What else impacts dry hop aroma?

[booherbg]

Hi everyone. Simple question. I made two beers with the same amount of dry-hopping but they turned out much different.

One was a two hearted clone (extract + steep) with .2oz per gallon Centennial 9% pellets. 55IBU, 6% ABV, 1.011 FG 2-row extract, vienna, 60L crystal, cara-pils all centennial hops;Safale-US05

The other was an american strong ale (partial mash + 2-row extract) with .1oz/gal of Centennial 9% with .1oz/gal of 13% Columbus. 60IBU, 6.8% ABV, 1.028 FG. 2-row + extract, 150L crystal, touch of biscuit malt. Magnum and Centennial for bittering, Centennial and Cascade for late additions. Safale-US05

The fermentation temps were the same, dry hop duration was the same.

The 2-hearted was exploding with delicious centennial hop aroma. The strong ale does not have hardly any hop aroma to it whatsoever. The two-hearted was first drank after 3 weeks in bottle, admittedly I have only had one of the strong ales after only 1 week in bottle.

The 2-hearted had an amazing head (from carapils most likely) that stayed through the duration of the drink. The strong ale didn't have much of a head, but it was only a week old.

Could it be that the carapils (and therefor the huge head) is what releases the hop aroma from the dry hop? Or is there some other factor that I'm not considering that would cause the beer to not show the properties of the dry hop? I really cannot find any resources that suggest a dry hop would "not work". I'm curious about what your thoughts are.

 

[CnnmnSchnpps]

admittedly I have only had one of the strong ales after only 1 week in bottle.

Let it fully carbonate. The carbonation is what brings aroma out of the beer and to your nose. A flat beer with no head will have very little aroma

 

[pericles]

The perception of hop aroma, as imparted specifically by dry hops, is affected by a number of factors:

Hop Oils: Hop oils usually track with alpha acid content, but they aren't the same thing. It's these oils that impart aroma, so a larger dose of oils will result in a bigger hop smell.

Time: Oils are notoriously difficult to dissolve in water-based liquids like beer. As a result, it takes a long time to leach the oils in the hops into the beer.

Temperature: Any chemical process, including the leaching of hop oils, occurs faster at higher temperatures. Thus, dryhopping will be more effective at higher temperatures. Also, the served beer will release more hop aroma when poured at warmer temperatures.

Gravity: The higher the gravity of the wort, the harder it is to dissolve anything, including hop oils, into it. Importantly, a high gravity beer will also lead to a decreased perception of hop aroma, because it will seem to be "balanced" by the malt aroma and taste.

Carbonation: Carbonation can help to carry the hop aroma to your nose, and therefore aids in the perception of hop aroma. On the other hand, too much offgassing in the fermenter or the glass can push all the aroma out of solution before you drink much of the beer, leaving you with a great first couple of sips, and then a glass full of malty sweetness.​

You suggest that you think that the hop aroma has to do with the head on your beer. I don't know for certain, but I don't think so. Head is formed by proteins which, if anything, would trap the aroma in the solution like a lid. It seems more likely to me that the head in one of your beers correlates with higher carbonation, which is the real cause of the greater perception of hop aroma. This is an important difference, because it removes the link you posit between your use of carapils and greater hop aroma. I'd be interested to see an experiment, though, if you can think of one? It'd be a great contribution to the brewing community if you could link hop aroma with grainbill!

 

[booherbg]

The perception of hop aroma, as imparted specifically by dry hops, is affected by a number of factors:

Hop Oils: Hop oils usually track with alpha acid content, but they aren't the same thing. It's these oils that impart aroma, so a larger dose of oils will result in a bigger hop smell.

Time: Oils are notoriously difficult to dissolve in water-based liquids like beer. As a result, it takes a long time to leach the oils in the hops into the beer.

Temperature: Any chemical process, including the leaching of hop oils, occurs faster at higher temperatures. Thus, dryhopping will be more effective at higher temperatures. Also, the served beer will release more hop aroma when poured at warmer temperatures.

Gravity: The higher the gravity of the wort, the harder it is to dissolve anything, including hop oils, into it. Importantly, a high gravity beer will also lead to a decreased perception of hop aroma, because it will seem to be "balanced" by the malt aroma and taste.

Carbonation: Carbonation can help to carry the hop aroma to your nose, and therefore aids in the perception of hop aroma. On the other hand, too much offgassing in the fermenter or the glass can push all the aroma out of solution before you drink much of the beer, leaving you with a great first couple of sips, and then a glass full of malty sweetness.​

You suggest that you think that the hop aroma has to do with the head on your beer. I don't know for certain, but I don't think so. Head is formed by proteins which, if anything, would trap the aroma in the solution like a lid. It seems more likely to me that the head in one of your beers correlates with higher carbonation, which is the real cause of the greater perception of hop aroma. This is an important difference, because it removes the link you posit between your use of carapils and greater hop aroma. I'd be interested to see an experiment, though, if you can think of one? It'd be a great contribution to the brewing community if you could link hop aroma with grainbill!

Thanks much for both of your replies. I'll give it a chance to more fully carbonate and see what happens.

That really *would* be a great experiment - trying to link aroma to grain bill. Maybe one day when I have a more consistent set up I'll give it a shot. What do you think about aroma vs aggressiveness of pour? The more aggressive I pour a beer, it seems to release more aroma. Maybe that's just an illusion, though, since it appears I am associating aroma with head. haha.