# IBU boil time and hops quantity



## Rizzla (6/12/17)

Hello and seasons greetings.

In bittering a brew I could (for example only and all else malts etc being the same) boil 15g X hop @ 14% AA for 60 minutes to achieve IBU 19.6.

I could also boil 19.5g of the same hop for 30 minutes and get the same IBU.

I could also boil 25g of the same hop for 20 minutes, same IBU

My question is is my beer going to taste better, be about the same or not be so good by using more hops in the boil for a shorter period. 

Thanks in advance for any ideas


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## MHB (6/12/17)

Probably going to upset one of the Mods, but this has been talked to death over the years, it isn't a bad idea to do some research for yourself, you tend to learn more.
Short answer is that "bittering the beer" is only one of the many reasons we boil a wort. Secondly a 60 minute boil is a short boil, my default is 90 minutes, in most cases a 90 minute boil will give a better tasting and looking beer.
The following has been posted many times, it is from a series of articles written for people sitting the guild certificate in brewing, worth reading, well supported by research and generations of brewing experience.
The other point I would like to make is, Wort Boiling is one of the most expensive parts of the brewing process, professional brewers, even craft brewers who own their breweries spend the time and money, I was chatting with a couple of local pro brewers recently and this question came up, the average boil time was 75 minutes, on high end commercial systems. Do you think that all the pro brewers in the world are too stupid to work out that they could save a bunch of money and time by choosing to do a shorter boil? Or is it just possible that they and the research done on the subject are right.


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## contrarian (6/12/17)

Not sure the intention of the OP was to shorten the boil. More a question about the different flavours or perceived bitterness from when in the boil the hops are added. 

The short answer is that there will be a difference in flavour. Especially the difference from a 60 minute addition and a 15 minute addition for the same IBUs. 

How it works exactly will depend on your system and process and whether you chill/no chill etc. 

I no chill and have made pale ales with a very small 60 minute addition and the rest of the IBUs from cube hopping that have come out very well. 

I would also add that late hops and calculating IBUs is a bit of a dark art so it is probably more about trial and error on your system than following a magic formula.


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## manticle (6/12/17)

Rizzla said:


> Hello and seasons greetings.
> 
> In bittering a brew I could (for example only and all else malts etc being the same) boil 15g X hop @ 14% AA for 60 minutes to achieve IBU 19.6.
> 
> ...


I too am going to assume you're not talking about a shorter boil overall (I side with MHB on that one).

You absolutely get different results, despite the similar BU number but hop chemistry is complex and adding more for shorter time may mean more of other compounds that affect flavour.

Better is too subjective a descriptor though - it really depends so much on hop type, beer style, brewer preference, etc.

For most beers now (I no chill) I have a bittering component, sometimes first wort hop and then a late addition to whirlpool which gets a 20 minute stand around 85-90 deg. Late addition may be very small where the beer is not hop forward, bigger if it is.


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