In doing a little background research for The Session #80 I came across a 1980 article in the Master Brewers Association of the Americas Technical Quarterly titled “Beers for the Future.” Alas, it is mostly an examination of the how and why of producing low-alcohol beers. So no nifty predictions about beers made with pumpkins or aged in wine barrels.
However, one table provides a bit of data on the direction American beer was still headed in 1980, the year Sierra Nevada Brewing began selling beer. It compares beers from 10 large brewers in 1957 with 1979 beers in various categories.
| ABV | IBU | |
| 1957 beers | 4.7% | 21 |
| 1979 lagers | 4.6% | 15 |
| Super premiums | 4.9% | 19 |
| Low carbohydrate | 3.8% | 13 |
Jump forward to 2009. The Barth-Haas Group began analyzing the bitterness levels in brands from around the world in 2006. They measured iso-alpha acids (milligrams per liter), which broadly correspond to International Bitterness Units (IBU). So, with a bit of fudging, 1 mg/L=1 IBU. The 2009 results, published in Brauwelt International in 2011, found that 11 U.S. lagers averaged 7.6 milligrams per liter. The article drew attention to earlier reports that bitterness units were still around 20 in 1980 (see above) and 12 by the late 1990s.
U.S. lagers, South American lagers, and Chinese beers contained the lowest levels of iso-alpha acids (7 to 9 mg/L).
This is very interesting, and confirms my own sensory historical experience since I’ve been drinking beer since the early 1970’s. E.g. I just tasted Coors Banquet, Colorado-brewed and newly available in Ontario. It had no hop nose I could detect and a very light bitterness. In the 70’s, I recall a light flowery nose, more bitterness and more malt too (or so it seemed, this current one had an acidic tang that suggested to me a high adjunct content – if not that they are doing something else to make the beer very dry). I would think and believe I have read that in turn, 1933 bitterness levels were considerably higher than in 1957.
Big brewing, in my opinion, made a huge mistake in pursuing this course. It ended by considering that what makes beer beer – malty sweetness or dextrinous body, hop aroma and bitterness – needed reduction in order to appeal to a wide audience (even though wide audiences had no trouble for centuries enjoying beer in Britain, Germany or the Czech lands, say).
I was surprised how bland this Coors was, Bud is similar IMO and I cannot understand for the life of me why big brewing has persisted in this course, its few forays into more characterful beer aside.
Gary
What happens if you don’t fudge? Or, to get at what I really care about, how inaccurate is it to say that “US lagers now average about 8 IBUs”?
Great little nugget, Stan–thanks.
In theory they should be about 25% less. In fact, at that level operator error is more likely to change 8 to 6, with the “average” threshold of perception being somewhere between. I think you’d be comfortable with the 8 IBU figure.
Interestingly, although A-B doesn’t talk about Budweiser IBU on an official level, last year when they did the ZIP code beers when employees offered samples in bars they flat out said “Budweiser has 10 IBUs.”
Does 10 IBU even register on the average palate?
Not total agreement on that, Steve, but for most people the bottom end of perception is in the 5-7 range. If you’ve had a Budweiser made without hops (for comparison purposes) then you appreciate the importance of some.
5 – 7, I knew there was a threshold — just couldn’t recall.
This takes it back further:
https://sites.google.com/site/jesskidden/hops/hops-post-repeal
I’d extrapolate from this that circa-1934 beers were in the 20-29 IBU range, the range the “Bushwicks” still had into the 1960’s. Indeed I remember Schaefer being pleasantly bitter in the early 70’s. I believe Urquell is around 40 IBUs and any beer 75% as bitter would still be a decently hopped beer.
And so the long decline in hop character, matched so often by increasing adjunct use which tended to make the beers lean and sharp in body.
It is surprising in many ways the revolt did not start sooner.
Gary