HomebrewandBeer.com forum

if someone asked you to discribe international bittering units
how would you go about it?

I don't know, I don't care, I don't even want to know, but with the internet we can find answers on almost anything, if we are that way inclined.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internatio ... bitterness

Speedie,

Perhaps it may help if you let us know in what context you're asking.

Do you need to explain it to someone or are you asking for some other reason?

Oliver

Any of various storklike wading birds of the family Threskiornithidae of temperate and tropical regions, having a long, slender, downward-curving bill.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/ibis#ixzz1NXM0PA00

An alternate way of looking at titties
http://www.ibus.org/

has anyone sampled west coast beer of the states
it is rated at 80 odd ibus
it doesnt taste overly bitter
so what i was wondering is how you persive bitterness units
picture this one tea bag left in hot water for 5 minutes is quite bitter as compared to 5 bags in for one minute in theory they have the same bitterness unit
does this reasoning sound sound

Correct me if I'm wrong, but IBUs are a measure of the bitterness imparted by the isomerizaion of alpha-acids. The bitterness of a teabag that's been steeped too long is due to tannins. While tannins would contribute bitterness (astringency?) that would affect the perceived bitterness, they don't result in an increase in IBUs.

I don't think tea has any IBUs. Not regular black tea anyway. Hop tea would be a different story

now that you understand the theory substute hop for tea and apply the same thought
l little hop in for a long time and a lot in for a little time

It's not really clear what you're getting at, speedie (hence the responses to your original post). It's a well known fact that you can get the same IBUs by using either less hops for more time, or more hops for less time.

The IBU scale is just a way of expressing the concentration of hop acids in a beer, which the human palate interprets as "bitterness".

And in relation to the West Coast beers, as you probably know, speedie, it's all about balance. So while they might be high in IBUs, there's maltiness to balance them out.

In addition, there's the much-talked-about "harsh" bitterness, which some hops (mainly high-AA hops?) can impart, versus the smooth/soft bitterness that other hops impart.

A smooth bitterness is much more pleasant and far more palatable.

Oliver

Some are so full of IBU's that the body can't perceive that actual bitterness number once it reaches about 70 IBUS from memory. Anything over that doesn't taste any bitter. My latest IBU on tap is only 55IBUS but I should still push it bit more next time to counter the crystal used. And although some hops are the same high alpah % they may contribute two very different flavours and smoothness based on the chemical compounds in them. For smooth bitterness I use varieties luch as magnum and have had success with simcoe too although its not as smooth.

nelson ,citra,green bullet,magnum,por,pacific jade are all around the same aa%
if you were to use each hop individualy in the same amount in the same formula for six brews they would present differing bitterness levels
so when i asked in the first post how one would explain what ibus are now becomes a little more on the indidual side
so when we put a batch of beer together using software for guidance
we are trying to achieve a target not an exact amount
beer judging(or evaluation) is only a guide line for that style
same can be said for the colour of the beer
strange stuff this brewing isnt it
speedie

It may be strange speedie but its wonderfully stranger drinking it!
Cheers BB

The only thing strange is your inability to make any sense Speedie.

I can understand and comprehend all posts here regarding IBU speedie, except yours. I don't have a clue as to what you are on about, and to be honest I don't really care either.

Let's shut down this discussion before it gets out of hand.

Oliver