# Kit Ibu Levels



## StuBear (21/11/06)

I've decided that I'd like to add a bit more punch to my K&K brews and am planning to add some hops, I'm a bit of a hop-head but the family aren't as keen as me on real bitter beer.

Therefore, I'm looking for info on the "standard" IBU levels of various kits around.

I currently have a B&B Draught, Cascade Imperial Voyage Pale Ale and Cascade Spicy Ghost Draught. From talking to the guys at Brew & Grow that can the B&B kits, I know the Draught is usually around 26 IBU, but haven't been able to find anything on the Cascade kits.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Stu


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## MHB (21/11/06)

Muntons and Brewcraft Imported kits have a Colour and IBU range on the kits, I wish more manufactures would take up this practice.

MHB


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## goatherder (21/11/06)

And Morgans kits have the details on their website:

http://www.morgansbrewing.com.au/


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## Barge (21/11/06)

G'day Stubear

Pale Ale is 13 EBC and 25 IBUs in 23L
Draught is 5 EBC and 18 IBUs in 23L

If you can't find info on manufaturer's website, send them an email...I find them most obliging


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## MHB (21/11/06)

Good to see that Morgan's have put up the information.

The EBC is given for all the malts as well as the kits; this makes it a synch when you are working up a clone recipe.

MHB


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## StuBear (22/11/06)

Thanks Guys,

now I can calculate a brew that will start to satisfy my desire for hops without putting the family off - and hopefully wean them off VB 

I'll check out the Morgans and ESB kits next time I'm at the LHBS.

Stu


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## Bazza (26/11/06)

StuBear said:


> Thanks Guys,
> 
> now I can calculate a brew that will start to satisfy my desire for hops without putting the family off - and hopefully wean them off VB
> 
> ...



Hi Stu
I've sent esb a number of emails asking about their specific IBU and colour but they have never replied. I tend to try their kits once with no additions to get an idea of what to add later on. But its a bit dodgy this way, so morgans could be a good brand to go for.
Cheers 
Bazza


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## RobboMC (27/11/06)

I've been doing this for a while, and find most of the kits have a decent amount of bittering,
so stick to flavouring ( 20 min or 30 min boil ) and aroma additions ( 5 min or steeping only) for a while
until you get the hang of it. I made an IPA straight up without 'testing' the kit and overdid the bittering.
making a seriously astringent drop that will take 6 months to become drinkable, if ever.

When you have had enough of that it's time to go all extract.


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## StuBear (28/11/06)

Bazza,

I'm not as worried about colour at the moment, I can live with a lighter/darker beer than style recommends as long as it tastes better than VB . I called Cascade to ask for info, the woman that answered the phone had no idea what an IBU was, but she did find out and call me back. Also they weren't aware that their site has been down since last Thursday.

RobboMC,

So far, Ive only been boiling for around 20mins with later additions around the 10-5 min mark. I like em hoppy, but don't want to scare the family/friends away.

I'm looking at going extract in the future, but first want to make sure that I've got the basics down.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Stu


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## Voosher (28/11/06)

RobboMC said:


> When you have had enough of that it's time to go all extract.



Top advice.
For the cost of a small 30-60m boil you will find a dramatic improvement in flavour.
Fresh hops and specialty grains and none of the crap which goes into too many kits are great steps forward.

Years ago I remember getting info on the Black Rock kits from the LHBS. Ask them for IBU info. You may find out how much they really care about you making good beer yourself rather than relying on their stuff.


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## Bazza (28/11/06)

RobboMC said:


> When you have had enough of that it's time to go all extract.



this is where I am heading once my kit stocks are used up in a few months. I am v bored with mixing someone elses goo to produce something I wasn't really after anyway...and I already spend an hour steeping grain and boiling with hops so all extract isn't going to be that much more time consuming.


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## Charlie (29/11/06)

Guys,

Got the following info from Coopers, as I was planning on making a Brown Porter using a supermarket Coopers kit as the base :

Lager 90 EBC 390 IBU
Draught 130 EBC 420 IBU
Real Ale 230 EBC 560 IBU
Bitter 420 EBC 620 IBU
Dark Ale 550 EBC 590 IBU
Stout 1800 EBC 710 IBU
Canadian Blonde 70 EBC 420 IBU
Bavarian Lager 90 EBC 390 IBU
Mexican Cerveza 53 EBC 300 IBU
Australian Pale Ale 90 EBC 340 IBU

This is for the concentrated form in the can - to get the figure for 23litres: multiply by 1.25 and divide by 23.
To convert EBC to SRM: SRM = (EBC - 1.2)/2.65

Keep in mind that these figures are a guide only and that the colour of extract changes from the time of packaging.

