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Recipe help and IBU calculation

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satztg

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Joined
Jun 18, 2025
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Location
India
Hello Everyone,

Very new to brewing. Saw couple of recipe and planned to brew (10 Liters / 2.6 Gallons) of beer.

Current Ingredients that i managed to purchase:
1) 3kg (6.6lb) of pale ale malt
2) 100g (3.5oz) of Munich malt
3) 100g (3.5oz) of carared malt

Hops:
1) 56g (~2oz) of Simcoe hops
2) 56g (~2oz) of Citra hops

Based on online IBU calculator, results are showing that even with 1oz of simcoe hops @ 60 mins boil produces about 80 IBU.

Appreciate your suggestions/feedbacks on the recipe, hops quantity and duration of boil. Don't wish to end up with too high IBU..

Thank you so much !
 
1 ounce is about 28 grams, which is a lot for a 60 minute addition in 10 liters, especially for a hop that typically has a lot of alpha acids (what's responsible for the bitterness in beer) such as Simcoe and Citra. The last beer that I brewed was 14 liters in the fermenter and I only used 8 grams for the 60-minute bittering addition and got a nice solid bitterness of around 25 IBUs because it was a hop with similarly high alpha acid content. How many IBUs you'll want will depend on the style you're going for, but unless you're going for a really bitter double IPA or an Imperial stout (as just two examples), you probably don't want 80 IBUs.
 
Are the grains already milled, or will you crush them yourself? If they're not already crushed they will keep for quite a while as long as they're cool and dry. So if that's the case I would suggest doing a simple SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) brew to get your feet wet. The pale ale malt and half of either hop split into two or three additions should make 10 liters of a nice 6-6.5% ABV beer with around 40 IBU. Play around with a free online recipe builder to adjust the boil time and hops additions. Store the unused hops in the freezer.
 
Are the grains already milled, or will you crush them yourself? If they're not already crushed they will keep for quite a while as long as they're cool and dry. So if that's the case I would suggest doing a simple SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) brew to get your feet wet. The pale ale malt and half of either hop split into two or three additions should make 10 liters of a nice 6-6.5% ABV beer with around 40 IBU. Play around with a free online recipe builder to adjust the boil time and hops additions. Store the unused hops in the freezer.
I agree. I think doing a SMaSH with just the pale ale malt and just the Simcoe for maybe a SMaSH pale ale or a SMaSH IPA of 25-45 IBUs and maybe 5% to 6.5% ABV could be great.
 
1 ounce is about 28 grams, which is a lot for a 60 minute addition in 10 liters, especially for a hop that typically has a lot of alpha acids (what's responsible for the bitterness in beer) such as Simcoe and Citra. The last beer that I brewed was 14 liters in the fermenter and I only used 8 grams for the 60-minute bittering addition and got a nice solid bitterness of around 25 IBUs because it was a hop with similarly high alpha acid content. How many IBUs you'll want will depend on the style you're going for, but unless you're going for a really bitter double IPA or an Imperial stout (as just two examples), you probably don't want 80 IBUs.
Thank you! looks like i purchased too much hops..
 
Are the grains already milled, or will you crush them yourself? If they're not already crushed they will keep for quite a while as long as they're cool and dry. So if that's the case I would suggest doing a simple SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) brew to get your feet wet. The pale ale malt and half of either hop split into two or three additions should make 10 liters of a nice 6-6.5% ABV beer with around 40 IBU. Play around with a free online recipe builder to adjust the boil time and hops additions. Store the unused hops in the freezer.
Grains are not milled yet, will have to crush them myself. Thank you for the suggestion. Will try a simple smash brew :)
 
Thank you! looks like i purchased too much hops..
You could use them to dry hop. Then you'll be adding the flavor and aroma of the hops without any of the bitterness.

For example, if you do a SMaSH pale ale (a beer only using 1 malt and only 1 hop), you could use your 3kg of pale ale malt, say 10 grams of Simcoe for 60 minutes, maybe 10 grams of Simcoe for 5 or 10 minutes, then maybe the rest of the Simcoe you have dry hopped (added to the fermented either near the end of fermentation or after fermentation ends). A recipe site like Brewersfriend makes recipe building pretty easy.

Any hops you don't use you can put in the freezer. Freezing hops REALLY extends how long they stay fresh.
 
Welcome to our forums!

Thank you! looks like i purchased too much hops..
For this (half) batch, most likely. ;)
Although some beer styles (e.g, IPAs) can use that much hops or even more (NEIPAs).

Hops are typically added at different times during brew process:
  • for bittering (mostly): added at the very beginning of the boil
  • for flavor (mostly): added during the last 15-10 minutes of the boil
  • for aroma (mostly): added during the last 10-0 minutes of the boil, or even later ("whirlpool" hop additions)
  • And as @worlddivides just reminded us in the post above^ (thank you!), for more flavor and aroma: dry hop! Added to the beer in the fermenter during the last few days, right before packaging.
And many variations or personal preferences on those additions.

As others have already said, look up some simple and proven recipes for a Pale Ale, and apply that to your recipe. You can swing it by us for more feedback.

Aside from using Brewer's Friend for reference and inspiration (they are related to HBT) and other sources, we have our own recipe database too.
 
Last edited:
Welcome to our forums!


For this (half) batch, most likely. ;)
Although some beer styles (e.g, IPAs) can use that much hops or even more (NEIPAs).

Hops are typically added at different times during brew process:
  • for bittering (mostly): added at the very beginning of the boil
  • for flavor (mostly): added during the last 15-10 minutes of the boil
  • for aroma (mostly): added during the last 10-0 minutes of the boil, or even later ("whirlpool" hop additions)
  • And as @worlddivides just reminded us in the post above^ (thank you!), for more flavor and aroma: dry hop! Added to the beer in the fermenter during the last few days, right before packaging.
And many variations or personal preferences on those additions.

As others have already said, look up some simple and proven recipes for a Pale Ale, and apply that to your recipe. You can swing it by us for more feedback.

Aside from using Brewer's Friend for reference and inspiration (they are related to HBT) and other sources, we have our own recipe database too.
Thank you for the suggestions! Really appreciate it.

Will start next week friday. Will keep yall updated :)
 
No such thing! You just have more for later.
I try to buy in “bulk”. I put that in quotes because I know the 3-4 pounds I regularly have on hand is chump change compared to what others keep on hand.
I had some before.. but accidentally kept it outside.. now keeping them in the freezer..
 
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