I need some help retaining that initial hoppy flavor

[kenche]

I have brewed a few PM hoppy pale ales in a row now (snpa clones, etc.), and when tasting them at the 2 week point of bottle conditioning, they are amazing. The hop flavour and aroma just blows me away. They are as close to a perfect beer as I can imagine brewing.

The problem is that at week 3 or 4, the hop flavor diminishes and I find it hard to enjoy the beer because it was so much better a week before.

I am brewing tomorrow and am looking for some advice to retain the hop flavour longer. Is it simply a matter of employing more flavor hops? I don't mind over hopping a beer (flavor not bittering) if it means that it will taste good when I am drinking it. I typically have one beer at the two week point, and the rest between week 3 and 6.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Poppy360]

Have you tried dry hopping your beers? You'll get the floral aroma and flavors without the bitterness.

 

[dblvsn]

Try doing some late hop additions to your boil. Adding hops at the end of the boil will add the the aroma and flavor of the beer. Also dry-hopping your beer will add a lot to that hop bouquet your after.

 

[kenche]

I have been dry hopping and adding late hop additions. The problem is that the hop flavor seems to diminish by the third week of being bottled.

Will simply adding more late addition hops help retain the flavor.

Does anyone know if the time in which you add your flavor hops to the boil affect the longevity of the flavor?

Thanks

 

[Thalon]

Unfortunately no, hop flavors and aromas naturally mellow out with time. The only thing I can think of to help stack the decks in your favor is dry-hop in the secondary for a month or more to really saturate it with hop resins. Then it will take a lot longer to mellow out. I've never dry-hopped myself though so someone with experience dry-hopping please correct me if a month is too long/short.

 

[BierMuncher]

I have been dry hopping and adding late hop additions. The problem is that the hop flavor seems to diminish by the third week of being bottled.

Will simply adding more late addition hops help retain the flavor.

Does anyone know if the time in which you add your flavor hops to the boil affect the longevity of the flavor?

Thanks

This is why I lean towards getting those hoppy beers to tap and served sooner. Unless your dry hopping in the serving keg, the flavor is going to mellow.

In my mind, APA's and some milder IPA's are "fresh" beers. They need just enough time to let the bitterness of the hops mellow and let the flavor/aroma come through.

Seems there is definitely a sweet spot for serving hopped up ales.

 

[Blender]

I have been dry hopping and adding late hop additions. The problem is that the hop flavor seems to diminish by the third week of being bottled.

Will simply adding more late addition hops help retain the flavor.

Does anyone know if the time in which you add your flavor hops to the boil affect the longevity of the flavor?

Thanks

What size are your typical late hop additions? If they are only an ounce then I would double it.

 

[kenche]

I have been dry hopping with an ounce. I will try to double it this batch.

Thanks for the input.

ken

 

[Blender]

I have been dry hopping with an ounce. I will try to double it this batch.

Thanks for the input.

ken

How much are your late additions to the boil? You could load up at 15 and 5 minutes to increase flavor.

 

[kenche]

How much are your late additions to the boil? You could load up at 15 and 5 minutes to increase flavor.

I have been adding a 1/2 ounce at 15 min and a 1/2 ounce at flameout.

I think I will change this to a 1/2 ounce at 20 minutes, a 1/2 ounce at 10 min, a 1/2 ounce at 5 min, and then 2 ounces in the secondary.

What do you think?

 

[ajf]

Serve a bowl of hops with the beer. If you find the hop flavor has mellowed too much, take a chew.

-a.

 

[Blender]

I have been adding a 1/2 ounce at 15 min and a 1/2 ounce at flameout.

I think I will change this to a 1/2 ounce at 20 minutes, a 1/2 ounce at 10 min, a 1/2 ounce at 5 min, and then 2 ounces in the secondary.

What do you think?

Homebrewing is at times experimentation. Try 2 oz. at 15 and 1 oz. at flameout. You may have to adjust your bittering hops if you go this route. Do you have some software to help you out?

 

[kenche]

I have access to some software (beertools), and can also do most of the calculations from hand by referencing 'Desiging Great Beers'.

I just got back from the LHBS and have the following hops;

1 oz Magnum 60 min
1/2 oz Perle 30 min

,and 4 oz Cascade to use for the remaining late additions and dry hopping. I am considering 1.5 oz at 15 min, 1 oz at flameout, and 2 oz dry hopped.

This is by far the most hops I have used in a brew, lets see how it goes!

 

[david_42]

Not much you can do, hops fade. I had a very expensive lesson in this that involved a case of really fine IPA. Mellowed to a bitter after a year in the fridge. If you keg, you can re-dry hop as needed.

Or get a bottle of Hop (oil) Helper from http://www.freshops.com/othrprod.html Good stuff and it seems to keep well.

Haven't tried these, http://www.hoptech.com/cart/cart.php?target=category&category_id=300