Loss of hop flavor an aroma in kegs

I;ve made afew great IPA's lately and a really hoppy (aroma) Pale ale, all to have them loose their hop flavor and aroma as the kegs are emptied. Seems to be about half way down, whats started out as a hop "burst" just dropped off to nothing.

I am thinking bottling would keep the aroma and flavor in.

An tips before I got back to bottling?

I have tired leaf hops in a nylon bag and that seems to be one way to keep it around.

EDIT: I am talking about a week or two, not months of aging.

Flavor and aroma fade over time no matter what you do. Are you dry hopping prior to kegging? Sometimes 1-2 oz of hops in the secondary will go a long way come keg time.
-Jefe-

JefeTheVol said:

Flavor and aroma fade over time no matter what you do. Are you dry hopping prior to kegging? Sometimes 1-2 oz of hops in the secondary will go a long way come keg time.
-Jefe-

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I understand the flavor fades over time, but what I am talking about is on Monday its got good hop flavor, on Sunday its almost gone. I think its gettin into the CO2 above the beer.

Do you use gelatin? That crap strips aroma like a maniac.


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Try dry hopping in the keg. The beer will get more hoppy at the end of the keg.

wildwest450 said:

Do you use gelatin? That crap strips aroma like a maniac.


_

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Nope, no gelatin

Scooby_Brew said:

Try dry hopping in the keg. The beer will get more hoppy at the end of the keg.

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I guess thats the best option

I've noticed the same. I made a Racer 5 (ish) clone and it started to fade after a month in the keg. I bottled a few bottles when it was 2 weeks old, so i plan on comparing a bottle vs the current keg (it's 2 months old now).

My 2x IPA, which was straight to bottle took about 3 months so show a difference.

I've noticed the opposite, my kegged beers keep hop aroma far better than my bottled ones. Do you dry hop while in secondary (or extended primary)?

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to share an observation.... A few batches back I started to put the CO2 @ 4-5 psi for serving pressure to keep the head down per request from swmbo. I noticed aroma dropping off after only a few days. I was not happy, a pale ale dryhopped with 2oz in primary and another 1oz in keg with no hop aroma after 3 days.... So I increased the psi to 10-12 and problem fixed

I think what can happen in some cases is "burst carbing"- that is, setting the keg at a higher pressure to carb it up, and then purging it to a lower pressure. I've had some people tell me that it causes the hops aroma to "blow off" faster as well, which makes sense I guess. But I've never heard of it in reverse, so to speak!

I dryhop in the keg sometimes, but not always. And I have lots of hop aroma in my beers. But I do have to say that most kegs don't make it more than about 2 weeks old at my house. That might have something to do with it!

pm5k00 said:

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to share an observation.... A few batches back I started to put the CO2 @ 4-5 psi for serving pressure to keep the head down per request from swmbo. I noticed aroma dropping off after only a few days. I was not happy, a pale ale dryhopped with 2oz in primary and another 1oz in keg with no hop aroma after 3 days.... So I increased the psi to 10-12 and problem fixed

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That sounds like hop aroma coming out as co2 leaves the beer. If you're setting your serving pressure that low, over time co2 will start to come out of solution because the head space now has more room. It's the same thing that happens when you pour a beer. CO2 comes out of solution and brings hop aromas along with it for you to enjoy.

I noticed this too with a Zombie Dust clone. First few days on the keg it was amazing. It faded every day after that and, at the end, was just so so. I am bottling an IPA this time around to try and mitigate this.

The solution is to drink faster or brew smaller batches. Hoppy IPA do not benefit at all from conditioning. They fade fast.

Another member suggested keeping the PSI 10-12...I can't understand why so many homebrewers don't even bother keep CO2 pressure on kegs.

Don't be a wuss...keep that beer under pressure at all times.

I like dry hopping in the keg with whole hops floating on top of the beer. That helps to keep hop flavor and aroma much longer. Read this.