I've been looking in to the relationship between hop Bitterness and maltiness. The idea is to develop a good balance between these two when formulating a Beer recipe.
Of course, different beer styles have different bitterness ratios. An IPA for example would be considered quite bitter, whereas a weizenbier would be considered not bitter.
The bitterness ratio is referred as the BU:GU ratio. This is a very simple calculation: Divide the IBUs by the OG
IBU
------------------------
([OG - 1] x 1000)
Depending on the style of beer, it should come out somewhere between 0.3 and 1.0.
For example, if you've developed a Pale Ale with an IBU of 35 units, and an OG of 1.052, the BU:GU ratio is 0.673.
Why is this useful? Well, let's say you wanted to increase the gravity (and alcohol strength) of this recipe by adding more grain to the mash. To maintain a similar perceived bitterness, you'd need to also increase your bittering hops (increasing the IBUs) to maintain the balance.
Of course BU:GU ratio isn't the total story when it comes to creating a well balanced beer. Each malt has different characteristics. Some are more sweet and malty than others. So a beer made with only pale malt is not going to taste as malty as one made with a decent helping of Crystal malt.
Finally, it's best not to confuse "hoppy" with "bitter". Remember that hops have three main functions; bittering, flavouring and aroma.
If you add most of your hops late in the boil, and follow it up with some dry hopping, you'll likely get a beer that's not particularly bitter, but has loads of hop flavour and aroma. Many would call that a "hoppy" beer.
Of course, different beer styles have different bitterness ratios. An IPA for example would be considered quite bitter, whereas a weizenbier would be considered not bitter.
The bitterness ratio is referred as the BU:GU ratio. This is a very simple calculation: Divide the IBUs by the OG
IBU
------------------------
([OG - 1] x 1000)
Depending on the style of beer, it should come out somewhere between 0.3 and 1.0.
For example, if you've developed a Pale Ale with an IBU of 35 units, and an OG of 1.052, the BU:GU ratio is 0.673.
Why is this useful? Well, let's say you wanted to increase the gravity (and alcohol strength) of this recipe by adding more grain to the mash. To maintain a similar perceived bitterness, you'd need to also increase your bittering hops (increasing the IBUs) to maintain the balance.
Of course BU:GU ratio isn't the total story when it comes to creating a well balanced beer. Each malt has different characteristics. Some are more sweet and malty than others. So a beer made with only pale malt is not going to taste as malty as one made with a decent helping of Crystal malt.
Finally, it's best not to confuse "hoppy" with "bitter". Remember that hops have three main functions; bittering, flavouring and aroma.
If you add most of your hops late in the boil, and follow it up with some dry hopping, you'll likely get a beer that's not particularly bitter, but has loads of hop flavour and aroma. Many would call that a "hoppy" beer.
