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Who uses a Hop Age Tool?

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Bullhog

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I recently started using the Hop Age Tool in Beersmith after I found that many of my beers were not hitting the mark as I expected. While my use is limited, I feel like it's making a big difference in my beers. I am surprised I haven't heard about doing these calculations more. How many of you guys use one? Have you had good luck with Beersmith's? Some of Beersmith HSI% are surprisingly high, but I'm not going to question them yet.
 
I don’t bother. Most of my beers are 20-30 IBU’s. I stay away from the extreme ends so haven’t really found a need. I also feel like there are enough variables in the difference between calculated and actual IBU’s that this wouldn’t really mean that I’m closer to actual IBU’s. Im kind of a brewing nihilist though and don’t sweat the numbers as long as my beer tastes like I want it.
 
I used the BS3 Hop Age Tool out of curiosity many years ago, and basically decided if I didn't keep the sealed hops in the freezer for long, the loss of AA% would be below my perception.

For example:

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Cheers!
 
I use the hop age tool in BS for every batch. I find it to be helpful. I don’t brew high IBU beers, mostly between 20 and 35 IBUs. I buy hops in bulk and keep them in the freezer in non-purged nor vacuum sealed bags once opened. Often I brew with hops that are several years old. For these reasons, I think it is important to use the hop age tool.
 
I use the hop age tool in BS for every batch. I find it to be helpful. I don’t brew high IBU beers, mostly between 20 and 35 IBUs. I buy hops in bulk and keep them in the freezer in non-purged nor vacuum sealed bags once opened. Often I brew with hops that are several years old. For these reasons, I think it is important to use the hop age tool.
Do you find the HSI numbers that BS defaults to are correct?
 
Ahh, right. Thanks. I use the defaults, so they seem to work fine for me. I am not sure what I would adjust the HSI to, even if I wanted. Keep in mind, I am not a hop head. For someone who is, HSI might be worth paying more attention to.
 
I use the hop age tool in BS for every batch. I find it to be helpful. I don’t brew high IBU beers, mostly between 20 and 35 IBUs. I buy hops in bulk and keep them in the freezer in non-purged nor vacuum sealed bags once opened. Often I brew with hops that are several years old. For these reasons, I think it is important to use the hop age tool.
+1
 
How does one know what “correct” is.
I though HSI was an inherent property of the hop variety and harvest year.

edit - OTOH, you really don't know how the hops were stored before you got them, which certainly can throw the calculators off even if you're using the right HSI...
 
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This is kind of why I don’t use such tools. How does one know what “correct” is. Unless you’re measuring IBUs with specialized equipment, no one really knows what correct is.
At some point, somewhere, I read using the published "HSI" figure for estimating the remaining AAUs in hops was a bit of a "misuse" of what "HSI" refers to?

But it's moving in the right direction! What certainly is NOT CORRECT is grabbing a year-old bag of hops that have been stored at room temperature, reading off the AAUs written on the packet, and using that. Yet it is what a lot of homebrewers do.

Like most things in home brewing, it's a guide. And right or wrong, "hop-age" based on HSI isn't a bad guide. Using figures that are completely wrong (the AAUs when harvested) because the hop-age tool is imprecise, isn't very logical? I use it all the time!
 
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