Can't get good late hopping/dry hopping results
 

I've had a lot of trouble getting good late hopping and dry hopping results... No matter what I do I can't seem to get a good hop aroma. Ive recently brewed two beers that I would think should be very aroma forward but lack very much thereof:

ISA: 10 gal, 5.5%, mostly 2-row and wheat. after bittering... 3oz @20m, 3oz@5m 3oz@0m 3oz dry (split evenly at each addition between centannial, summit, and cascade)

IIPA: 5 gal, 9.5% after bittering... 5.5oz within 15m, and 3.5 oz dry (distributed between simcoe, columbus, centennial, and amarillo)

I use whole dry hops for wet and dry. I stir the dry hops into 2ndary and then let sit for 1-2 wks. The hops are purchased from reputable HBS (assuming good quality). Despite this, there is extremely little aroma when I tap the keg.

Is there something im missing? Do i need to stir more often? How do professional brewers (Green Flash, 10 barrel, and Russian River come to mind) achieve such good results? For the IIPA I used twice as much hops as a similar Green Flash IPA clone recipe.. yet no aroma...

I wouldn't say you are doing anything wrong. However, I have never stirred mine. I throw them in on top, let them sit for a week or two, then keg. Have always had great resuts.

your water profile can make a big difference. try some gypsum in your mash water to bring out the hop character.

Try a 30 minute hop "aroma steep" if you aren't already. Doing this really gave me that aroma/flavor/mouthfeel i had been lacking.

Thanks, I will try that for sure. Anything for that aroma i can't seem to get..

cool, I will look into that for sure. Although, some of the professional brewers I have spoken to here in Portland say that gypsum is not necessary with our water profile

I used to have the same problem. I don't know how your technique is, but I was always dry hopping too early. If there's any activity in your beer, it will flush that aroma right out with the CO2. I wait until primary is waaaaay done, try to tease out every gravity point that I can...then I wait another week. Then I rack to secondary and dry hop. That should help preserve some of that aroma for you.

My dry hop experience has been "iffy." If I just throw them in, they clog up the valve and tube when I bottle. I put them in a muslin bag to stop that. But, either way and even if I boil the bag, I end up with a filmy white skin on the top that looks like an infection. I'm not convinced dry hops are all that sterile. What say you?

Use pellets. Its done wonders for me.

What's your kegging procedure? Do you speed carb and/or vent the keg at any point? I've ruined some glorious hop aroma by overcarbing kegs and venting them.