Aroma Hops?

[sjanz]

I really enjoy the hop aroma on an IPA. I have been brewing for a couple years now and I am having a hard time achieving that nice bitterness aroma in my pale ales. I have tried using various types/amounts of hops in the last 10 minutes of the boil along with at flameout and dry hopping in 2nd fermentation. Anybody have any ideas of why I am getting a sweet aroma to all my beers?

Thanks!

 

[david_42]

Might be the water.

 

[duboman]

I really enjoy the hop aroma on an IPA. I have been brewing for a couple years now and I am having a hard time achieving that nice bitterness aroma in my pale ales. I have tried using various types/amounts of hops in the last 10 minutes of the boil along with at flameout and dry hopping in 2nd fermentation. Anybody have any ideas of why I am getting a sweet aroma to all my beers?

Thanks!

What varieties of hops have you tried? What actual aroma are you looking for? What type of bitterness?

What yeast are you using? Some yeast varieties accentuate the malt character of a beer lessening the hop

How long are you dry hopping? How quickly are you packaging? Hop aroma dissipates pretty quickly and you want to package as soon as the aroma you want has been achieved

Are you doing full boils or partial boils as utilization can differ?

Find a commercial pale you like and decipher what it is you taste and smell and ask questions to narrow down the hops to use and whether it's a bitter or aroma/flavor addition.

 

[Yooper]

Remember that sweet is the opposite of bitter, so if you're lacking bitterness that has to do with the 60 minute (or earlier) additions usually.

If you need more bitterness, try increasing the bittering hops. If you post a typical recipe, we can take a look and see where the sweet finish is coming from.

Flavor and aroma hops lend little bittering to a beer, but give the big flavor and aroma that IPAs typically have.

A good IPA will have a good blend of malt flavor, bitterness and hops flavor/aroma.

 

[slarkin712]

When I think of sweet fruity aroma/taste in hops I think of Centennial hops. Do you like Bells Two Hearted Ale? This IPA uses Centennial hops exclusively. But I'd also look into your water.

 

[sjanz]

Thanks for the good info. The last batch I brewed was a 5 gallon batch that had a hop schedule of:
1 oz Magnum 60 minutes
1 oz Perle 30 minutes
3 oz Cascade 10 minutes
1 oz cascade at flameout

 

[sjanz]

Might be the water.

would you recommend trying reverse osmosis water for a clean slate?

 

[sjanz]

What varieties of hops have you tried? What actual aroma are you looking for? What type of bitterness?

What yeast are you using? Some yeast varieties accentuate the malt character of a beer lessening the hop

How long are you dry hopping? How quickly are you packaging? Hop aroma dissipates pretty quickly and you want to package as soon as the aroma you want has been achieved

Are you doing full boils or partial boils as utilization can differ?

Find a commercial pale you like and decipher what it is you taste and smell and ask questions to narrow down the hops to use and whether it's a bitter or aroma/flavor addition.

The last batch I used Safale US-05. I typically dry hop for a week in 2nd. I like west coast IPA's so I often times try to achieve citrus aroma and flavor.

 

[jmzcustomz]

I'm a newb but think that the Cascade would do a good bit better for bittering at 60 min. I just brewed an IPA AG and put most of my Cascade & Centennial in for 60min. And then used Willamette towards the end of the boil. I calculated about 54-57 ibu. (per online calculator). I bottle tomorrow but so far when I've checked gravity & dry hopped it smelled really good.

 

[TyTanium]

Magnum is a great bittering hop. Try increasing your dry hop, and maybe move some of the 10min addition back to flameout.

What's your water profile look like?

 

[sjanz]

Magnum is a great bittering hop. Try increasing your dry hop, and maybe move some of the 10min addition back to flameout.

What's your water profile look like?

I was told by my local home brew shop that our water was ideal for brewing and that I didn't need to add any brewing salts for the most part. How do I get a water profile?

 

[day_trippr]

I was told by my local home brew shop that our water was ideal for brewing and that I didn't need to add any brewing salts for the most part. How do I get a water profile?

A lot of folks use Ward Labs as their pricing for testing suitable for home brewers is inexpensive. Start here and use test package #6...

Cheers!

 

[cmybeer]

I'd try some late additions rather than just loading everything at 10 minutes. Maybe a 10,5,0 with a dry hop.

 

[HopJuicer]

I have had good success with amirillo, citra, cascade and falconer flight to get a nice citrus bomb. I have combined these throughout the boil and dry hopping. The last was a simcoe/amirillo/citra dip a, bittered with magnum and dry hopped with the combo. Came out like a tropical citrus hop explosion!

 

[TyTanium]

I was told by my local home brew shop that our water was ideal for brewing and that I didn't need to add any brewing salts for the most part. How do I get a water profile?

Well or City water? If City, it's disclosed by the municipality. If well, dig around (wow, bad pun) - you should be able to find some info from somewhere close at least.

Your homebrewshop guy said ideal for brewing, but didn't say for which style. Ideal for brewing certain styles varies widely.

 

[sjanz]

I may try adding gypsum to my next batch. I'm thinking of using about 1tsp at the start of the boil for a 5 gallon batch. Does anyone have any experience using gypsum when trying to sharpen the bitterness and aroma of an IPA?