Why do brewers not list IBUs?

I think Hopsickle is still brewed? I was a big fan of those wars. and for me that beer won. Not sure there is a NA equivalent, or a market for such a beer, but sounds like something Athletic might pull off.

 

Avery also has homebrew recipes on their website for the majority of their beers. Adam supports homebrewing on many levels. I had entered a beer I brewed into the Vail Belgians, barlwywines and big beers festival. I placed 3rd out of 30 or 40 beers. I got my medal and notes in the mail a couple weeks later. About six months after the fact I received another package in the mail. I opened it and it was a hand signed bottle from Adam with a label that included the competition info and the placing of my beer. I thought that was an amazing gift from a guy who is in this for the beer. I still have the bottle, unopened, in my beer fridge.

 

I know a lot of breweries that out the package date on the case cardboard and not bottles which sucks when at a liquor store looking for just a six pack

 

IBU is just a measurement of Isohumulone oil, the primary bittering oil in hops. Problem is that the actual perception of bitterness is largely dependent on the quantity of malt sugars and other flavor compounds present in beer.

As an example

Sierra Nevada Torpedo is a beer that I have a hard time enjoying because of how bitter it is at a mere 65 IBU, great beer, not for me. However Lupulin 'Strictly Illegal' IPA coming in at 100+ IBU doesn't present as very bitter at all because of it's much richer malt character.

It's really only useful as a brewers tool for observing minute differences between extremely similar beers.

 

Well, I'm not going to attempt to judge your age or your history of beer drinking, etc., so don't take offense but:
Were you around and drinking craft beer in the 1990s and 2000s? Even going back to the early days of the 1980s, M. Jackson's Pocket Guides to Beer, Fred Eckhardt's books and GABF programs often mentioned the IBU rating of beers.

 

Nope I was born in '92.

 

I haven't read through all the replies, so excuse me if this has already been addressed...

IBUs are calculated by brewers using 1 of 3 calculations. Depending on which calculation you use the IBUs can differ. They are also estimates in reality as they are based off specific factors being true throughout the process which may or not be true when brewed. And traditional calculations don't factor in the limited solubility of hop bitterness... no matter how many hops you use, the wort will become saturated, and beyond that point the iso-alpha acids (what we measure as bitterness) will drop out of solution. Many of the IPAs touted as 150+ IBUs were from this calculation but measured closer to 70.

Beyond this, during fermentation some of the iso-alpha acids can drop from solution as they bind to yeast. Clarifying agents can have an effect on this as well. How many generations a yeast is repitched can impact how much of the yeast stays in solution or drops out. This is why pouring a hazy IPA carefully from a settled can results in a smoother bitterness over shaking the precipitates back into solution will have a harsher bitterness.

The only real way to know exactly how many IBUs are in a finished beer is to have it tested by a lab. This causes an issue as this process is done a few days before packaging, and if the beer is ready to package it is too late to alter the package it is going into (change labels, print new cans, etc.). And as I pointed out above, each iteration of a beer can include factors that cause this number to shift. Batch 1 might test at 32 IBUs and batch 3 might test at 28 or 36. The cans are purchased and printed in bulk, labels are printed in bulk rolls, if you print them with the 32, it is false on batch 3. Easier to just leave it off.

 

EXACTLY!

I am more concerned with canned on/bottled on dates than I am IBU's, or even abv for that matter.
Hell, even the style the brewer is aiming for is more important to me.

 

That's *always* a gamble!

 

That is totally awesome! So cool!

Congrats!

 

Since Bells opened they have sold supplies and kits - even before they sold beer. I have tried the Two Hearted clone with some friends. Very good.

https://store.bellsbeer.com/collections/clone-beer-kits

 

Have you met the internet before?

 

IBUs and ABVs, sure that would be nice. But can we first focus on breweries listing born on dates!

 

If you think ibu’s are dumb I may have found something even more ridiculous...

 

I also found it funny that they list the ABV to the hundredth -- I wonder how well that holds up?

It is Bottle Logic after all whose labels often contain such "metrics". Good thing they make good beer!

 

People do realize that statistics like ABV (voluntary but must meet TTB tolerances if stated) and IBUs (not regulated) are printed on labels far in advance in a bulk order, part of the printing process by a third party supplier, while date coding (which obviously changes daily) is done at the brewery in a totally separate process, printed or stamped on the label, bottle or can, during packaging -- right?

 

Consumers demand to know how thicc it is before they buy it

 

Not being a brewer, how easy (or hard) is it for small brewers (or even mid-sized brewers) to control the batch to meet the ABV on the pre-printed labels within TTB tolerances?

 

Good question - one that had a variety of answers and opinions in a recent thread, starting here. I tend to think it's just a matter of the chances of getting caught are slim and the TTB is just going to do a wrist slap - "In most cases, we (the TTB) notify the industry member about the violation and work with them to bring the product into compliance."