Scout001
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2014
- Messages
- 71
- Reaction score
- 6
G'day Brewers,
I encountered a bit of an enigma with an IPA I recently finished. After I bottled and cracked them after the first couple weeks, it was fantastic and came out exactly how I expected they would, even better. Since i was tearing through them so fast, I set back a 12 pack and sat on them for a couple more weeks so I can enjoy a couple other brews I had finished out.
Earlier this weekend, I chilled a couple more bottles and drank them last night. They transformed from this wonderful IPA to an aromaless, kind of dank, dry, boring beer; the bitter was there but it was not near what it was after the first couple times I sessioned with them.
I guess the biggest thing here, is I understand that beer will transform over time, but it seemed to be a massive transformation. Why would the aroma and the upfront hop flavor disappear so quickly? I expected degradation like this over months, not weeks.
My recipe scaled down from a 5.5 gallon recipe I found online; some of you may recognize it, I think its a common recipe. I hit all my targets within 1 to 2 points and mash temperature was dead on:
Method:All Grain
Style:American IPA
Boil Time:90 min
Batch Size: 3 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 4.5 gallons
Boil Gravity:1.042 (recipe based estimate)
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)
Source:HomeBrewTalk
Original Gravity: 1.063
Final Gravity: 1.018
ABV (standard): 5.92%
IBU (rager): 66.1
SRM (morey): 6.48
5.75 lb American - Pale 2-Row
0.5 lb American - Caramel / Crystal 20L
6 oz American - Munich - Light 10L
6 oz American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt)
6 oz Torrified Wheat
0.5 oz Chinook Pellet Boil 30 min
0.75 oz Cascade Leaf/Whole Boil 30 min
0.25 oz Willamette Pellet Boil 15 min
0.75 oz Cascade Leaf/Whole Boil 15 min
0.5 oz Willamette Pellet Boil 5 min
1 oz Cascade Leaf/Whole Dry Hop 14 days
11 qt Mash-In Infusion 154 F 60 min
4 qt Mash-Out Temperature 168 F 10 min Hold
8 qt Sparge 168 F 10 min Hold
Starting Mash Thickness: 1.5 qt/lb
Pitched SAF-05 and fermented at 68 degrees for 10 days, dryhopped for an additional 14 days.
The 30 min. bittering addition was either part of the original recipe or it was a technique I read on the forums somewhere; that was a 1st time experiment, otherwise I boil 60-90 min on my other recipes. Please keep in mind this was an ~3 gallon recipe and I bottled 2.25 gal.
Any advice on how to do a better job of retaining hop flavor/aroma? Maybe a possible explanation for why it degraded so fast? Any adjustments to the recipe you can recommend? I will try this again in the next couple weeks with recommended tweaks. I am going to do a 60 min hop addition the next time. Trying to find my summer IPA sipper.
I encountered a bit of an enigma with an IPA I recently finished. After I bottled and cracked them after the first couple weeks, it was fantastic and came out exactly how I expected they would, even better. Since i was tearing through them so fast, I set back a 12 pack and sat on them for a couple more weeks so I can enjoy a couple other brews I had finished out.
Earlier this weekend, I chilled a couple more bottles and drank them last night. They transformed from this wonderful IPA to an aromaless, kind of dank, dry, boring beer; the bitter was there but it was not near what it was after the first couple times I sessioned with them.
I guess the biggest thing here, is I understand that beer will transform over time, but it seemed to be a massive transformation. Why would the aroma and the upfront hop flavor disappear so quickly? I expected degradation like this over months, not weeks.
My recipe scaled down from a 5.5 gallon recipe I found online; some of you may recognize it, I think its a common recipe. I hit all my targets within 1 to 2 points and mash temperature was dead on:
Method:All Grain
Style:American IPA
Boil Time:90 min
Batch Size: 3 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 4.5 gallons
Boil Gravity:1.042 (recipe based estimate)
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)
Source:HomeBrewTalk
Original Gravity: 1.063
Final Gravity: 1.018
ABV (standard): 5.92%
IBU (rager): 66.1
SRM (morey): 6.48
5.75 lb American - Pale 2-Row
0.5 lb American - Caramel / Crystal 20L
6 oz American - Munich - Light 10L
6 oz American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt)
6 oz Torrified Wheat
0.5 oz Chinook Pellet Boil 30 min
0.75 oz Cascade Leaf/Whole Boil 30 min
0.25 oz Willamette Pellet Boil 15 min
0.75 oz Cascade Leaf/Whole Boil 15 min
0.5 oz Willamette Pellet Boil 5 min
1 oz Cascade Leaf/Whole Dry Hop 14 days
11 qt Mash-In Infusion 154 F 60 min
4 qt Mash-Out Temperature 168 F 10 min Hold
8 qt Sparge 168 F 10 min Hold
Starting Mash Thickness: 1.5 qt/lb
Pitched SAF-05 and fermented at 68 degrees for 10 days, dryhopped for an additional 14 days.
The 30 min. bittering addition was either part of the original recipe or it was a technique I read on the forums somewhere; that was a 1st time experiment, otherwise I boil 60-90 min on my other recipes. Please keep in mind this was an ~3 gallon recipe and I bottled 2.25 gal.
Any advice on how to do a better job of retaining hop flavor/aroma? Maybe a possible explanation for why it degraded so fast? Any adjustments to the recipe you can recommend? I will try this again in the next couple weeks with recommended tweaks. I am going to do a 60 min hop addition the next time. Trying to find my summer IPA sipper.