The hop bitterness tool can be used to estimate the number of International Bitterness Units (IBUs or bitterness) for a given set of hop additions. It is a standalone tool - as these calculations are also built into the recipe calculator. IBUs is the primary measurement used by home and professional beers to determine the balance and hoppiness of beer.
Online Articles: Calculating Hop Bitterness, Best Hop Techniques, Balancing your Beer Bitterness, Glenn Tinseth Interview
Using the Hop Bitterness Tool
| o | Select the Hop Bitterness Tool from the Tools menu or ribbon. |
| o | Enter the batch volume, which is the target volume of beer going into the fermenter |
| o | Enter your boil volume (start of boil) and boil gravity (start of boil) |
| o | Select the equation you wish to use - most all grain brewers use Tinseth, but many extract brewers also use Rager. |
| o | Choose the hops you wish to add, the amount and how long to boil each using the Add/Edit/Delete buttons |
| o | The total IBUs will be displayed |
| o | The number of Alpha Acid Units (AAUs) is also displayed. This number is generally less accurate than the IBU number, and should only be used as a cross reference if using older home brewing books. |
