gw homebrewing book

[duffname1969]

hi all,

been looking at the all grain recipes in the last version of Graham wheeler Home Brewing book 1994 version, and find even if the all grain recipes are entered in Gw brewing programme that the bitterness calculations are miles out. or am i not using the programme correctly??

[jimp2003]

Could be that the Alpha Acid levels of the hops have changed as they will do from season to season or maybe the default hop utilisation level is different in Beer Engine to that used when GW calculated the recipes....

You can change the AA% in the hop editor and the % hop utilisation in the default settings.

[far9410]

download beer engine, adjust the hop alpha % as required then alter the recipe accordingly

[jaff]

Gahhh. GW moans about homebrew shops not listing the AA content of hops, and then doesn't provide AA content estimates in the recipes that he publishes in the same book. Instead you have to refer back to Tables 4.1 and 4.2 and try to guess whether he is talking about seeded or seedless hops.

[Jocky]

download beer engine, adjust the hop alpha % as required then alter the recipe accordingly

This is what I do too - also when substituting one hop for another to try and get the right bitterness.

I cut back more on the early buttering hops than anything else when in your situation, trying to keep the later additions closer to their original amounts for the flavour/aroma.

[Fuggled Mind]

It might also have something to do with the better quality hops that are available and improved packaging and storage.

As all the others have said, you just need to adjust the quantities in a programme like beer engine so that it matches the IBUs the recipe states.

Cheers

Jason