Missing Aroma

[schwillty]

I am a fan of IPAs. My last couple of batches have not had much aroma to them and the only change was the yeast I have been using. I went from the dry 05 to the WLP California ale.

Most of my 5 gal batch consist of about 15-18 lbs of grain, 6-7 oz of hops (nugget @ 60, cascade/nugget split @ 30, cascade @ 10 and cascade @ dry hop).

Any suggestions on why I could be getting any cascade aroma?

 

[teucer]

How old are the hops? At least at my LHBSs, there's not Cascade around that's particularly recently harvested, and I'd recommend using another fruity American variety instead.

 

[schwillty]

Both style of hops are pellet that I buy by the pound. Stored in the freezer above my kegerator. I will pick up some centennial at my LHBS for Friday's brew day.

Thanks

 

[badhabit]

Sounds like a lot of malt and hops. Are you using the dry hop in secondary or well after active fermentation has stopped? An ounce at dry should give lots of aroma if used correctly and if not from a crop several years old and stored in a paper sack in a hot garage or something.

 

[permo]

What is your grain bill? I have found that the more malt and yeast related esthers there is, the more layers of aroma there is for the hops to hide behind. IMO, to really get the hops aromas and flavors to stand out, the grain bill needs to be mostly base malts and the fermentation needs to be clean.

 

[schwillty]

Sounds like a lot of malt and hops. Are you using the dry hop in secondary or well after active fermentation has stopped? An ounce at dry should give lots of aroma if used correctly and if not from a crop several years old and stored in a paper sack in a hot garage or something.

Hops are separately packed (1oz) in the freezer above the kegerator. Incomplete fermentation could be the issue when I dry hop. I usually let the gravity come down to at least 1.016 before I move to the secondary, but sometimes it is still bubbling every minute or so.

Thanks

 

[schwillty]

What is your grain bill? I have found that the more malt and yeast related esthers there is, the more layers of aroma there is for the hops to hide behind. IMO, to really get the hops aromas and flavors to stand out, the grain bill needs to be mostly base malts and the fermentation needs to be clean.

I am usually between 70-80% base malts, mostly American 2-row.

My normal recipe is:
12# Amer. 2-row
3# Munich or Vienna
1# Carapils
1/2 Crystal: Lovibond depends on the color I am reaching for, usually 40L

Usually split hops in thirds:
1st 75min
2nd 30min
3rd: @ between 10 and 1 minute
1-2oz Cascade dry hop (4-7 days)

Thanks for the help.

 

[Yooper]

I am usually between 70-80% base malts, mostly American 2-row.

My normal recipe is:
12# Amer. 2-row
3# Munich or Vienna
1# Carapils
1/2 Crystal: Lovibond depends on the color I am reaching for, usually 40L

Usually split hops in thirds:
1st 75min
2nd 30min
3rd: @ between 10 and 1 minute
1-2oz Cascade dry hop (4-7 days)

Thanks for the help.

For more hops aroma and flavor, I'd decrease the bittering hops and increase the flavor/aroma hops. There isn't any reason to add an ounce at 30 minutes (bittering hops) if you're hoping for aroma. Plus you need more hops for an IPA anyway.

Like this:
1 oz 60 minutes (or up to 30 IBUs with this addition, might be less than an ounce, or more, depending on variety. )
1 oz 15 minutes
1 oz 10 minutes
1 oz 5 minutes.
1 oz 0 minutes
Dryhop 1-2 oz


Also, Munich is a very "malty" malt, so you may want to decrease it a bit to make the hops shine. I'd also lower the cara/crystal malts. You don't need a pound of carapils in an IPA, and then adding more crystal on top of that may mute the hops a bit. My favorite IPA recipe has NO crystal malts, actually. But a little sometimes is very nice to balance some of the bitterness.

I'd simplify the grainbill for one batch, so that you can start from scratch and then add character malt once you have the balance right. Use the amount of two row to get you an OG of 1.065 :

13# Amer. 2-row
.75 pound of crystal/cara malts (.5 20L and .25 60L is nice!)

An OG of 1.065 with 65 IBUs would be perfect.

 

[badhabit]

Yoopers comments are on the money. The only thing I would add is to not add dry hop until hydrometer reading has stablized for at least a couple days. The point is not to reach a particular SG but, to have the active fermentation stopped. If that is not the case then the CO2 that is being driven off of the fermenting wort carries off the aroma from the dry hop as well. I leave my dry hop in for two weeks, but how much you leave yours in is a matter of taste that you will need to discover on your own.

 

[permo]

Additionally, the beer should be dry hopped warm.