Hop Flavors and Aromas

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TheHairyHop

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Hey all.

After a lackluster pale ale, I feel as if I need to redeem myself with a good IPA or APA. I checked the ingredients list in the sticky for hop flavors and aromas, but all of the links are fairly incomplete. They're either missing varieties that are now fairly common, or the descriptions are lackluster. i.e. Citra is labeled as "intense" and that's all.

What hop resource do you guys use for dreaming up hop combos? I know a lot comes from experience, but we've all got to start somewhere!
 
I picked up BYOs Hop Guide a while back. It's got a lot of good information. There's a list in the back with hop descriptions. I keep it in my brew notebook at all times.

Also, if you do partial boils like me, hop bursting really helps with hop flavor.
 
I picked up BYOs Hop Guide a while back. It's got a lot of good information. There's a list in the back with hop descriptions. I keep it in my brew notebook at all times.

Also, if you do partial boils like me, hop bursting really helps with hop flavor.
Is this what you're referring to?
http://***********/store/byo-special-issues/hop-lovers-guide
 
Get this book. The newest edition was updated with all the recent hop varieties as of December 2012. It goes all the way from dumbed-down descriptions and uses of each hop to detailed explinations of the science involved.

It has everything about everything about hops. For $11.33, it's really the current definitive handbook.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1938469011/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
Last edited by a moderator:
TheHairyHop said:
Hey all.

After a lackluster pale ale, I feel as if I need to redeem myself with a good IPA or APA. I checked the ingredients list in the sticky for hop flavors and aromas, but all of the links are fairly incomplete. They're either missing varieties that are now fairly common, or the descriptions are lackluster. i.e. Citra is labeled as "intense" and that's all.

What hop resource do you guys use for dreaming up hop combos? I know a lot comes from experience, but we've all got to start somewhere!

Can you give your recipe? Perhaps there are some process corrections that could be made to help get the hop character you're looking for.
 
Yeah, while some hops are better for bittering, some for flavor, others for aroma, and some can do a combination of things, when you add them is also key.

Bitterness comes from an early addition (near the start of the boil) mostly, but can come from later additions too, so long as the wort is still hot enough to isomerize hop crystals.

Flavor comes from additions near the middle of the boil, usually 30-15 minutes left.

Aroma comes mostly from late additions, 15-0 mins left and also dry-hopping.

You bitter to get IBU's. You add generally more flavor and even more aroma hops because it takes more to get the desired effects of these things. Dry-hopping is key for a good PA/IPA.
 
Can you give your recipe? Perhaps there are some process corrections that could be made to help get the hop character you're looking for.
Sure. It wasn't the most heavily hopped ale, but I definitely assumed it would have carried much more character. The brew tastes slightly hoppy but has zero aroma.

1 oz Warrior 60 (this batch was 17% AA)
1 oz Willamette 15
2 oz Willamette 5
1 oz Centennial 5

I've recently come to the conclusion that FO additions with a stand around 180 degrees probably gets more flavor. I'm also going to dry hop as well next time.
 
Also look up commercial beers and see if you can find the hops used. For instance 2 hearted is all centennial, obviously same with founders centennial ipa. Arrogant bastard is supposed to be all chinook, although I think it could be columbus plus something else...
 
TheHairyHop said:
Sure. It wasn't the most heavily hopped ale, but I definitely assumed it would have carried much more character. The brew tastes slightly hoppy but has zero aroma.

1 oz Warrior 60 (this batch was 17% AA)
1 oz Willamette 15
2 oz Willamette 5
1 oz Centennial 5

I've recently come to the conclusion that FO additions with a stand around 180 degrees probably gets more flavor. I'm also going to dry hop as well next time.

4 oz of hops within the last 15 minutes sure seems fine to me. Though I've never used Wilamette so don't know what sort of character to expect from it. Maybe it's not giving you enough of whatever you were expecting.
 
4 oz of hops within the last 15 minutes sure seems fine to me. Though I've never used Wilamette so don't know what sort of character to expect from it. Maybe it's not giving you enough of whatever you were expecting.
I honestly wasn't impressed with the odors coming from the bags. It wasn't nearly as strong or pleasant as the Simcoe and Chinook that I dumped in the Maharaja clone I did
 
Right now I'm fooling around with a recipe. So far I have:

11 lb 2 row
1 lb wheat
1 lb munich light
0.5 lb crystal 120

1 oz Chinook 60 (any bittering hop, really)
1 oz Simcoe 0
1 oz Amarillo 0
1 oz Citra 0

I'm not too sure what I want to do with the dry hop:

1 oz Simcoe DH
1 oz Citra DH

I haven't used Amarillo or Citra, but I think this should strike a nice balance between resiny and fruity. I would have preferred some Apollo in there, but my LHBS doesn't carry it. Let me know what you think. I also suspect I might have problems getting a hold of Amarillo so I might substitute Chinook or some other hop with a bit more resin notes
 
Right now I'm fooling around with a recipe. So far I have:

11 lb 2 row
1 lb wheat
1 lb munich light
0.5 lb crystal 120

1 oz Chinook 60 (any bittering hop, really)
1 oz Simcoe 0
1 oz Amarillo 0
1 oz Citra 0

I'm not too sure what I want to do with the dry hop:

1 oz Simcoe DH
1 oz Citra DH

I haven't used Amarillo or Citra, but I think this should strike a nice balance between resiny and fruity. I would have preferred some Apollo in there, but my LHBS doesn't carry it. Let me know what you think. I also suspect I might have problems getting a hold of Amarillo so I might substitute Chinook or some other hop with a bit more resin notes

I think you've got the makings for a very nice India Pale/Amber Ale. From the looks of it, I'd have no problem drinking several of these (in a row!). You might consider Centennial if you can't get some Amarillo, but Chinook might also work. :mug:
 
I think you've got the makings for a very nice India Pale/Amber Ale. From the looks of it, I'd have no problem drinking several of these (in a row!). You might consider Centennial if you can't get some Amarillo, but Chinook might also work. :mug:

Should I add more FO or DH? I would prefer it to be more IPA than Amber
 
3 oz of FO
2 oz of DH
I'd say you're good in my book, especially with those big juicy hop varieties. I was just seeing the pound of munich and dark crystal, and my mind said "malty dark fruit/sugar"; didn't pay attention that it was only a half pound of crystal so it should be subtle. I think you fall well within the IPA range. I generally do some late addition hops (10 and 5 minutes) to my IPAs but there's no hard-fast rules about them - they're supposed to add some aroma and flavor components - and again, you're using some really bold hops so it might not matter anyway.
 

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