Greetings all. My general brewing practices over the years have got better and more efficient. I'm producing more consistent with less faults than ever. The one thing I'm missing still is hitting the mark on my IPA's where they are aroma and flavor filled punches in the face. I thought maybe my hop tolerance was just increasing and senses getting numb, but I still get what I'm looking for in some commercial examples. Achieving bitterness isn't the problem, but the aroma and flavor components are lacking. As far as recipe design goes, I feel like I'm adding plenty of hops for bittering and should be enough late hop additions and dry hopping for aroma and flavor. I'm also adding less caramel malts and mashing lower than I ever did in the past.
I'm curious what are some of the techniques you all are using to get the most out of your hops in your IPA's.
Here are some things to get us thinking...
Are there certain ABV's you try to target?
Any malts you try to avoid?
Any special water treatments?
Could any additives like campden affect aroma/flavor?
Could anything like fermcap be stripping out aroma/flavor?
Whole leave vs pellet maybe at certain points in the boil?
Strong boil vs slow rolling?
just random thoughts... I'd love to hear people's thoughts or things they know to do that produces great IPA's every time.
I'm curious what are some of the techniques you all are using to get the most out of your hops in your IPA's.
Here are some things to get us thinking...
Are there certain ABV's you try to target?
Any malts you try to avoid?
Any special water treatments?
Could any additives like campden affect aroma/flavor?
Could anything like fermcap be stripping out aroma/flavor?
Whole leave vs pellet maybe at certain points in the boil?
Strong boil vs slow rolling?
just random thoughts... I'd love to hear people's thoughts or things they know to do that produces great IPA's every time.