Brewers Showcase Hoppiness Without Bitterness in Zero IBU IPAs

I know they mean well, but it's impossible to make a beer that has hops in it that has zero IBU in it. The beer is misnamed, and therefore, deceptive at best. I understand they are trying to educate customers on what they were going for with the beer, but it's just going to lead to confusion and misunderstanding.

Whirlpool hops and even dry hopping can add IBUs. It's more difficult to calculate how much, but it's there.

 

I've had a DIPA which was around 40 IBUs. It was Han Shot First from Evil Genius. It was interesting in that all the hops were there and the flavor was different that the bitterness wasn't there compared to a regular double ipa. I like the idea.

 

bitterness is icky

 

Funny stuff this thread. The wording of its title makes it the anti clickbait.

 

The zero (very low) IBU collab that Trillium did was delicious.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30654/255663/

 

What a funny name for juice. Embrace the juice.

 

This is not for me, I enjoy the bitter bite. Must be my crabby nature.

 

I had a 7 IBU IPA at Structures Brewing in Bellingham, WA a couple of years ago. Very nice!

 

honestly the whole thing seems strange to me. moderate alcohol (6%+ and hops used) yet no IBU?

what do they taste like? are they sweet and hoppy but not bitter?

i like the bitterness of beer. also i find IBUs to be deceptive. i've had 90 IBU beer that was less bitter than a 50 IBU

 

This sounds like a dream come true. An IPA without bitterness? Like are you kidding me? Sign me up for that. I still have taste buds. I don't eat pine cones. I don't like my face turned inside out with bitter beer face. Bless me with your tasty bitterless beers.

 

I'm the exact opposite....

Bitterness is lovely!

Cheers

 

I hear ya, too many IPAs nowadays lacking that beautiful bitter bite.

Don't have to be hop bombs, but I truly enjoy the bitterness, especially in the after taste.

Cheers

 

I love the familiar bitterness in an IPA, but I'd give it a twirl.

 

Great IPA's are both "sticky" and "icky."

 

Gimmickry.

 

My beef with all this is that the IBU rating seems effectively meaningless to me. I just had a Singlecut IPA rated at about 122 IBUs and it was as smooth, mild, and low-bitterness a beer as I've had from them. I get a lot more bitterness from Union Craft IPAs, and I don't belive their IBU rating is that high. Furthermore, they say you can't detect bitterness beyond 100 IBUs anyway, though I've eaten radishes, kola nuts, and other things far more bitter than any high-IBU beer.
So 0 IBUs sounds as much like hogwash to me as 175 IBU beers, but I'll decide it when I try it. Unless it's basically orange juice, it's hard to imagine.

 

The IBU scale is totally hogwash, and so is saying a beer has zero IBU's when you did a heavy dose of whirlpool and dry hops.

 

While whirlpool hops do add IBU's, dry hopping does not. IBU's measure bitterness, which is caused by the isomerization of the alpha acids. Isomerization is most efficient at 212F, and drops off sharply after 180F. Dry hopping is done at room temperature, and is simply not hot enough to result in iso-alpha acids forming in the beer .

 

He is right, new research shows that bitterness does increase with dry hopping. Do a search on Humulinones.