All my brews are losing their hops nose quickly

[linvillegorge]

All my IPAs are losing all of their hops nose within just a couple of weeks. Regardless of how big the dry hop, the nose is just gone. I'm getting the caps on plenty tight as I'm getting plenty of carbonation and I've actually broken a couple of bottles during the process of capping.

What could be going on? Flavor is great, just no nose.

 

[BulldogBrewer]

Hop aroma doesn't really last very long. What kind of hops are you using?

 

[linvillegorge]

I've been using a variety of different hops. Amarillo, Centennial, Simcoe, Citra, etc - all pellets.

It's just crazy how quickly it fades. I mean, within two weeks it's GONE. Like I didn't dry hop at all. The overall flavor is still good, but all the fresh hops aroma and flavor are gone.

How do commercial brewers hold that nose in their brews? You can crack a months old commercial IPA and it doesn't blow you away like it would if it was fresh, but there's still a good nose there. Not so with my brews.

 

[BulldogBrewer]

Have you had anyone else test/notice this? I'm wondering if it's just hop fatigue and your ability to notice it after several bottles is dropping...

Seems odd that you would lose ALL aroma...

How much hops are you using towards the end of you boils and dry hopping? The late stage hops are as important for aroma as dry hopping (if not more).

 

[linvillegorge]

It's been confirmed by others.

I'm talking about hop bombs here. Stuff like DFH 90 Minute and Stone SSR clones. Amazing the first couple of weeks, but after that, all the fresh hops aroma and flavor are just gone. The beers are still good, don't get me wrong, but the nose just fades ridiculously quickly.

 

[BulldogBrewer]

Interesting... I wonder if they are old hops or something...

How long is your dry hop?

 

[linvillegorge]

My homebrew shop cycles through a ton of inventory, so unless old or mishandled from their supplier, I doubt that's an issue.

I generally do a 7 day dry hop.

 

[BulldogBrewer]

Have you tried longer? Maybe 2 weeks...

 

[linvillegorge]

I did on one of my brews. It was a modified IPA kit brew that I pretty much just used as an opportunity to gut my fridge of leftover hops. I ended up dry hopping it for about 3 weeks. It did seem to hold it's nose a bit longer.

On this Pliny clone I'm getting ready to transfer to the secondary, I think I'm going to do a longer dry hop again. Maybe do it in stages too. Maybe a 2-3 week dry hop split up into 2-3 additions over that time period?

 

[linvillegorge]

I've always dry hopped using pellets too. Maybe try whole leaf?

 

[BulldogBrewer]

That sounds like a plan. Exactly what I would do in this case.

Good luck.

 

[BulldogBrewer]

I've always dry hopped using pellets too. Maybe try whole leaf?

So far I've only used pellets, but I dry hop in the keg, so leaf may be the way to go if you are going to be bottling.

 

[linvillegorge]

My next step is definitely a kegging setup. I love hop bombs, so the ability to hop in the keg would be HUGE for me.

Getting married in October though, so fun money is pretty much nonexistent right now. Maybe for Christmas...

 

[Calder]

My next step is definitely a kegging setup. I love hop bombs, so the ability to hop in the keg would be HUGE for me.

Getting married in October though, so fun money is pretty much nonexistent right now. Maybe for Christmas...

You think you are going to have 'fun' money after you get married!?!

 

[linvillegorge]

LOL, that's what everyone says. The marriage is literally just a formality at this point. We've been together for 10 years, lived together for 8, and been engaged for 5. Nothing is going to change as far as how we handle finances. Accounts will still be separate and as long as both parties come with their portion of the bills and the money we agree to set aside for the joint savings, then that's all that matters. What's left over is the "fun money".

I'm very big on separate accounts. I don't want her nagging me over every little purchase nor do I want to do the same to her.

 

[Bierliebhaber]

What temp do you dry hop at? I've noticed with pellets that they can just drop to the bottom of the carboy, if the beer is too cold. I usually dry hop with pellets at 62-65. After a couple days, I'll give the carboy a knock or two each day for a week. This causes a majority of the particles to drop, then they surface over the next several hours. I haven't done a side-by-side test (note to self, do test), but my thought is that the circulation of the particles helps disperse their aromas/flavors. Then I cold crash it. This in combination with flavor and aroma additions during boil, results in extremely aromatic IPAs. YMMV, but I made a hoppy Imp stout a year ago that still has an intense hop aroma.

In the keg, I use whole leaf in a bag and stuff it up behind the dip tube.

 

[linvillegorge]

usually in the low 70s