Safale S-04 Kills Hops?

Brewed an Orange/Cascade Pale Ale with S-04. It had an OG of 1.06, after 7 days of fermenting at a consistent 59-60 degrees (air temp not fermentation), I took a gravity reading and it tasted amazing. 3 days later I took another to see if fermentation had stopped and the taste was remarkably different. No longer did it have a strong cascade flavor with an orange nose, but rather all you tasted was fruit (and not citrus). I know others have described a bubblegum flavor with this yeast. I wouldn't go that far, it is just fruity, and NO hops at all (except some bittering on the back of the pallet).

1. Is this the yeast or did I somehow have the 4 oz of hops in the last 20 minutes disappear in three days?
2. If it is the yeast, will it go away, or can I expect that the flavor will live on?

It's possible you got some off flavors from the yeast. WHat temp did you ferment at?

Try US-05...I prefer 05 over 04 for similar reasons as you mentioned. I think your beer will change and favor the hops a bit more as it ages in the next week???

It's not too late to dry hop.

Temps were never over 60 outside the bucket. Surprised because temps were low and it was just three days between samples and they were so dramatically different. Could be that it is still young and evolving, or that the yeast flavor is here to stay.

I think I'll wait a week before dry hopping with my fingers crossed the yeast mellows. I only have Citra in the fridge and don't want to throw lipstick on a pig.

Rdwhahb

S-04 does tend to emphasize malt at the expense of hops, and US-05 the opposite. These emphases are subtle, and both are still capable of producing excellent beers in many styles. I'm brewing an IPA this weekend with S-04.

My guess would be that all will be well once you package the beer. Tasting unconditioned beer always makes me worry about balance issues, but somehow everything is okay once it goes into bottles or the keg.

The MASSIVE flocculation you get with S-04 could have had some effect on the hop flavor, too.

Why not package half now and dry hop the other half and see what happens?

Thanks all, gave it a few more days and the hops are back, the fruit from the yeast has subsided. It still is very present in the nose, but works well given the style. Must have either gotten a funny pull or things have mellowed.