How to get that strong hop aroma?

I have been brewing on and off for 8 years. After taking a break for a while I am completely back into it, switched over to all grain. I have 8 batches in various stages at the moment getting ready for a big Oktoberfest party my wife and I host every year.

Anyway, I am an admitted hop head. Even though I brew lots of varieties I love big, hoppy IPA's. What I am having trouble with is getting that really rich, perfumy, florally, smack you in the face hop aroma that I like so much in some of the commercial micro brews I like. I recognize that the answer should be in more aggressive hop additions later in the boil and dry hopping, but I still don't get it the way I want it.

I have a house IPA that I have been working on for a year now, and I still don't have it where I want it. It goes something like;

12# pale malt (domestic)
1# 60L crystal
3/4# carapils
Mash at 154-156 for 60 minutes - batch sparge - 75% efficiency
1 ounce Nugget 13% (60 mins)
2 ounces Cascade 5% (30 mins)
1 ounce Warrior 15% (30 mins)
1 ounce Simcoe 13% (10 mins)
2 ounces Cascade 5% (5 mins)
2 ounce Cascade 5 (dry hopped in secondary)
Yeast is American Blend WYeast
Fermented at 68F ambient 4 days primary, 7 days secondary
OG 1.74 FG 1.016

I like the full bodied feel of the higher finishing gravity, and I have learned I can control that body somewhat with my mash temp (tried it once at 152 and got the FG down, but didn't like the feel). So I am okay with the 1.016 FG. The recipe above comes out a little too bitter on the back end and not enough hoppy aroma on the front.

But I want that BIG hop aroma. What can I do to this recipe to get that??

Thanks.

Alan

First, ditch the carapils. That's too much crystal and you don't need it anyway.

Secondly, try moving the hops to a schedule like this:

Bittering hops 60 minutes

Flavoring hops 15 minutes
Flavoring hops 10 minutes

Aroma hops 5 minutes
Aroma hops 0 minutes

Dryhop.

Don't bother with 30 minute hops addition in an IPA, because they provide bitterness but not any real "hoppiness". I use 30 minute additions only when I have to bring up the bitterness a bit, or give a slightly different bittering edge to some pale ales or German lagers.

Drink IPAs fresh, also! Here's one I'm drinking right now:

12 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 91.07 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 5.36 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3.57 %

1.25 oz Chinook [11.50 %] (60 min) Hops 47.8 IBU (Actually did FWH with them)
1.00 oz Cascade (homegrown) [5.00 %] (5 min) Hops 3.0 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade (homegrown) [5.00 %] (0 min) Hops

1.00 oz Simcoe [12.20 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Chinook [11.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Cascade (homegrown) [5.00 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -

I brewed this on September 2, and I'm drinking it at this moment. It's got tons of hop flavor, but with a big malt backbone, too.

I have a couple of other hop schedules that I like, if you're interested.

This one is from my "House pale ale":
2.75 oz Cascade [5.40 %] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 25.5 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [7.50 %] (15 min) Hops 6.4 IBU
2.00 oz Cascade (homegrown) [6.30 %] (10 min) Hops 7.1 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade (homegrown) [6.30 %] (5 min) Hops 2.0 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade (homegrown) [6.30 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)

2.00 oz Cascade [8.00 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -


Another one I like is to mix amarillo and simcoe hops together, and add them continuously a little at a time as the timer counts down from 25-0. I add the last few hops at 0, and then dry hop with 1.5 ounces. It's a nice IPA with tons of hops flavor and aroma.

I enjoy the combination of Cascade and Centennial in the dry hop. I also leave my dry hops in the keg. Use whole leaf hops and put them in a 1-gallon paint strainer bag, and throw 'em in the keg.

I really like the aroma of centennial and amarillo. I do late additions 5min or less and dry hop with at least 2 oz of hops. One oz of each is nice.

I am going to be doing this one this weekend though

1 oz - Centennial (60 min.)
1/2 oz - Warrior (30 min.)
1 oz - Cascade (15 min.)
1.5 oz - Centennial (5 min.)
1 oz - Centennial (Dry Hop)
1 oz - Columbus (Dry Hop)

Thanks Yooper. I'll give that a try. Actually the recipe above morphed from your DFH60 recipe. I still go back to that original one, and it's a winner. But my search continues for that BIG hop nose.

What temps are you mashing at?

I thought the carapils would help head retention, that's why I have been using it. Am I off base?

And thanks others for the suggestions. Lots to play with this weekend on brew day .

Alan

More hops? I'm only on my 9th batch, so I probably don't know what I'm talking about. I'm a few days away from bottling an IIPA with the following hop schedule:
60 min 1 oz Columbus, 1 oz Simcoe
20 min 1 oz Nugget
15 min 1 oz Willamette
10 min 1 oz Amarillo, 1 oz Cascade,
0 min 1 oz Columbus, Willamette
dry hop: 1 oz Simcoe, 1 oz Cascade, 1 oz Nugget, 1 oz Amarillo
OG: 1.087, FG 1.018
I'll let you know if I get much hop aroma, and I'll be curious to hear how yours comes out, as I am also a hop head.

I'd go for Simcoe instead of Cascade, but that's just me.

I want to make a beer that tastes like grapefruit.

arturo7 said:

I'd go for Simcoe instead of Cascade, but that's just me.

I want to make a beer that tastes like grapefruit.

Click to expand...

If only I perceived a cascade hop bomb as being pure grapefruit. I love the stuff but it doesn't mix well with me meds.

I mean, I get the grapefruit tinge from Cascade but nothing near as profound as many here claim to.

Gilbey said:

Thanks Yooper. I'll give that a try. Actually the recipe above morphed from your DFH60 recipe. I still go back to that original one, and it's a winner. But my search continues for that BIG hop nose.

What temps are you mashing at?

I thought the carapils would help head retention, that's why I have been using it. Am I off base?

And thanks others for the suggestions. Lots to play with this weekend on brew day .

Alan

Click to expand...

Well, carapils IS used for head retention, but it is a crystal malt. So, you've got 1.75 pounds of crystal in that recipe. That's quite a lot, but if you like it it's fine. I think it might "hide" some of the hoppiness. My DFH recipe clone has NO crystal at all, but some of them do. I would definitely stay under about 6-8% total if you choose to use it.

I'm a big fan of Centennial, in addition to moving your hopping schedule around I'd swap the Cascades for Centennial.

Gilbey said:

But I want that BIG hop aroma. What can I do to this recipe to get that??

Click to expand...

Lots of hops after the boil and before chilling, left in contact with the hot wort for at least 15 minutes (45 is better). Basically replicating the whirlpool hopping that almost every commercial beer with big hop aroma uses, even though you don't need to whirlpool for an hour.

Dry hopping.

Use moar hops.

I agree with using centennial rather than cascade for dry hopping. Also, I would replace 1 lb of the base malt with munich malt, this will add some melanoidins which will give you some really nice maltyness that you seem to enjoy. I also agree that 1.75 lbs of crystal malt is too much.

Good stuff folks, thank you!

See, now I want to go brew a batch right now !

Alan

I just knocked out an IPA that dry hopped 1oz Nelson Sauvin after 7 days fermentation. The aroma is fantastic...much more pronounced when I previously ran this recipe with a 1oz Cascade dry hop.