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Author Topic: Hopped IPA with generous amount of hops and doesn't seem tasty enough  (Read 3675 times)

Offline Uvolnit

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Re: Hopped IPA with generous amount of hops and doesn't seem tasty enough
« Reply #15 on: March 13, 2018, 09:33:09 pm »
Good details! I would probably suspect that minor oxidation from transfers is what is diminishing your hop flavor/aroma. Getting and keeping bright hop flavor and aroma can be a somewhat tricky ordeal, depending on how serious you want to get. You might try eliminating the secondary and just dry hop in primary. Thats an easy thing to do that might reduce a little o2 exposure. Or when you transfer to your dry hopping secondary purge it first with co2, and use a secondary vessel that is shaped to limit head space, like a carboy when full to the neck has just that little circle of exposure but a bucket is wide at the top.

If that doesn't get you there you can explore things like closed transfer, kegging, spunding, etc.

Not saying it's not from oxidation, but this was my 13'th brew and I've had other IPAs come out with lots of the intended taste and aroma.  On the same note, this was the first serious cold crash I've done so it was in the secondary carboy for about a week longer than usual, which could give it time to oxidize, although at ambient temps below freezing for that long I wouldn't expect much if at all oxidation happening in anything.
I do like using a secondary with any style of beer to reduce the particulate in the beer.  I plan from now on to cold crash and not use gelatin, unless I'm making a non-hoppy beer that should be clear.

Purging with CO2 is a good idea, but what's the most cost effective way since I don't yet have kegging equpment?  I've read about doing that in a keg before kegging.
« Last Edit: March 13, 2018, 09:39:24 pm by Uvolnit »

Offline Uvolnit

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Re: Hopped IPA with generous amount of hops and doesn't seem tasty enough
« Reply #16 on: March 13, 2018, 09:36:32 pm »
This is one of the things I would like the hop industry to do: post the oil profile on the hop bag.  At least they should post total oils if not the fraction.  They do this for commercial brewers.

+1. We get the short end of the stick when it comes to documentation on our ingredients, for both malt and hops. Usually the data was out there at some point in time, just wasn't passed down the vendor chain.

The hops I get online come in brand name bags with at least the AAU's.  Is this what you're talking about that you can't find?  Here's the same lot of the Ekuanot I used for this brew.




Offline klickitat jim

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Re: Hopped IPA with generous amount of hops and doesn't seem tasty enough
« Reply #17 on: March 13, 2018, 10:17:37 pm »
Good details! I would probably suspect that minor oxidation from transfers is what is diminishing your hop flavor/aroma. Getting and keeping bright hop flavor and aroma can be a somewhat tricky ordeal, depending on how serious you want to get. You might try eliminating the secondary and just dry hop in primary. Thats an easy thing to do that might reduce a little o2 exposure. Or when you transfer to your dry hopping secondary purge it first with co2, and use a secondary vessel that is shaped to limit head space, like a carboy when full to the neck has just that little circle of exposure but a bucket is wide at the top.

If that doesn't get you there you can explore things like closed transfer, kegging, spunding, etc.

Not saying it's not from oxidation, but this was my 13'th brew and I've had other IPAs come out with lots of the intended taste and aroma.  On the same note, this was the first serious cold crash I've done so it was in the secondary carboy for about a week longer than usual, which could give it time to oxidize, although at ambient temps below freezing for that long I wouldn't expect much if at all oxidation happening in anything.
I do like using a secondary with any style of beer to reduce the particulate in the beer.  I plan from now on to cold crash and not use gelatin, unless I'm making a non-hoppy beer that should be clear.

Purging with CO2 is a good idea, but what's the most cost effective way since I don't yet have kegging equpment?  I've read about doing that in a keg before kegging.
If you don't have co2 it's probably not going to happen.

Maybe try upping your dry hop amounts to compensate for your losses
« Last Edit: March 13, 2018, 10:56:20 pm by klickitat jim »

Offline yso191

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Re: Hopped IPA with generous amount of hops and doesn't seem tasty enough
« Reply #18 on: March 13, 2018, 11:04:56 pm »
This is one of the things I would like the hop industry to do: post the oil profile on the hop bag.  At least they should post total oils if not the fraction.  They do this for commercial brewers.

+1. We get the short end of the stick when it comes to documentation on our ingredients, for both malt and hops. Usually the data was out there at some point in time, just wasn't passed down the vendor chain.

The hops I get online come in brand name bags with at least the AAU's.  Is this what you're talking about that you can't find?  Here's the same lot of the Ekuanot I used for this brew.



No, they always note the Alpha acid, and the Beta (even though beta is far less important).  I was talking about the oil content.  I don't know you and your level of understanding so don't take this as condescending... And maybe it is for the lurker out there that does not know what I'm about to say.  Anyway, alpha acids have no relationship to oils.  Alpha merely provides bitterness to compensate for the sweetness of the wort in the same way that acidity does in a lot of food.

Oils are what provide the hop aroma and flavor.  I've never seen an oil analysis on a homebrew bag of hops.  I think they should because it is a critical piece of information.  Given that something like 70% of all hops grown are for aroma/flavor, not for alpha, it seems that producers would recognize the importance of that piece of info and provide it.
Steve
BJCP #D1667

“Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.” ― G.K. Chesterton