I'm a big fan of gigantic hop aromatics in my IPAs. My typical approach is to hop at the very end of the boil, but not much before (other than for bittering) and then wait a week before kegging to heavily dry hop. Yesterday, while brewing, I completely neglected to add any hops after the initial bittering load. My plan is to hold off on any aromatic additions until I dry hop. Has anyone else experimented with this approach? My goal is to improve clarity and reduce the cost of late hop additions if all I'm after is aromatic.
Zero late hop additions
- Thread starter stazon
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Dmlsys23
Well-Known Member
Ok, but what's it going to taste like with no flavor hops? Am curious to find out. I know folks who like hold off on aromatics and then dry hop like you did but not flavor hops.
Shred
Former Microbrewery Founder & Pro Brewer
I'm not sure I'd categorize this brew as an IPA without any flavor additions. Maybe a pale ale?? What's your estimated IBU? Being a hop head myself, I'd dry hop the hell out of that thing.
I'm going for lower and lower IBUs lately. I think this one is sitting around 35-40. To clarify, it might be off style, but I'm looking for huge aromatics and less bitterness. The plan for dry hopping is Galaxy/Nelson/Simcoe and probably something like 1.5oz of each every three days for 9 days.
I also wonder what the difference between aromatics and flavor is? What is flavor without aroma? If flavor pertains to mouthfeel and other tongue perceptions, what role do hops play other than bitterness?
I also wonder what the difference between aromatics and flavor is? What is flavor without aroma? If flavor pertains to mouthfeel and other tongue perceptions, what role do hops play other than bitterness?
Shred
Former Microbrewery Founder & Pro Brewer
Yep... that's a lot of dry hops! Flavor hops provide aroma as well, but without the boil you don't draw out much in the way of flavor. Just aroma. Generally, your flavor hop additions are between 10-20 minutes or so. Too long of a boil and you boil off the flavor and aroma and just end up with bittering.
Definitely keep us posted on how this one turns out. I've had amber ales that were heavily dry hopped and they were really good. From the aroma, your taste buds are prepared for a palate-crushing IPA, but you end up with a more malt-forward surprise.
Definitely keep us posted on how this one turns out. I've had amber ales that were heavily dry hopped and they were really good. From the aroma, your taste buds are prepared for a palate-crushing IPA, but you end up with a more malt-forward surprise.
I'm dry hopping in three payloads
day 1: 1.5 oz of simcoe, 1.5 oz nelson, 1.5 oz galaxy
day 4: 1.5 oz of simcoe, 1.5 oz nelson, 1.5 oz galaxy
day 7: 1.5 oz of simcoe, 1.5 oz nelson, 1.5 oz galaxy
day 10: kegorate and celebrate
Because of the huge dry hop cost, I'm trying to figure out when it makes the most sense to add them in. I've always done late hop additions at 15/10/5/0 minutes, but my theory is that these additions are only meant to provide aromatics so I'm wasting the hops because of the fade during a 2-3 week fermentation. I like really really fresh hopped beer, which is tough to find commercially because the fuse is lit before the beer leaves the brewery.
I think this is a play on the west coast IPA, but the twist is less bitterness. I also mash pretty low to dry it out. Basically, I'm making a beer that gets out of the way of the hops. I may be messing with a cosmic balance of bitterness, aroma and malt so we'll see!
day 1: 1.5 oz of simcoe, 1.5 oz nelson, 1.5 oz galaxy
day 4: 1.5 oz of simcoe, 1.5 oz nelson, 1.5 oz galaxy
day 7: 1.5 oz of simcoe, 1.5 oz nelson, 1.5 oz galaxy
day 10: kegorate and celebrate
Because of the huge dry hop cost, I'm trying to figure out when it makes the most sense to add them in. I've always done late hop additions at 15/10/5/0 minutes, but my theory is that these additions are only meant to provide aromatics so I'm wasting the hops because of the fade during a 2-3 week fermentation. I like really really fresh hopped beer, which is tough to find commercially because the fuse is lit before the beer leaves the brewery.
I think this is a play on the west coast IPA, but the twist is less bitterness. I also mash pretty low to dry it out. Basically, I'm making a beer that gets out of the way of the hops. I may be messing with a cosmic balance of bitterness, aroma and malt so we'll see!
