no hop flavor

ok my last couple of brews using chinook and cascade hops an ounce of each have failed to have any hop flavor or aroma.... any ideas ?

It really depends on the time you're putting then in and in what order. I would assume you're chinook for bittering, but when are you throwing in the cascade?

OK, extra information:

My four most recent extra brews have had this issue. Each of these brews used chinook @ 60 minutes and cascade starting @ 30 minutes. Usually with a 10 or 5 minute cascade addition as well. Alpha acids have all been at least 8% or above for each hop variety. In fact, the cascade for the last brew, and maybe the second to last, has been above 10%.

I start off with bringing 5 gallons of water to ~160 F for steeping for ~30 minutes. At which point I get it up to boiling at start my hop additions. I have alternated between adding my extract at the 60 minute mark and the 15 minute mark.

I boil in a stainless steel kettle (Blichmann) with a ball value near the bottom. It also has the threaded temp gauge probe as well. I use a homemade copper wort chiller that I sanitize with starsan and then drop it in the boil kettle when I go to transfer. I use a glass 6.5 gal glass carboy for fermentation. Fermentation lasts for about 2 weeks and then I bottle, using a plastic ale pale to hold the wort while I bottle. Everything that touches the wort after boiling gets cleaned with starsan.

Really at a loss here as to why there is absolutely no hop flavor/aroma (for the record, the last brew, had an estimated 90 IBUs in beersmith, not an IPA but trying to see if that would give it anything and it didn't). Every recent brew has practically tasted like a light american lager which I'm definitely not shooting for.

i suggest a search on the forum for first wort hopping. it's a technique that is generally applied to partial mash or AG but there are a few folks on the forum who have used it in extract recipes with good results. i just bottled an IPA with all NZ hops that I FWH'd and the sample i pulled had outstanding flavor and aroma. seriously, it's the way to go for potent aroma and flavor profiles. something about the temperature when the hops are steeped first that dissolves the right compounds for flavor and aroma and locks them into the beer. the forum has a wealth of info on FWHing.

How many oz's of hops are you adding per addition?

1/2 an ounce of cascade at 30mins and 15mins won't give you big hop flavour/aroma. It also depends on what you are comparing it to. If you use SNPA as an example most clones i have seen use a half ounce at 30mins and about 3 ounces over the last 15mins.

Just to make sure it really is something you are doing why don't you try a tried and tested recipe for a nice hoppy PA and see what happens.

I have brewed the same recipe 3 separate times. the first time, I wound up with a very tasty IPA ( alum brew kettle ). Next 2 times I used a stainless kettle and exact recipe and brewing technique. Is there any chance that there is something in my stainless kettle that may affect hop utilization ?

Do you know what your water profile looks like? If your water is very soft you may consider adding some gypsum to help accentuate the hop flavors. Also, are you pitching enough healthy, clean fermenting yeast like WY1056, US-05, etc.? Are your fermentation temps under control? All of these factors may affect your hop flavors.

Also, as bob3000 said, you won't get much from .5oz of cascade at just 30 & 15. I'd back off the Chinook for bittering (depending on the aa%, of course) to .5 to .75oz and up the cascades to an oz each at 15, 5 and flameout. Then dryhop with 2oz. after fermentation is complete.

Also, I'd do 1/2 the extract at the beginning of the boil and 1/2 towards the end.

I still can't see anywhere that you said HOW MUCH hops you used. without this information it's really hard to say anything.

it sounds like you should change the recipe... if you have done it 3 times and you're not getting enough hop flavor, i would say use way more hops! I rarely use less than 8oz for a hoppy brew

I used 1 oz of chinook (14.2 aa) for 60min and 1 oz of cascade (8.5 aa) for last 5 min

Chances are with just two ounces of hops that you aren't going to get a ton of hops presence. Maybe consider a more hoppier brew for the next time.

you should quadruple those hops but be careful with the chinook! can get very bitter quick...

check out the northern brewer kits, I've found they are generally well-hopped recipes!

leave your 60 minute alone but try adding 1 oz cascade at 20 minutes and a half oz at 5 min and another half oz at flame out.dry hop with 1-2 ounces for a week.

JDMCHOG said:

I used 1 oz of chinook (14.2 aa) for 60min and 1 oz of cascade (8.5 aa) for last 5 min

Click to expand...

you're not getting any hop flavor because you're not adding any hops at the right time. I'm not a very experience homebrewer, but the basic timeline that I know for hop additions are:

60-30min (bittering)
30-10min (flavor)
10min-flameout/dry hop (aroma)

what you're looking at with your recipe is a low IBU brew w/ a hint of hop aroma that isn't very noticeable over the malt aroma.

I typically add hops at
60m
15m
5m
2m or flameout

30m is kind of in no-mans land for hops. Most of the flavor and aroma will boil off but it won't add much bitterness.

phatspade said:

what you're looking at with your recipe is a low IBU brew w/ a hint of hop aroma that isn't very noticeable over the malt aroma.

Click to expand...

Agreed. Most of the IBUs are coming from the 60 min Chinook which will not result in the hop flavor or aroma that you're looking for.

I use 2 oz chinook to bitter, and add .25 oz cascade at 5 minute intervals from 30 minutes on for a total of 2 oz. I get great bitter, and good flavor, in addition to my flame out and dry hop additions.

I found that waiting for bottle conditioning was costing me some of my hops flavor. Kegging is working better.