By: Ron UnzWhen composing your own recipes, it’s often important to know the amount of bitterness the hops you plan on using will impart on your brew. If you want build your own spreadsheets or do the calculations yourself, it’s important to have an idea on how to calculate the amount of bitterness in your beer. The standard unit for bitterness is called the international bitterness unit (IBU). The kind of hops and how long you boil them will determine the amount of bitterness in the final product. The following equation (Glenn Tensith’s equation) can be used to calculate the amount of bitterness in IBUs. ![]() U is the amount of hop utilization, A is the percent of alpha acids in the hops, W is the amount of hops in ounces, and V is the final volume of the wort. The hop utilization is a function of initial wort gravity and time of your hop additions. The hop utilization is described by the following equation: ![]() |