What Are IBUs in Beer? Beer Bitterness Explained

Thomas Short — Sat, 17 May 2025 15:23:10 +0000

West Coast IPAs are notorious for being bitter, bitter beers. While some choose to embrace the hops, others bring out the bitter, even though hops can also be bitter. Both are bitter. IPAs are usually pretty bitter, full of IBUs. Bitterness has always been a thing in beer, and at some point in human history, there was a decision made to measure the bitterness of any given beer. In the US, we use the International Bittering Units scale (IBU) to pinpoint just how bitter a beer is. When speaking, we ask what the IBU of a beer is. This is basically just saying, “hey, how bitter is your beer?” While many things about beer are easy and fun, IBUs are, in my opinion, neither. Part of the reason is that, as far as I can tell, some breweries swill measure their IBUs differently. I don’t know why. Before getting into the math (yes, there’s math involved), let’s learn more about bitterness. Let’s Learn More About Beer Bitterness IBUs work well with ABV – while ABV tells you how a beer will make you feel, IBUs give you a hint at how your beer will taste. That’s why they are the most traditional numbers to use when presenting beer (there are plenty of others, like density, but that’s a whole nother story). IBUs are pretty simple, too: the lower the IBU, the less bitter the beer. Technically, the lowest IBU possible is 0, but when a beer is that low it may be more common to just ignore measuring them altogether (as we found out during a recent beer tasting). To give you an idea of IBUs, here are some popular beers and their IBU: Coors Light: 10 Corona Light: 13 Heineken: 23 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale: 37 Guinness: 40 Stone IPA: 71 Flying Monkeys Alpha Fornication: 2500 I’ve never had the Flying Monkeys beer, but if you want to send me money to buy and taste it that’s ok with me. Right about now you probably have two things on your mind: The second point is a good point. Why is that? Well, Guinness is bitter, but it’s also a stout which means it’s heavy on malt. Sierra Nevada, on the other hand, is one of those breweries that likes to accentuate the bitterness of a brew. Even though it has a lower IBU, the beer presents the hops better by reducing malt. How Are IBUs Measured? IBUs are calculated by taking a measurement of boiling hops, taking the percentage of alpha acid and taking the total hop utilization boil time – then multiplying all of them and dividing them by 7.25 for every 5 gallons of beer. Let me break this down for you. Let’s say we use an ounce of some citra hops. Perfect and delicious. These hops have alpha acids; more specifically, let’s say they’re 12% alpha acid. We’re single hopping this to keep it easy, so let’s say 31% utilization. To crunch the numbers, just do 1 x 12 x 31 = 372. Then we divide this by 7.25, so our total IBU would be 51.3. Honestly, that makes sense to me since citra hops are used commonly in IPAs, and IPAs should be around 40-60 IBU (unless they’re bitter heavy). If we were to have other hops and utilization, we would take their alpha acids, punch in the utilization and then add all the IBU totals together. I know, it’s confusing to try and teach through writing. I don’t write math text books, I write about beer. What’s a High IBU? Generally, anything over 60 IBUs would be considered high. Of course, that doesn’t mean it would be high for your palette. Heck, 60 might seem low to you! Or anything over 40 could be way too bitter to tolerate. It’s also worth noting that, while 60 is pretty high, it’s definitely not nearly as high as it could go. IBUs can easily reach 100, which at that point is making a beer bitter for the sake of bitterness. Is a High IBU Better? High IBUs are not better, but they’re also not worse. IBU is just another way to measure the flavor and profile of a beer, sort of like ABV or the hop varieties used. Whether a high IBU is better or not is up to you.

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What Is An IPA?

Thomas Short — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 15:57:07 +0000

The IPA is a type of beer that has skyrocketed in popularity inside craft brew and hipster circles. However, this doesn’t mean the beer is fancy, pretentious or not for you. The right IPA can be a true delight, and it might even become your new favorite type of beer. When you take apart what IPA stands for, you get a better idea of the beer. India Pale Ales (IPAs) are in the pale ale family of beers, except they tend to be a little hoppier than other ales. This typically means they’re more bitter in flavor, but flavor ranges from beer to beer. The IPA was first created roughly 200 years ago with the intention of being super-hoppy since it would preserve the beer longer. This was important since beer prepared in England rarely survived the long journey to India (hence the name). What Does An IPA Taste Like? The easiest way to find out the flavor of an IPA is by trying one (obviously), but if you want to sound like a beer connoisseur, there are a few words you can use to describe your hoppy beverage: Used in a sentence: “Wow, this beer is so hoppy. One could even say bitter, but not me because I drink beer.” Used in a sentence: “This is a juicy beer, now I don’t need to have my glass of juice before bed!” Used in a sentence: “This IPA is as hazy as pea soup.” If you need more terms to describe your IPA, check out the Beer Buzz Words list. Types of IPA Yes, there are different types of IPA just to keep things fun and interesting, along with other various sub-styles. Here are some highlights. West Coast IPA One big differentiation between IPAs is the East Coast/West Coast IPA style. The West Coast IPA generally leans more into the bitter side of hops and has a clear color. While not as popular as it once was, the West Coast IPA is still a beloved staple among craft brewers. East Coast IPA The East Coast IPA generally uses malty flavors to smooth out the IPA. This makes it a little hazier and juicier while also making it less bitter. While many people would call this “hoppier” than a West Coast IPA, that isn’t really the case. Both West Coast and East Coast IPAs use plenty of hops — the only difference is the types of hops used and what flavors are pulled from the hops. You’d be correct to call any type of IPA hoppy…except may Cold or Brut IPAs. Imperial IPA Imagine an IPA, but stronger. Bolder. More alcohol. You’ve just pictured the Imperial IPA. Often referred to as a double IPA, the Imperial IPA is just an IPA but turned to 11. Which would make a triple IPA and IPA turned to 12. Brut IPA To fly to close to sun. To be the Brut IPA. A fad that lasted about two weeks, Brut IPAs were a Frankenstein’s monster invention that saw the addition of amylase to a traditional IPA recipe. Much like Frankenstein’s monster, modern media portrayal doesn’t do the Brut IPA any justice. The monster could speak very well! And this beer speaks…sort of. Kudos if you ever find a Brut IPA on tap. Cold IPA The Cold IPA — perhaps the darling of the show right now — tends to closely follow a typical IPA recipe, albeit with some brewing processes lifted from lagers. A Cold IPA will use a lower temperature during fermenting, akin to lagers. This gives the Cold IPA a sort of hybrid lager/IPA feel. What’s the difference between a Cold IPA and IPL (India Pale Lager)? Who knows! Hazy IPA The belle of the ball. The Hazy IPA. The Hazy IPA is everything the Brut IPA wishes it could be. If you’ve ever been to a craft brewery, then you know what a Hazy IPA is. But what makes the Hazy IPA so hazy? That depends entirely on the brewer!

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What Are IBUs in Beer? Beer Bitterness Explained

What Is An IPA?