To date I've brewed 6 batches and have bottled 3. The first was a basic IPA using Chinook hops, the second was a simple EPA.
I made many mistakes and learned many things from these brews and my expectations weren't that high for my first two. They were drinkable, but not particularly enjoyable (I guess my internal barometer for my own beer is if I brew something that tastes good enough that I'd actually at some point choose to drink it if I had a choice of beers). Since my first two batches, I studied heavily on the internet and completed "The Joy of Homebrewing" (a fantastic read by the way) and felt much better about my approach to brewing.
My next attempt was a Bell's two-hearted IPA clone (called "Dead Ringer", purchased from Northern Brewer). I had high hopes for this one as I felt all my brewing "processes" were generally solid and well thought out.
I bottled over a week ago and took my first sample tonight. I was immediately disheartened: it had good hop aroma, but lacked in any distinct hopiness taste. It had a beer tasting body but lacked any sort of tangy or grapefruit like flavor you'd expect out of a hopped up beer like a real Two-hearted IPA. It felt like it mostly tasted "malty" although I'm not entirely sure how to explain it.
I tried to rewind my mind back to the time when I brewed. The only mistake I recall making is a minor boilover which I resolved immediately (and it's the last boilover I've ever had) and taking a rather long time (about 20 minutes) to cool the boil. Other than that, the brew/fermentation process was ideal as far as I can tell (Hops were added on schedule, fermentation seemed healthy, etc). The only other thing I can think of is during the boil the hops seemed to coagulate at the top of the boil. I assumed this was a part of the normal boil process and didn't spend a lot of time trying to mix these hops into the rest of the boil.
Anyone have any thoughts or ideas as to the result of lack of hop taste?
I made many mistakes and learned many things from these brews and my expectations weren't that high for my first two. They were drinkable, but not particularly enjoyable (I guess my internal barometer for my own beer is if I brew something that tastes good enough that I'd actually at some point choose to drink it if I had a choice of beers). Since my first two batches, I studied heavily on the internet and completed "The Joy of Homebrewing" (a fantastic read by the way) and felt much better about my approach to brewing.
My next attempt was a Bell's two-hearted IPA clone (called "Dead Ringer", purchased from Northern Brewer). I had high hopes for this one as I felt all my brewing "processes" were generally solid and well thought out.
I bottled over a week ago and took my first sample tonight. I was immediately disheartened: it had good hop aroma, but lacked in any distinct hopiness taste. It had a beer tasting body but lacked any sort of tangy or grapefruit like flavor you'd expect out of a hopped up beer like a real Two-hearted IPA. It felt like it mostly tasted "malty" although I'm not entirely sure how to explain it.
I tried to rewind my mind back to the time when I brewed. The only mistake I recall making is a minor boilover which I resolved immediately (and it's the last boilover I've ever had) and taking a rather long time (about 20 minutes) to cool the boil. Other than that, the brew/fermentation process was ideal as far as I can tell (Hops were added on schedule, fermentation seemed healthy, etc). The only other thing I can think of is during the boil the hops seemed to coagulate at the top of the boil. I assumed this was a part of the normal boil process and didn't spend a lot of time trying to mix these hops into the rest of the boil.
Anyone have any thoughts or ideas as to the result of lack of hop taste?