bottle conditioning equals loss of aroma hops?

I made my first AG (woohoo!) a few weeks ago: jamil's evil twin. I have been hesitant to make a hoppy beer because people say to keg those, and I can't get kegging gear yet. The beer is carbing up now, but doesn't smell all that hoppy. I figured with all the late addition hops it would be blaring in my nose, but not really.

How have other bottle carber's found hoppy beers? Does it get better while the green beer flavors leave? Or is the real secret to hoppiness force carbonation?

Yes.. the hop aroma does fade.. I find rather quickly. I like to drink my IPA's at about 6 weeks after brew day.

Kegging is nice, because you can just toss more hops in and let them sit... i.e. constant hop aroma.

I guess im asking more for bottle condition people out there: do your hopped up recipes taste all that hoppy? I put 3 or 4 oz of late addition west coasts hops in my brew, and I am not getting much flavor or aroma in the brew. Or has someone that now kegs see a bump up in their hoppy recipes?

Have you tried dry hopping a day or two before bottling? Seems like that should work. I keg, but dry hopping is a useful tool for any IPA whether you are going to bottle or keg.

When I am asked if a beer tastes hoppy I assume one is talking about bitterness.
I have an IPA recipe with less than 2 oz dy hop that has a ton of aroma in bottles. I wouldn't waste my time judging a beers charaacteristics until it has had time to condition. The afore mentioned IPA goes through major changes over 3-4 weeks before it settles into the proper flavors, etc.

bruin_ale said:

Have you tried dry hopping a day or two before bottling? Seems like that should work. I keg, but dry hopping is a useful tool for any IPA whether you are going to bottle or keg.

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I have, and liked the results. I wanted to see how much one would get from *just* pre yeast pitching hops.

When I am asked if a beer tastes hoppy I assume one is talking about bitterness.
I have an IPA recipe with less than 2 oz dy hop that has a ton of aroma in bottles. I wouldn't waste my time judging a beers charaacteristics until it has had time to condition. The afore mentioned IPA goes through major changes over 3-4 weeks before it settles into the proper flavors, etc.

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Very true. I went into my archives (boxes under my bed) and found some old homebrew, months old. The flavors are really great. Its surprising how much time affects the beer in a positive way!

Truthfully, I am striving for that microbrew in your face hoppiness. I refuse to believe it's impossible for a homebrewer to do it just as well, if not better! My next batch ill crash cool it before bottling, maybe even some gelatin. Help settle out yeast and particulates.

After having a Ninkasi IPA last night I am convinced it has to do with the freshness of the hops. I know I can get the quantity of flavor, but nowhere near the quality, if that makes any sense.