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Bitterness

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The Bitterness Options are used internally to estimate bitterness levels (IBUs) within the recipe design tab as well as the bitterness tool.  Setting the options here will change the calculation for all recipes displayed on this computer.

 

Mac Note: On the Macintosh version of BeerSmith, the options dialog is listed as Preferences under the BeerSmith2 menu and toolbar rather than options
 

New Change: The default leaf, plug and pellet hop adjustments have changed from version 1.X of BeerSmith.  Most hop estimation formulas were developed using leaf hops, so version 2.0 uses leaf hops as the baseline (zero adjustment) and makes a slight positive adjustment for plug and pellet hops.  This will result in a slight difference between V1.X and V2.0 calculations, but the V2.0 calculations should be more accurate for pellet and plug hops.

 

Using the Bitterness Options Tab

oSelect the Options dialog from the Tools menu or toolbar below the main ribbon (Preferences on the BeerSmith 2 menu for the Macintosh version).
oChoose the Bitterness tab on the left toolbar in the dialog
oChoose the formula to use for estimating recipe bitterness.  Most brewers recommend Tinseth for all grain or full-boil brews and Rager for extract brewing.  Note that changing the formula will have a big effect on the IBU estimation, so it is best to pick one formula and stick with it for consistency.
oThe first wort and mashing options show how much bitterness is added or subtracted relative to default boil hops using these two methods.  The default values of 10% for first wort hops and -80% for mash hops are appropriate for most brewers.
oThe hop type adjustments are applied when whole, leaf or plug hops are used as the different hop types have slightly different utilization in the boil.  The defaults of 0.0 for leaf, 2.0% for plug and 10% for pellet hops should be accurate for general brewing.