Special thanks to Paul Burge from Coopers for supplying the info


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## Wardhog (29/11/06)

Charlie said:


> Guys,
> 
> Got the following info from Coopers, as I was planning on making a Brown Porter using a supermarket Coopers kit as the base :
> 
> Bitter 420 EBC 620 IBU



Thanks, that's real handy info. No wonder my first attempt at adding some EKG via 60,30,5 minutes boil additions of pellets turned out such an eyeball-rolling bitter beer.
Looks like I added 10-12 IBU to an already 33 IBU beer.


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## ntrabbit (30/11/06)

I got this from LN after sending them an email late last year

Product Colour @ 5 brix EBU @ 5 brix
Tooheys Special Lager 6 16
Tooheys Real Ale 25 21
Tooheys Special Draught 9 17
Tooheys Dark Ale 60 16
MSB Two Row Lager 9 16
MSB Summer Wheat Beer 6 16
MSB Oatmeal Stout 100 27
MSB Deep Roast Ale 80 19
MSB Pale Ale 10 16
MSB Nut Brown Ale 60 19


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## BruceL (30/11/06)

I got this earlier this year from Black Rock

Colour @ 80 Brix EBU @ 80 Brix 
Black Rock Bock 640 320 
Black Rock Cider 0 0 
Black Rock Colonial Lager 96 288 
Black Rock Draught 288 320 
Black Rock Mexican Lager 96 256 
Black Rock Miners Stout 1920 480 
Black Rock Lager 96 320 
Black Rock Unhopped Dark 640 0 
Black Rock Unhopped Amber 288 0 
Black Rock Pilsiner Blonde 96 256 
Black Rock Dry Lager 96 288 
Black Rock East India Pale Ale 96 256 
Black Rock Whispering Wheat 96 256


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## RobboMC (9/2/07)

The new Muntons Gold kits come with the relevent data on the side of the carton, with a message saying that this is the data you might need to 'enhance' the kit. At least they accept that someone may wish to alter their product.

Does anyone have this info the the Thomas Coopers and Coopers Brewmaster kits?


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## drsmurto (9/5/07)

BruceL said:


> I got this earlier this year from Black Rock
> 
> Colour @ 80 Brix EBU @ 80 Brix
> Black Rock Bock 640 320
> ...



Top info but any chance anyone has the IBUs for their kits? Trying to calculate the IBU of some beers i made recently with extra hop additions. Beersmith lets me add hopped kits (very useful) so that i can get a handle on how bitter my beer is. Used the colonial and mexican lager.

Either that or i need to find someone with an exceptional palate that can spit out the IBU of a beer to 2 decimal places? Voosher?

Cheers
DrSmurto


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## Goofinder (9/5/07)

DrSmurto said:


> Top info but any chance anyone has the IBUs for their kits? Trying to calculate the IBU of some beers i made recently with extra hop additions. Beersmith lets me add hopped kits (very useful) so that i can get a handle on how bitter my beer is. Used the colonial and mexican lager.



For an (very) rough calculation, I reckon you can do the following:

We are given the EBU (same as IBU) @ 80 deg Brix. This is presumably for the concentrated form in the can. 
Diluted to 23L, it's probably somewhere around 5 deg Brix, given that's what Tooheys quote their kits as.

So, for the Colonial:
288/80*5 = 18

Mexican:
256/80*5 = 16

The attached spreadsheet has all the numbers I've managed to collect and approximate conversions to make them equivalent at 23L. There's no way the numbers are perfect, but they should be a reasonable starting point. 

View attachment kits.xls


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## leroy_brown (30/4/09)

Hi all,

Are these values still relevant now (2009)? As I realise the alpha-acid content of hops changes from year to year and am curious if the manufacturers keep the bitterness levels the same.

Lee


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## lczaban (30/4/09)

leroy_brown said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Are these values still relevant now (2009)? As I realise the alpha-acid content of hops changes from year to year and am curious if the manufacturers keep the bitterness levels the same.
> 
> Lee



All of these kits are bittered using isohops (which is a liquid extract from hop flowers), and as such the bittering values of the isohops would be very consistent. Unless the recipe for each kit has changed, it would be pretty safe to assume that the values quoted here would be pretty reliable over time.


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## leroy_brown (30/4/09)

GravityGuru said:


> All of these kits are bittered using isohops (which is a liquid extract from hop flowers), and as such the bittering values of the isohops would be very consistent. Unless the recipe for each kit has changed, it would be pretty safe to assume that the values quoted here would be pretty reliable over time.



Really? Cheers for that, it's a huge help.


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## leroy_brown (1/5/09)

Just got an email from Cascade,

"The IBU information for our Cascade Homebrew kits is as follows:

Spicy Ghost Draught - 18
Imperial Voyage Pale Ale - 25
Chocolate Mahogany Porter - 19
Golden Harvest Lager - 22"

Assuming this is in 23L hence the low values


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