Lowering the IBU's

[Amishbrewing]

I recently brewed an Imperial Blonde Ale out of a box kit by Brewers Best. I enjoyed the flavor and everything about it. I would like to make it again but possibly cut down the extra bitter flavor. According to the paperwork tht came with the kit the IBU is 26-30. The hops that came with the kit are 1ozBrewers Gold, boil for 40 minutes then add 1/2oz of Cascade Hops for 5 minutes then another 1/2oz Cascade Hops for 10 minutes. Where would I cut down on the hops to say make an IBU of 20-25? All help is greatly appreciated. I am really starting to like this hobby. I started the beginning of March and have since made 20 gallons of beer. An Oatmeal Stout: bottled and drank. The Imperial Blonde Ale : bottled and drinking. An English Pale Ale: Bottled and the conditioning is done this weekend. A Milk Stout that I just racked to secondary fermenter this evening. Looks and smells good. I am making a Copper Ale tomorrow for a family picnic the middle of June. I am to the point now where I want to start keggng but not for a few months after I move back to the West coast.

 

[masskrug]

I guess you would cut the Brewers Gold to 30 minutes.

 

[chickypad]

Were your additions at 40, 10, and 5 minutes to go, or did you boil the Brewers gold for a total of 55 min and the cascades for 15 and 10 minutes respectively? Sounds like the second one from your description. Hop additions are usually listed as total time left in the boil.

As was mentioned the Brewer's gold is the primary bittering addition, I would leave the time alone and decrease the amount of that addition, leaving the cascade additions as is. Without your OG, the AA% of the hops, and your boil volume we can't tell you exactly how much to go down. Using average numbers on a partial boil batch I'd guess you're getting about 20 IBU from that addition (if 55 min). Cutting that to 0.75 oz would probably get you about where you want to be. But if you want exact numbers either plug it into software or post them so someone can for you.

 

[meltroha]

I'd do .5 BG at 60, .5 BG at 20, and 1 oz cascade at 0

 

[Amishbrewing]

Ok here is more information. The OG was 1.068. I added the 1oz Brewers gold and boiled for 40 minutes. Then added 1lb DME boiled for 5 minutes. Added 1/2oz Cascade hops for 5 minutes then another 1/2 oz Cascade hops and boiled for the final 10 minutes. It is a 60 minute boil total. The Brewers Gold hops have been in for a total of 60 minutes. According to -the sheet the OG range is 1.067-1.071. IBUs 26-30. FG is 1.015-1.018 ABV is 7-8%. I'm not sure of AA% of the hops

 

[chickypad]

Yeah, those directions are confusing. For posting a recipe or plugging into software yourself, you would list those hop additions as:

1 oz Brewer's Gold 60 min
0.5 oz Cascade 15 min
0.5 oz casacade 10 min

Have to guess at the AA's then. Using 5.5 % for the cascade and a range of 8.5-9.5 % AA for Brewer's gold I get 27-30 IBU for the original recipe which seems in line. If you reduce the 60 min addition to 0.75 oz you will get 22-24 IBU. Going to 0.6 oz will give you about 19-20.5 IBU. You also didn't mention but I am assuming you did a partial boil and topped off with about 2.5 gallon water at the end.

You can mess around with the other additions if you want, but this is what I would do if you otherwise like the flavor/character of the beer and just want to decrease bitterness.