12 replies to this topic

[chadm75]

Curious as to which hop formula everyone uses. I'm a Rager man myself but thought I'd throw it out there...

[MtnBrewer]

I do full boils, so Tinseth works best for me.

[stellarbrew]

Tinseth

[NWPines]

I use Rager, mainly because it's what I'm used to and have a good idea what to expect when formulating recipes. I think the key is to pick a formula and stick with it so that you are familiar with it and get a good ballpark idea of what to expect. IMO, they all have flaws. And honestly, unless you're having your beer analyzed at a lab, you won't actually know what your IBUs are anyways, I don't care what any of the calculators say. There are just too many variables involved.

[ncbeerbrewer]

I do full boils, so Tinseth works best for me.

+1 Here too

[DubbelEntendre]

Tinseth based on the pick one and stick to it theory. It is what I started with, so this is how I roll.

[djinkc]

Jackie (Rager) - one of our clubs founders - gave a talk at our last meeting about how he came up with his formula. Interesting stuff - and surprisingly, a bunch of people drinking beer were quiet and listened.That said, until I buy some software I'll continue using tastybrew's calculator when I go to the trouble. I think they use Tinseth's formula.

[chuck_d]

Tinseth.https://www.brews-br...o...&hl=tinsethDoes anyone actually use Garetz?

[ChefLamont]

Jackie (Rager) - one of our clubs founders - gave a talk at our last meeting about how he came up with his formula. Interesting stuff - and surprisingly, a bunch of people drinking beer were quiet and listened.

That's cool!I use Rager. Chosen by careful evaluation? No, it was the default on Promash, and I never changed it.

[denny]

unless you're having your beer analyzed at a lab, you won't actually know what your IBUs are anyways, I don't care what any of the calculators say. There are just too many variables involved.

FWIW, when I _did_ have some beers analyzed, the IBUs came out to be almost exactly what I'd calced using Tinseth.

[zymot]

I started off as a strict Tinseth guy. When Jamilz recipe book came out and it uses Ragar, I started to use that also so I could compare my recipe's to Jamilz's recipes. My other recipe formulation reference is Daniels Designing Great Beer. He has a curve on page 89 that looks more Tinseth than Ragar.Do not over look the useful HBU (Weight X AA%) and the IBU:GU ratio. Of course IBU:GU requires a Tinseth or Ragar calcuation in the first place.As I recall, the big difference bewteen the two scale was in the longer boil periods. Ragar's curve pretty much flattens out 45-50 minutes and Tinsths continues to increase up to about 90 minutes, then flattens out.zymot

[chuck_d]

Do not over look the useful HBU (Weight X AA%) and the IBU:GU ratio. Of course IBU:GU requires a Tinseth or Ragar calcuation in the first place.

+1Today HBU came in very handy. I was brewing a wheat for my friend's wedding and he was over so we discussed the hops choices as I was bringing the wort to a boil. I had my recipe laid out for the balance we wanted, but we started subbing, Cascade/Cenntenial blend to replace the planned Cascade additions, Hallertauer Mittelfruh for planned Tettnanger additions. Needless to say, the hops used had different alpha acids than the planned hops, so I just used HBU in my head to estimate how to change the amounts of hops to add. After the brew I ran the numbers in my spreadsheet and I only ended up increasing the IBU (Tinseth) by 1.4, essentially nothing.In addition to the BU:GU ratio there is this neat concept of the Balance Value (BV). Here's a page explaining it all. I have the BU:GU and BV both calculated on the Worksheet and listed next to the reference styles chosen. I find looking at them useful for composing recipes.Edit: um yeah, helps when I paste the link: https://beercolor.ne...om/balance.html

Edited by chuck_d, 30 July 2009 - 10:50 PM.

[Stout_fan]

Started with Rager (that was the default IIRC) and it was way off.Tinseth was suggested by a friend, and I've found it spot on.