Loss of Hop Aroma/Flavor Upon Force Carbonation

[smatson]

Hey Everybody,

I brewed a west coast red ale last weekend using Citra and Columbus hops. After fermentation was complete, I sampled the beer and it had an AMAZING citrusy hop aroma and flavor. I then racked it to my keg and began force carbonating it.

As I tested the flavor the next few days, I noticed a dramatic loss of the original hop aroma and flavor profile. It is still there, but it has lost all of the original citrusy aroma and flavor.

Does anybody know why this would be happening? This isn't the first time it has happened either. I feel like since I have begun force carbonating my kegs, all of my ipa's and apa's dramatically lose their hop character within the first week. Can somebody help?

 

[badbrew]

Could it be that you were tasting unfinished beer? 1 week is a short time to finish up.

 

[ne0t0ky0]

Do you force carb in your keezer? I notice the same change but I think it's temp related... My carboy when I sample is in the 60s and the keezer is close to 35F. After the beer warms up, I get all of the same aroma again

 

[smatson]

Yes, I cool my beer to approximately 40 degrees before I place it in the keezer and carbonate. After the beer warms up a little I get perhaps a bit of the aroma back but nothing near to what it was before carbonating.

 

[rockfish42]

You're not speeding up carbonation by shaking and venting are you?

 

[smatson]

No. I set the tank to 30 psi for the first 24 hours and then back it off to 15 psi for the next week. I never shake it

 

[ChickenArise]

http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2011/09/galaxy-hopped-double-ipa.html has some good tips for hop flavors

He also links to http://inhoppursuit.blogspot.com/2012/02/more-aroma-oil-faster-dry-hopsters-holy.html which has some sad info about the quick drop-off of hop aroma