Help with Hops/Hops 101 primer

Hi,

Even though I have at least 10 batches of brew under my belt I am still very much a neophyte in the brewing hobby.

I tried searching for what I'm looking for but just couldn't get it narrowed down to an efficient search so please forgive if this is redundant or too basic.....

Generally I have found that the hopping schedules on my ales are spot on and a very good mix of aroma, bitter and flavor. However, as I work towards the porters and stouts I am finding that most of the recipes I have worked with leave me with too much of a hop flavor for my liking.

The rest of the brew meets with wonderful satisfaction, its just that I feel like I am drinking a "flower" flavored beer which really is a turn off for me.

Just for the record, everyone else who has tired my stouts are especially fond of them and give them rave reviews...I am the only one who seems dissatisfied.

Anyhow, what sort of manipulation of the hops can I do to reduce, if not remove the "flowery" flavor from the hops?

I understand that there are many different hops that can be used to accomplish what I want, but I would like to have a better understanding of hops & how to apply them so I won't have to ask someone for a recommendation.

Any chance someone can share how to adjust the hop schedule or quantities to achieve different results and gain different characteristics without regard for a specific Hop?

ThanX! this is my third stout, and while it is very good, it is not what I am looking for....(kinda like a blind date....sounds really good but until you get to taste it you really won't know! )

Regards,

Rick

How long have these brews been aged, how long are they going to be aged?

What I am getting at is the amount of hops you percieve in a brew is going to dwindle over time.

So you could come up with a "new" recipe that tastes good from say week 6 out to week 30, but probably won't be so hot on week 52.

So give us six weeks from yeast pitch to first taste and tell us how quick after that the whole 5 gallons will be gone.

And post the grain bill and hop schedule you are talking about.

Post your recipe and notes. It will give us better insight to what you did.

Your comment about flowery stouts leads me to believe you used too many flavor/aroma hops towards the end of the boil.

My recommendations would be to eliminate any hop add after 20 minutes and stick to high AA bittering hops. Columbus, Magnum, Tomahawk, Warrior, etc. Adjust the quantity used to keep the IBU constant.

Don't know if you're using a program like BeerSmith, but it is a great help in balancing hops to styles.

+1 to David_42. If you don't want hops flavor/aroma, logically you should omit those hops additions.

Cheers!

Bob

I agree that posting recipes would be very helpful.

Although you requested an answer not specific to any hop, the hop that you are using may very well be the source of this issue. Certain hops like Amarillo, for instance, impart a very strong floral and citrus aroma and flavor if used as late additions. While they can be used as late additions they need to be used in small amounts only to balance the (normally) strong roasted/chocolate notes in a stout. High aa% hops used in the last 15 minutes will often times contribute a lot to the flavor and aroma depending upon the variety.

As mentioned previously I'd recommend either removing any additions in the last 15 minutes, change the hop variety that you are using or simply make much smaller additions.

Most porter and stout recipes use very little to no late hop additions and those that have late additions usually use hops like Fuggles, EKG or Willamette that have a more subtle flavor. If I add a late hop addition to a stout it is a single 5-10 min addition of about 1/2oz of one of the hops listed above. With the roastiness of dark beers hops flavors are not necessary.
Craig

Once again to go with everyone else a recipe is really what is needed. But without that it is the most obvious place that you are putting in late addition hops. If you go to my store and look up the recipe that is online for my extra stout you can see that it is hopped to a high level (38 IBUs) but there are no late addition hops. I have never heard anyone taste any grassy or hoppy flavors from it. The hop is also East Kent goldings which wouldn't give a grassy flavor. When you are formulating your own recipes to begin with you should definitely read designing great beers by ray daniels and check out other peoples recipes first to kind of give you a direction on how to balance your beers.