]

Yesterday I brewed an English Barleywine from a recipe taken out of his book "Brewing Classic Styles"

After brewing I tasted it and it tasted very hoppy. After a bit of reading the first part of his book(which I should have done beforehand), I noticed that he calculates bitterness using the Rager method. I have always used the default in Beersmith(Tinseth method). So, instead of my beer having an IBU of 52, it in reality has an IBU of 83!!

I am mad at myself. I should have read the first part of the book before brewing. I will now have a very hoppy barleywine. I will brew this one again, most likely on Monday.

 

[beerkrump]

I'll bet that after it ages, it'll be awesome. What was your BU:GU ratio?

 

[ChrisKennedy]

Bitterness will drop out with aging. This isn't that big of a problem.

 

[Evan]

i brew alot of his recipes from that book as well and i also use beersmith. at least its a barlywine, most of the bitterness will drop out over a long aging cycle.

 

[Q2XL]

I'll bet that after it ages, it'll be awesome. What was your BU:GU ratio?

0.649

It is fermenting like mad right now. I will ferment it, bottle it and set it aside for a long time. I will try it after 6 months. I will most likely keep this one long-term, say 1 to 2 years.

 

[BarleyWater]

0.649

It is fermenting like mad right now. I will ferment it, bottle it and set it aside for a long time. I will try it after 6 months. I will most likely keep this one long-term, say 1 to 2 years.

.649 isn't going to be too hoppy anyway, probably right in line with a lot of barleywines. Bigfoot comes to mind as being a relatively hoppy barleywine, and yours is too hoppy, age it and it will change.

 

[dstar26t]

I made an imperial pilsner than was 1.6 BU/GU. Best version of it yet.
You may be surprised.

 

[the_bird]

Wait, what are you mad about? Both formulas just give estimations, they aren't entirely accurate especially with hoppier beers. And, you can't tell jack-**** about a beer's ultimate bitterness when you first brew it; if you age this beer like it needs to be aged, you'll need every remaining IBU to help balance out the intense malt sweetness.

Frankly, I trust JZ's experience with the recipe a helluva lot more than whatever number a particular formula spits out at me!

 

[Beerrific]

Did you brew the recipe as written? Or did you change the recipe to match the IBUs? If you brew the recipe as written (changing some addition amounts to account for different AA%), it is the same. It makes no difference what those numbers that they falsely advertise as IBUs say.

 

[Q2XL]

Did you brew the recipe as written? Or did you change the recipe to match the IBUs? If you brew the recipe as written (changing some addition amounts to account for different AA%), it is the same. It makes no difference what those numbers that they falsely advertise as IBUs say.

No, I did not. About 1/2 ounce higher of the Magnum and 1 ounce higher on the EKG hops. I was looking to replicate his IBU number. I did not know why his IBU number was not jiving with mine. So, I bumped the hops up.

Again, the reason being being is that he was using a different method of figuring the hops.

I do feel better now. Instead of an English Barleywine, I just brewed an American Barleywine.

 

[Q2XL]

Wait, what are you mad about? Both formulas just give estimations, they aren't entirely accurate especially with hoppier beers. And, you can't tell jack-**** about a beer's ultimate bitterness when you first brew it; if you age this beer like it needs to be aged, you'll need every remaining IBU to help balance out the intense malt sweetness.

Frankly, I trust JZ's experience with the recipe a helluva lot more than whatever number a particular formula spits out at me!

Well said!