Saw your tooth enamel post a few days ago PV
Here's a few notes that might be of help
...
Bitterness versus Flavour/Aroma
This whole area is a great example of where software can mislead us.
In a post above I explained the problems with estimating
bitterness but what about
flavour and
aroma?
I think that is the question at least some of us might be asking. I'll come back to this.
Are you copying a recipe or designing/improving your own?
If you want to copy the flavour and aroma of someone else's recipe, you'll be battling (one exception) because it is very unlikely you will get enough information.
Read this. The BIABacus is the exception but only if you are copying from a BIABacus file where the user has completed Section G.
If you are designing your own recipe, then you need experience and knowledge that I won't go into here.
If you are improving on your own recipe, then you must ask yourself, "Do I want more bitterness, flavour or aroma?" If you want more or less bitterness then that is a very easy problem to solve - more or less hops early in the boil.
Getting back to flavour and aroma
Lots of things to note here....
1. The bullshit: You've gathered that already I think PV. You see a whole lot of theorising, a massive focus on IBU 'adjustments' and too many other things to mention but are irrelevant or unimportant to adding flavour or aroma.
2. The total lack of experimentation and testing: I've done a lot of side by side testing and wish I had time to do more. To cut a long story short, I see no or very poor controls in brewing experiments. See "Basic Experiment" below.
3. Work out what you want: If you want more flavour or aroma, what flavour/s aroma/s do you want? Should you be looking for hops that are designed for what you want?
4. If you have it all worked out: Then, you can use software like the BIABacus too very easily increase or decrease flavour/aroma contributions.
Basic Experiment
As I can brew two "double-batches" simultaneously, if I had time, this is what I would do. (Anyone is welcome to come and use my gear to do this. I just have no time atm)
Design an IPA recipe as that is an extreme bitterness/flavour/aroma beer. In Kettle A, put all hops in at 75 minutes. In Kettle B, put all hops in at flame-out. Rack first half of Kettle B into a 'cube'. After first rack (5 mins after boil) apply immersion chiller.
I'd be left with 2 x 22.5L of "bitter" beer, 22.5L of "slow-chilled" beer and 22.5L of "actively-chilled beer."
I'd pitch/ferment them within a day of each other, let them ferment and then I'd taste them. And, I'd learn so much so quickly!!!!
But, what if both beers from the above experiment were terrible?
That used to be my fear and, in the past, prevented me from doing experiments I should have. There was no way I would have ever done an experiment that would result in a beer I could not drink.
The answer is blending. The experiment above is a classic example of how that works. Kettle A beer would probably be awfully bitter. Kettle B beer might be okay??? The point is that if either one is out of balance, there is nothing stopping you from blending it.
Wish I'd learned about blending years ago!!!!
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Tinseth vs. IBU
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