I've been having a difficult time getting a really saturated hop profile in my IPAs, despite using a LOT of hops per batch. I feel like I've got a good process for brew day, and eliminated most of the obvious issues which could compromise a hoppy beer. Still, I'm finding that those big aromas and flavors found in the best IPAs are eluding me.
Here's some background on my process for a 5 gallon batch:
1. I use 50% distilled water and 50% filtered tap water as a base for my brewing water to cut down on the amount of bicarbonate I have to deal with. I use a Campden tablet to ensure I'm removing all chlorine/chloramine, and I add gypsum to reach ~200 ppm sulfate. I've heard of using considerably more sulfate in IPAs, but my research has led me to understand the primary effect of doing so is a drier, sharper finish. I'm satisfied with the dryness of my beer, so I haven't felt that this is necessary.
2. I tend to mash high (156F) so I can minimize my use of crystal malts and hit an appropriate terminal gravity (1.015). I use a RIMS system to perform my mash. This seems to do a good job producing clear wort with the correct fermentation characteristics. I target 5.4 for my mash pH and 5.6 for my sparge water pH, and I usually hit those targets. The pH of my beer post-boil is usually around 5.4.
3. For an IPA, I usually target a 1.068 wort and keep the grain bill simple. I use mainly 2-row with perhaps 8% crystal malt in the 20-40L range.
4. I do a fairly typical boil hopping schedule for a West Coast IPA. 35 IBU at 60mins, another 15-20 IBU at 15 mins, another 8-10 IBU at 5 mins. I use whirlfloc at 5 mins, and fermcap-S to prevent boilovers.
5. I do a big flameout addition--4 or 5oz of citrusy, high-oil hops. I recirculate the wort with a centrifugal pump for about 20-30 mins, then chill with a counterflow chiller.
6. I ferment in sealed stainless steel buckets according to a standard ale fermentation schedule, cold crash, and then rack the beer into a purged keg containing 5oz of dry hops in a stainless steel mesh container. I let the beer sit on the dry hops at room temperature for 5 days before transferring into a second keg. From there I force-carbonate and serve.
A few observations/hypotheses about what could be happening:
--I don't think the issue is oxidation, since I've never observed any darkening of the beer, candy-sweet malt flavors, cheesy hops, or the like. I'm very careful to exclude oxygen from my process.
--I wonder if there is something counterproductive about my dry-hopping process. My gravity samples often seem quite aromatic, but that character seems absent from the finished beer. I've heard anecdotally that too many dry hops could be as bad as too few. Could I somehow scrubbing hop oils out of the beer by introducing a large charge of dry hops? Maybe multiple smaller additions are the way to go?
--I've heard references to pumps negatively affecting hop flavor--could my practice of recirculating the wort during my whirlpool be destroying the hop character?
--My hops look and smell fine, but maybe they're just not fresh enough? I store them in vacuum-sealed bags in the freezer, but I buy them by the pound and take ~6 months to go through a bag.
This is getting discouraging--I feel like my process is good and people like my beers, but I'm not satisfied. It's not just me--my IPAs keep getting (deservedly) mediocre events in competitions because they don't have enough flavor and aroma. I'd love to hear the community's thoughts on this one! What should I do differently?
Here's some background on my process for a 5 gallon batch:
1. I use 50% distilled water and 50% filtered tap water as a base for my brewing water to cut down on the amount of bicarbonate I have to deal with. I use a Campden tablet to ensure I'm removing all chlorine/chloramine, and I add gypsum to reach ~200 ppm sulfate. I've heard of using considerably more sulfate in IPAs, but my research has led me to understand the primary effect of doing so is a drier, sharper finish. I'm satisfied with the dryness of my beer, so I haven't felt that this is necessary.
2. I tend to mash high (156F) so I can minimize my use of crystal malts and hit an appropriate terminal gravity (1.015). I use a RIMS system to perform my mash. This seems to do a good job producing clear wort with the correct fermentation characteristics. I target 5.4 for my mash pH and 5.6 for my sparge water pH, and I usually hit those targets. The pH of my beer post-boil is usually around 5.4.
3. For an IPA, I usually target a 1.068 wort and keep the grain bill simple. I use mainly 2-row with perhaps 8% crystal malt in the 20-40L range.
4. I do a fairly typical boil hopping schedule for a West Coast IPA. 35 IBU at 60mins, another 15-20 IBU at 15 mins, another 8-10 IBU at 5 mins. I use whirlfloc at 5 mins, and fermcap-S to prevent boilovers.
5. I do a big flameout addition--4 or 5oz of citrusy, high-oil hops. I recirculate the wort with a centrifugal pump for about 20-30 mins, then chill with a counterflow chiller.
6. I ferment in sealed stainless steel buckets according to a standard ale fermentation schedule, cold crash, and then rack the beer into a purged keg containing 5oz of dry hops in a stainless steel mesh container. I let the beer sit on the dry hops at room temperature for 5 days before transferring into a second keg. From there I force-carbonate and serve.
A few observations/hypotheses about what could be happening:
--I don't think the issue is oxidation, since I've never observed any darkening of the beer, candy-sweet malt flavors, cheesy hops, or the like. I'm very careful to exclude oxygen from my process.
--I wonder if there is something counterproductive about my dry-hopping process. My gravity samples often seem quite aromatic, but that character seems absent from the finished beer. I've heard anecdotally that too many dry hops could be as bad as too few. Could I somehow scrubbing hop oils out of the beer by introducing a large charge of dry hops? Maybe multiple smaller additions are the way to go?
--I've heard references to pumps negatively affecting hop flavor--could my practice of recirculating the wort during my whirlpool be destroying the hop character?
--My hops look and smell fine, but maybe they're just not fresh enough? I store them in vacuum-sealed bags in the freezer, but I buy them by the pound and take ~6 months to go through a bag.
This is getting discouraging--I feel like my process is good and people like my beers, but I'm not satisfied. It's not just me--my IPAs keep getting (deservedly) mediocre events in competitions because they don't have enough flavor and aroma. I'd love to hear the community's thoughts on this one! What should I do differently?