Comment on Unhopped ale
Mistermillennia@ttrpg.network 10 months agoThe other thing to consider with bitterness is that bitterness presents differently depending on the other components of the beer, such as the SG:IBU ratio (or IMO the more accurate FG:IBU ratio) - the sweetness of the beer will counteract the bitterness, leading to the beer tasting less bitter or more bitter, even when at the same IBU.
OP, If it is the not the hops bitterness that is specifically unpalatable for you, but the hops flavours, you might be interested in Gruit, as it replaces the hops with herbs for the bittering component, replacing grass, pine and/or resinous bitter notes with spice at the end of the palate, or a Graf, which combines beer with cider, where the Malic Acid in the apples helps to balance the sweetness of the beer, reducing the amount of hops bitterness needed. You could even combine these two styles, making a spiced apple juice beer that does not use any hops to balance the grain sweetness at all.
h0rnman@lemmy.world 9 months ago
This is an amazing bit of advice that every home brewer needs to understand. IBU only tells part of the story, and you have to understand that there are other factors that go into perceived bitterness. Many of your darker beers have higher IBU values, but the non-fermentable sugar and the other roast flavors counter the hop bitterness. Adjuncts like lactose can also smooth out some of the sharper hop notes (again, non-fermentable sugars). I found a guide that shows ibu ranges for a bunch of styles and you can see that a lot of heavier beers are rather high in IBU even though you’d never call the style “bitter” or “hoppy”