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Author Topic: AIPA...Aroma...BJCP  (Read 6596 times)

Offline roguejim

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AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« on: March 15, 2012, 06:24:17 pm »
For the BJCP judges here, have you ever judged an AIPA that had too much, or too strong of a hop aroma?  Is it even possible for an AIPA to have too much hop aroma, as far as comps are concerned?

Offline a10t2

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Re: AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2012, 06:44:48 pm »
Quote
A prominent to intense hop aroma with a citrusy, floral, perfume-like, resinous, piney, and/or fruity character derived from American hops.

I personally wouldn't ding an AIPA for having too much hop aroma, because "intense" is about the strongest descriptor in the guidelines. I have taken a couple points off of an IPA that was too bitter and unbalanced to fit the style guidelines, and should have been entered in 14C.
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Offline krazykrausen

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Re: Re: AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« Reply #2 on: March 15, 2012, 06:53:02 pm »
For the BJCP judges here, have you ever judged an AIPA that had too much, or too strong of a hop aroma?  Is it even possible for an AIPA to have too much hop aroma, as far as comps are concerned?

I could see an argument if the aroma didn't feature American hops or hops that can be considered/confused for American (like some New Zealand types)

Are you asking cause you were dinged for it, just curious?

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Offline roguejim

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Re: Re: AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« Reply #3 on: March 15, 2012, 07:16:25 pm »
For the BJCP judges here, have you ever judged an AIPA that had too much, or too strong of a hop aroma?  Is it even possible for an AIPA to have too much hop aroma, as far as comps are concerned?

I could see an argument if the aroma didn't feature American hops or hops that can be considered/confused for American (like some New Zealand types)

Are you asking cause you were dinged for it, just curious?

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I asked the question initially after seeing the "Citrus Bomb IPA" recipe with 10-oz of aroma hops.  Granted, it is a 10-gal batch, but there doesn't seem to be much of a limit to aroma/dry hopping.

Offline tomsawyer

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Re: AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2012, 08:57:29 am »
Aroma-wise I wouldn't ding it, but it shouldn't be too terribly bitter IMHO.

I'm thinking of entering a single hop Pacific Jade APA in a comp, not sure if it will do well but I thought people might want to taste it.
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Offline richardt

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Re: AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2012, 09:04:03 am »
Keep in mind that hop aroma fades over time, too.
No, I wouldn't ding an APA or AIPA for "too much hop aroma"--In my view, there's no such thing.
However, if you're talking about "balance" between hop bitterness, flavor, and malt flavor--that is a whole different thing.  It is possible to disturb the balance of malt and hops in the beer by steeping too long during chilling/whirlpooling and or excessive dry hopping (grassy or unpleasant vegetal taste).

Offline a10t2

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Re: AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« Reply #6 on: March 16, 2012, 09:09:01 am »
excessive dry hopping (grassy or unpleasant vegetal taste).

Which isn't necessarily a flaw, per the guidelines.
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Offline richardt

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Re: AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« Reply #7 on: March 16, 2012, 09:14:27 am »
agreed.  it just adds another dimension to the beer. although I find some hop varieties dry-hop better than others.  I didn't care for the flavor contributions when dryhopping with Bravo or Summit hops, for example, but I do love Cascade, Amarillo, and Simcoe.

Offline mabrungard

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Re: AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« Reply #8 on: March 16, 2012, 11:02:57 am »
In my opinion, an AIPA can have too much hop flavor and aroma and it manifests itself as more of grassy or vegetal notes in excess of the normal hoppy notes.  If the brewer can stuff more hoppy goodness into the flavor and aroma without that character, it would be hard to ding an AIPA on that account.  I have noted some hops that I don't particularly appreciate in high quantity, so that could enter into the discussion. 

I have to disagree with Sean on the comment he made regarding an over bittered IPA needing to move to the 14C IIPA category.  In my experience, IIPA are almost always more balanced than an IPA due to the saturation limit for iso-alpha acids in wort.  No matter what bittering the brewer tries to force into the wort, the limit of about 80 ppm iso-alpha means that it is not going to stand up to the higher gravity of the typical IIPA.  The net result is that these beers tend to be more balanced than the typical IPA.  Heck even my wife will drink an IIPA, but she recognizes the more severe bittering of an IPA and won't drink one of those.   
« Last Edit: March 16, 2012, 12:03:37 pm by mabrungard »
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Offline a10t2

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Re: AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« Reply #9 on: March 16, 2012, 12:08:36 pm »
In my experience, IIPA are almost always more balanced than an IPA due to the saturation limit for iso-alpha acids in wort.

I actually agree, but I view this as a symptom of brewers "pushing the envelope" in the IPA category, rather than something intrinsic to the style. I was talking about a strict reading of the style guidelines, in which IPA (14B) is said to be a balanced bitter/malty beer:

Quote
Medium-high to very high hop bitterness, although the malt backbone will support the strong hop character and provide the best balance. Malt flavor should be low to medium, and is generally clean and malty sweet although some caramel or toasty flavors are acceptable at low levels.
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Offline gmac

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Re: AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« Reply #10 on: March 16, 2012, 01:02:05 pm »
How much aroma can the beer actually take on?  If there's a bittermess limit, is there an aroma limit?  I did an APA with 3 oz of dry hops and I didn't think it smelled any stronger or better than what I did with 1 oz. Personally I think I wasted 2 oz of hops.

Offline richardt

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Re: AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« Reply #11 on: March 16, 2012, 02:46:38 pm »
Sometimes I think the beers dryhopped with just 1 oz are "underwhelming" and the aromas are "barely there" or not any more noticeable than if I had aroma steeped at knockout.

2-3 oz of dry hops per 5 gallon keg seems to give a noticeable result without running the risk of excessive dry-hop grassiness/vegetal flavors.  Use low AA dual-use or aroma hop varieties.  My experience with high AA hops for dry hopping (e.g., Bravo and Summit, typically only used for bittering) hasn't been great.

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« Reply #12 on: March 16, 2012, 04:07:46 pm »
I noticed something interesting with my last IPA. I keg hopped with 1 oz (it's a single hop rye ipa with ivanhoe) and quick carbed by shaking and the aroma on that first day was outstanding. It has since faded a bit. still good but not in your face to the same extent. So I am thinking that having the hops in there while I shook the beejeezus out of the beer essentially randalized it for a couple hours.
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Offline richardt

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Re: AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« Reply #13 on: March 16, 2012, 07:40:31 pm »
I have read somewhere (and personal experience seems to support this) that dry hopped kegs seem to be great for the first 1-2 gallons or so, and then the hop aroma seems to fade.  I have also read that some homebrewers compensate for this by spliting the dry hop addition in half and pitching half initially and reserving the other half until one has gone through 2 or more gallons in the keg. 

Just an idea if you want consistency of hop aroma throughout the keg.

Offline denny

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AIPA...Aroma...BJCP
« Reply #14 on: March 16, 2012, 07:45:35 pm »
I have read somewhere (and personal experience seems to support this) that dry hopped kegs seem to be great for the first 1-2 gallons or so, and then the hop aroma seems to fade.  I have also read that some homebrewers compensate for this by spliting the dry hop addition in half and pitching half initially and reserving the other half until one has gone through 2 or more gallons in the keg. 

Just an idea if you want consistency of hop aroma throughout the keg.

I can't recall ever noticing that in the kegs I've dry hopped.  That's probably close to 100.


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