Question about hop flavoring

[gwapogorilla]

Hey guys/gals. I am still pretty new to the hobby and I need a little help. I want to get hop FLAVOR into my beers. I've tried a few commercial brews like "Batch 19" "Double Agent" and "Sierra Nevada" and I like them a lot. What I like is they TASTE the way the hop package SMELLS.

What I want to know is....How do I make that freshly opened hop package AROMA into a FLAVOR?
Please help shorten my learning curve.

 

[BrewerBear]

I would say brewing an IIPA would get you what you are looking for.

 

[gwapogorilla]

I would say brewing an IIPA would get you what you are looking for.

Not quite the answer I was looking for, but I do appreciate a quick reply...thank you.
I just opened my 1st IPA...not what I was hoping for.
1 oz wakatu 60 minutes
1 oz amarillo 20 minutes
1 oz citra 2minutes
2 oz el dorado dry hopped last 7 days in secondary
2 weeks in primary, 3 weeks in seconday, 3 weeks in bottle

Not overly bitter, but not that fresh opened package taste that I wanted.

I am hoping for specific input on hop schedules and amounts to help me out.

 

[satph]

Here's a SNPA clone recipe. Here's one for Coors Batch 19. I don't see a clone for Sam Adams Double Agent IPA. But Sam's website says it's got "Zeus, Simcoe, Citra, Ahtanum, Cascade, Centennial, and Nelson Sauvin hops." All three have Cascade hops. Maybe that's what you're after? You could do add some to your current recipe, or even brew a Cascade Smash. Another thing you could do is a dry hop experiment with a bland commercial beer, or your own batch, see this thread on dry hopping Bud Light.

 

[wobdee]

Try replacing your late boil hop additions with a flame out 30 min hop stand with the lid on, it will keep all those good hop flavors trapped in your brew.

 

[unionrdr]

I also think what he's getting at with "flavor like the packet smells" is that crisp,herbal quality that even "C" hops have. They make citrus flavor,namely grapefruit,but you can smell that herbal quality on them. Maybe add English east kent golding for more of that herbal/lemongrass quality to ones with "C" hops in them for a bit more of the herbal quality you're smelling.
Another interesting tidbit here. I've been playing around with hybrid lagers. PM beers with malts like a light lager would have,brewed with clean ale yeast. Not bad...then I changed to WL029 German ale/kolsh yeast. It was said to give a lager like clean flavor,sure did! It combined with the German haulertauer & Czech saaz hops to give this lil bit of spicy crispness to the taste,near to being "on the back".

 

[gwapogorilla]

Hey, thanks for the advice guys. Gonna give it a try.

 

[SteveM]

Also...try Amarillo. If you've ever been hit by a grapefruity aroma and taste in a pale ale, it's likely from a late addition of Amarillo. Others have that aroma and taste, but none, in my experience, is as pronounced as Amarillo.

 

[jongrill]

I also think what he's getting at with "flavor like the packet smells" is that crisp,herbal quality that even "C" hops have. They make citrus flavor,namely grapefruit,but you can smell that herbal quality on them. Maybe add English east kent golding for more of that herbal/lemongrass quality to ones with "C" hops in them for a bit more of the herbal quality you're smelling.
Another interesting tidbit here. I've been playing around with hybrid lagers. PM beers with malts like a light lager would have,brewed with clean ale yeast. Not bad...then I changed to WL029 German ale/kolsh yeast. It was said to give a lager like clean flavor,sure did! It combined with the German haulertauer & Czech saaz hops to give this lil bit of spicy crispness to the taste,near to being "on the back".

Care to share those recipes?... That sounds delicious!

 

[forstmeister]

You can try dry hopping with a couple ounces if Simcoe. I just kegged a rye IPA last night. My wife said the sample was like a little party in her mouth. The fruity quality of the Simcoe really shines through.

 

[unionrdr]

Care to share those recipes?... That sounds delicious!

I might post the dark hybrid lager recipe that I named Twighlite Delight. The lighter colored counterpart might need tweaking. Just got some in the fridge the other day. I'll know in a few more days if it's worth posting or not. But so far,this version2 of Hopped & Confused looks promissing.

 

[gwapogorilla]

Yeah, I just had a family BBQ this weekend. I passed around my IPA for the critics. While no one really complained, it definitely needs work. The hop flavor was mellow...I expected more from 2 oz. of el Dorado. The head was seriosly lacking too...only used 8 oz carapils. It was an extract batch wich I don't plan on doing again cuz' I'm onto PM now. But I want to get the hops right.
I sampled a light Blond before I bottled it all. I did a 1 oz addition at 15 minutes left in boil on that batch. It seemed to help....hard to tell with a warm RAW beer though.