Yeast eating my hoppiness?

I got rave reviews when I brewed a batch of Centennial Blonde a few months ago, so I decided to brew another batch. I know it's not supposed to be particularly hoppy, but I figured I'd add in a bit more late addition hops (3 minute and flameout) and see what difference it made.

I let it primary for 3 weeks, cold crashed, then racked it to a corny on CO2. After a week or so, I wanted to taste it just to get an idea of how it was coming along (Me = Antsy Pants).

It was still a little cloudy and a little yeasty, but man, I could really taste and smell the late cascades! My small sample turned into about 3 pints and I was really excited thinking it would only get better once it cleared a bit.

Literally two days later, I pulled a pint and sure enough it was clearer. Unfortunately, my late hop additions were nowhere to be found. Tasted just like the first batch did w/o them. It's good, don't get me wrong, but I just can't seem to keep any hoppy flavor.

Same thing happened when I brewed an IPA. While it was still a bit green and cloudy, it had a great hoppy nose and flavor. Then after a week or so, it looked great, but the hoppiness was only a fraction of what it had been.

I know I've read to drink the hoppy ones young, but I'm only talking the difference in a few days. I'm starting to think that the yeast in suspension is absorbing the hop flavor, and I'm just drinking a bit more yeast in the first few pints, leaving the rest much less hoppy. Any truth to this?

Most of flavor is smell. Dryhop if you want a more lasting bouquet. You'll get maximum aroma extraction from dryhops, where you won't from late additions.

And to answer your question, no, yeast don't absorb flavor/aroma. When the beer was cloudy and green you were drinking hops. Hops smell and taste like hops. The problem is that hop aroma wasn't transfered to the beer.

Nateo said:

When the beer was cloudy and green you were drinking hops.

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To clarify, when I said it tasted "a bit green and cloudy", I meant green as in young, not the color. Even so, I suppose you're right in that there probably are some hop particles in the first few pints.

Would you say it's still safe to try dry hopping if it's at 5 weeks from brew day and already carbonated, or should I just wait for the next batch?

Remember that anytime there is steam coming off your kettle, it is carrying away hop aroma.

Next time throw all of the late hop additions in at flame out. Drop the temp of the beer to 120 degrees and hold it there for 10-15 minutes. That steeping temperature will be hot enough to help lock in the flavor, but not hot enough to steam it away.

You could try dry-hopping. I don't force carb, so I've never tried it. It probably won't hurt, but I don't know if you'll have problems with the hops settling if the beer is carbed already.

I know the yeast, while fermenting, create a lot of CO2 which pushes off hop aroma. This is why most people recommend waiting until fermentation is complete to dry hop. How the CO2 from your corny will react, I don't know.

Nateo said:

You could try dry-hopping. I don't force carb, so I've never tried it. It probably won't hurt, but I don't know if you'll have problems with the hops settling if the beer is carbed already.

I know the yeast, while fermenting, create a lot of CO2 which pushes off hop aroma. This is why most people recommend waiting until fermentation is complete to dry hop. How the CO2 from your corny will react, I don't know.

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You can dry hop in the fermenter after fermentation is finished you know, right? Don't sell yourself short! MOAR HOPS!

Wow, after only 2 days and it's a totally different beer! I added an ounce of whole Cascades in a bag with a marble to weigh it down. It's very citrusy and has a BIG flowery nose. I can't wait to do another IPA to try this with. I think I will try steeping at 120 for a while too. Thanks everyone for your input.