Brewing a strawberry NEIPA and I have a few questions/issues...

[JMG1994]

Hello all,

So I will be starting home brewing shortly and after my friend and I make a German Hefeweizen this coming week, we will tackle a strawberry NEIPA. While using BF for calculating everything, I have found an issue with my calculated IBUs. On the recipe page, it is showing it being between 36-38 where as the independent calculator is showing IBUs near 100. Could someone point me in the right direction to which one is correct? I have also calculated it by hand and it was giving me 36IBU at a much lower amount of PG. Also, since I will be going for a strong strawberry flavor, would adding a small amount of strawberries to the whirlpool or fermenter smart? I know the Pacific Gem and the Belma hops will give me some flavor but I have no clue how strong.

See below for my recipe and if you have any questions, ask away! Thanks for your help!

Target OG: 1.073
Final OG: 1.018
Calc. ABV: 7.18%
Calc. IBU: 36.74

Size: 1 gallon small batch ( May go up to 2 gal )

Mash Type & Temp: Single Infusion @ 154F

Grain Bill
American-Pale 2-Row: 1.8lb 64.3%
Flaked Oats: .5lb 17.9%
German-Pale Wheat: .22lb 7.9%
American-Caramel/Crystal 80L: .28lb 10%

Hop Schedule
.4oz 19%Utilization Pacific Gem Boil 60min 26.85IBU
.1oz 8% Utilizaton Belma WP 30min 5.63IBU
.06oz 5% Utilization Galaxy WP 15min 3.20IBU
.03oz 5% Utilization Belma WP 15min 1.06IBU
.3oz 0% Utilization Belma DH 5 Days
.3oz 0% Utilization Pacific Gem DH 5 Days

Yeast
White Labs - Burlington Ale WLP095 at 68F

 

[philjohnwilliams]

I am curious as to where you got your hop utilization numbers from?

 

[J A]

That's usually attributable to a setting in the "more" section. If you have no-chill options active, IBUs will jump in the recipe calculator. Check all the parameters and make sure you're comparing apples to apples.

 

[JMG1994]

I am curious as to where you got your hop utilization numbers from?

I saw a site (if I find it again, i'll drop a link) where there was an utilization chart which had OG vs. boil time. Mine was right around 19%. And for the others, just going on different forums and researching. I would imagine utilization would decrease as temperature decreases, especially past 180F. Of course correct me if I am wrong...trying to learn as much as I can over the next couple weeks. Thanks.

 

[JMG1994]

That's usually attributable to a setting in the "more" section. If you have no-chill options active, IBUs will jump in the recipe calculator. Check all the parameters and make sure you're comparing apples to apples.

I'll check it out...my chill option is an ice bath and should be selected. Something could definitely be wrong on my end. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[J A]

Not necessarily in the profile settings, but in the "more" drop-down in recipe editing the no-chill hop utilization setting. May be something else entirely, but a place to check. Make the recipe sharable and link it. Somebody can usually find the glitch.

 

[thunderwagn]

Strawberries are really light on flavor. Proper hop selection to compliment will help, but your probably going to want at least 1 lb per gallon of berries. 1.5 is most likely even better. A bit of lactose and flavoring agent would not be uncommon. I'd add the berries at end of fermentation and allow any additional fermentation to take place.

 

[JMG1994]

Strawberries are really light on flavor. Proper hop selection to compliment will help, but your probably going to want at least 1 lb per gallon of berries. 1.5 is most likely even better. A bit of lactose and flavoring agent would not be uncommon. I'd add the berries at end of fermentation and allow any additional fermentation to take place.

Thanks thunderwagn..appreciate the help. Do you prefer whole, fresh berries or frozen? I glanced online and it seems everyone has their own opinion on the matter.

 

[GFHomebrew]

I did a strawberry wheat beer recently in keg atm added 3.5 kg to 20 lt batch and as thunder said it's a low flavour threshold thing but I can taste them but it's on the lighter side.