IBU above 100... how bad is that?

Question

First of all, I didn't really plan to make a beer with IBU above 100... I popped the hops into the calculator and it came out about 85. So, after the brewing the beer I was going over the printed out recipe, and found that the hops schedule was not reflecting the reality... I recalculated the IBU according to my steps, and it came out as 120 (that is what happens when you put Magnum and Columbus at 60mins of boil).

Anyway, I'm not against hops, and I love hoppy IPAs and DIPAs with tons of hops (I'm a hophead and an addict, I know). However, I've read that a human won't be able to taste bitterness of IBU above 100... In other words IBU 100 and IBU 150 would taste the same... Is it the case?

Will it be bad? Can I neutralize the over-bitterness with any additional ingredients into secondary like oak cubes, maltodextrin, caramel or crystalized honey? Or I just should not worry about it and just enjoy it like an extra bitter IPA?

Thanks guys.

PS. I am documenting every single mistake I make, and so far in 7 batches I didn't repeat any of them twice.

PPS. It was supposed to be an DIAP/IPA with 7.5 ABV, 80 IBU, and 20 SRM.

Answer 1

There's plenty of commercial beers that exceed 100 IBUs, some go to absurd levels. A lot of my favorite DIPA's have over 100 (Stone's Ruination being the first that comes to mind). I've had the IBU debate with others who have made the claim of the human threshold on hops. No one has been able to cite a factual source on whether or not such a theory is at all true past hearsay. Seriously, someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

If you'd like to neutralize the bitterness, you have a few options: increase the body (higher FG), dilute your recipe, or probably the simplest method, reduce your hop quantities. Unfortunately, since you've already brewed it, none of these are viable options. If you like hops, I doubt 120 IBUs will push you away.

It's my belief that perceived bitterness relies more on the quantity of hops you use, and not their resulting IBU's. You will taste way more bitterness if you double or triple your hop quantities (towards the end of the boil) to get to an IBU count instead of using one high-alpha hop.

Also, for future reference, you can save yourself the hassle and use one hop variety instead of two for your bittering charge. Bittering hops are not intended for flavor, so at 60 minutes, you wouldn't be able to taste much of a difference between two bittering hops like Magnum and Columbus (other hops have different bittering characteristics though, so some level of research when experimenting with bittering hops should be done). My personal preference for IPAs is to aim for anywhere between 25% - 33% of my total IBU contributions coming from my bittering charge, the remaining 66% - 75% are typically at the 15-minute mark and a 30 minute hop stand. This results in a very hoppy, bitter, chewy IPA, yet it can be well under 100 IBUs and drink like it's way north of that. Just some ideas for your next recipe if you haven't experimented with any of this.