Has Oskar Blues changed the recipe on this beer? It's currently listed as 65 IBUs: http://www.oskarblues.com/#tenfidy However, I remember it being listed as "98" previously, with sources confirming such: http://growlermag.com/beer-review-ten-fidy/, or a simple Google serach. Anyone know if this is just a typo, or did the beer change?
Based upon my personal tastes I think so. It used to be too roasty for may tastes - at least back when they first started canning it. Now I think that has been dialed back and it has more sweetness. A decrease in IBU's would make sense with that, too. OB has been known to tweak their flagships. They've been very overt about tweaks to the Gubna. I talked with some of their staff about Lil Yella Pils and that one has been tweaked quite a bit, too. You'll notice it no longer has tons of (intentional) diacetyl.
Having it now, canned a few months ago, I'm still getting stiff balancing bitterness, so I'd be impressed if it's actually 65. Comparable would be Founders Imperial at 90 IBUs. (And now there's more confusion with the Founders website changing the IBU count to 75: http://foundersbrewing.com/our-beer/imperial-stout/)
Another possibility is that they switched from estimating IBUs to actually measuring them in a laboratory.
Hmmm. Well with both having recently sold some portion of ownership they'd both probably have more money fo do laboratory testing rather than using formulas for estimating. (There's a reason there are three different formulas used to do estimates of IBUs. Sometimes direct measurement is better than estimating.)
I hope this is correct. These are two of my favorite imperial stouts, and they don't need to be tweaked. That said, I haven't perceived any diminished bitterness in Fidy. It tastes the same as always to me.
Another reason I'm thinking it may be a change from estimates to test results is that on the same page where they describe the FIDY they also specifically mention a change in the Gubna recipe. So unless the web site is out of date they'd probably say there was a change here as well. And since the new IBU number given on their web page is the more recent one that got this thread started....
Have you tried to contact anyone at Oskar Blues? I visit the Brevard brewery often and they are always willing to answer questions like this. I was there this weekend when they were picking out the hops for this year's G'Knight, so this seasonal selection of hops could be a difference in Ten Fidy as well.? I was also there last month when they had all of the Ten Fidy variants on tap...in the variants flight was a 2015 and a 2012 version. The 2012 was outstanding, but I attributed that to cellaring, but the 2015 tasted like the 2012 just without the advantage of aging. So I don't think they've changed it much, if any at all, personally.
