First IPA Question

oach · 02-06-2010, 10:46 PM

Hey All,

I brewed my first IPA four weeks ago. Everything seemed to go well. I dry hopped two weeks ago and bottled last night.

When I opened the carboy I was surprised by the aroma. Based on my hop profile I was expecting floral, citrus and what I got, I can't really explain that well.

First thought: contamination. I guess I am wondering if all the hop matter in the carboy as it sits leaves a sort of "harsh" aroma then once it is bottled and sits it is more like you expect???

I guess that is a big hope as I don't want this beer to suck (maybe too late). Did I leave in the carboy too long? Is two weeks of dry hops too much? Etc?

Hops in the beer:
Centennial 1.00 oz 10.50A 60min
Centennial 1.00 oz 10.50A 10min
Simcoe 1.00 oz 12.00A 05min
Amarillo 1.00 oz 10.00A 00min (dry)

Thank you for your time and help,
Scot

dcp27 · 02-07-2010, 12:57 AM

you didn't leave it in the carboy too long and 2 weeks of dry hopping is pretty normal. did you transfer it before the dry hop or just waited until the krausen dropped and fermentation was over? does it fit any of these aromas? http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html

if the aroma is from the hops, it'll fade with time.

mc_eric · 02-07-2010, 02:14 PM

Maybe it's just the late simcoe addition? I have an all-simcoe IPA on tap right now that used 2 1/2 ounces in the last 15 minutes of the boil (no dry hops). It has this kind of "pungent" hoppy aroma, kind of piney/resiny, but overall fruity/citrus. Not at all unpleasant, I actually like it alot, but I wasn't really sure what to expect as this was the first beer I've ever used simcoe in. It's definately gotten a lot less intense over the last couple of weeks.

Does that describe what you're smelling? I have a hard time describing the aroma coming out of my IPA, I'm assuming that's what simcoe is supposed to smell like

oach · 02-08-2010, 02:05 AM

Yeah, I guess that's what I am getting, I thought I would get more Citrus, Fruity aroma form the dry hop addition of Amarillo but I guess I have something closer to what you are describing. I did leave it in the same carboy the entire time and it is only a 5 gallon so there was lots of green hop matter around the top from active fermentation. I wonder if that attributes a lot to the aroma I smelled? Even so, the aroma or off aroma that wasn't what I expected seemed to be the strongest.

I guess a question that stems from this would be which hop(s) are best for dry hopping and aroma additions when you want floral, citrus, and/or fruitiness on the sniffer? Was the amount of hops I added enough?

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