Nailing Aroma

[randyrob]

Hey Guys,

ok i've got a few AG's under my belt now and i'm pretty happy with the process and my results are
getting exponentially better (IMHO) but....i cant seem to nail the aroma

my last two APA's, were good in the bitterness / flavour department but i had to end up dry hopping them
in the serving keg to get the aroma through.

i'm pretty sure its due to my brewing process, currently i'm no chilling and thought that maybe the extra time the aroma hops spend in the kettle steeping after flamout is to much, would this be correct?

i'm not really in the habit of doing a secondary on my ales so dry hopping could be out of the question unless someone twists my arm.

i was thinking of either putting the aroma hops in a bag and steeping them for 10 mins after flameout then taking them out? or possibly making a hopback? or start using a CFC if that will make a differerance?

just really looking for the most efficeint way to utilise my aroma hops

Thanks in advance

Rob.

 

[bconnery]

Hey Guys,

ok i've got a few AG's under my belt now and i'm pretty happy with the process and my results are
getting exponentially better (IMHO) but....i cant seem to nail the aroma

my last two APA's, were good in the bitterness / flavour department but i had to end up dry hopping them
in the serving keg to get the aroma through.

i'm pretty sure its due to my brewing process, currently i'm no chilling and thought that maybe the extra time the aroma hops spend in the kettle steeping after flamout is to much, would this be correct?

i'm not really in the habit of doing a secondary on my ales so dry hopping could be out of the question unless someone twists my arm.

i was thinking of either putting the aroma hops in a bag and steeping them for 10 mins after flameout then taking them out? or possibly making a hopback? or start using a CFC if that will make a differerance?

just really looking for the most efficeint way to utilise my aroma hops

Thanks in advance

Rob.

If you don't want to dry in secondary you could do it in primary. Just put them in a bag and drop them in as you seal it.

Or you could try upping the amounts, if you haven't already...

 

[randyrob]

If you don't want to dry in secondary you could do it in primary. Just put them in a bag and drop them in as you seal it.

Or you could try upping the amounts, if you haven't already...

Heya bconnery,

i heard that dry hopping in primary is no good because all the co2 produced drives off the aroma?

i had 40g of amarillo hops for aroma in my last batch, is this enough to get any aroma through using good brewing practices?

Rob.

 

[Jye]

Hey Rob,

There is nothing to stop you dry hopping in the primary once you have reached your FG and will give you the biggest aroma hit. You could also load up on the hops in the last couple of minutes of the boil or steep them for 20min before transferring to your no chill cube. I have tried using aroma hops in the no chill cube but didnt get the aroma hit I was after.

just really looking for the most efficeint way to utilise my aroma hops

As far as the most efficient use of aroma hops you are already do this by using them in the serving keg.

Before trying anything I would give dry hopping in primary a go and see what you think. My procedure is to let it hit final gravity (usually at about day 4) and then chuck 30-40g of pellets straight in, no bag or anything. Leave for 4-7 days and then crash chill the fermenter for 2-7 day (how ever long I can wait) and then keg.

Cheers
Jye

 

[bconnery]

Heya bconnery,

i heard that dry hopping in primary is no good because all the co2 produced drives off the aroma?

i had 40g of amarillo hops for aroma in my last batch, is this enough to get any aroma through using good brewing practices?

Rob.

I don't think it is ideal in primary but I was just throwing things out there. 40g should be enough but to be honest I haven't done too many really heavy aroma beers so I'm not the best to comment.

I would think that secondary is the way to go so you can dry hop but I'm sure some of the hopheads here can give you better feedback...

EDIT: Even as I posted one of them got in... Jye is definitely one who can give you aroma tips!!!

 

[tangent]

good points
flameout, secondary and keg hopping all contribute to aroma.

 

[randyrob]

Hey Rob,

There is nothing to stop you dry hopping in the primary once you have reached your FG and will give you the biggest aroma hit. You could also load up on the hops in the last couple of minutes of the boil or steep them for 20min before transferring to your no chill cube. I have tried using aroma hops in the no chill cube but didnt get the aroma hit I was after.
As far as the most efficient use of aroma hops you are already do this by using them in the serving keg.

Before trying anything I would give dry hopping in primary a go and see what you think. My procedure is to let it hit final gravity (usually at about day 4) and then chuck 30-40g of pellets straight in, no bag or anything. Leave for 4-7 days and then crash chill the fermenter for 2-7 day (how ever long I can wait) and then keg.

Cheers
Jye

Heya Jye,

i am happy to dry hop in my keg as i have noticed after a week it makes a massive differance (but that is all i have tried so far) i was just thinking the ones i bottle lack the aroma so thought it could be my brewing practice.

if i dry hop in primary like you suggested should i just leave out the aroma hop additions in the boil?

and then in the next attempt i will try steeping them for 20 mins after flamout see how i go.

thanks Rob.

 

[kook]

I brewed an IPA a few weeks ago and although I'm still only tasting from the fermenter, I'm dissapointed with the aroma. Its there but it's not very pungent. I only used 40g of hops at flame-out, but in total there were over 100g of hops used withiin the final 15 minutes. This was for quite a small batch too (21L post boil).

Could this be due to my whirlpool time? After brewing I give it a gentle stir to start a whirlpool action, then leave it to settle for 15 mins before chilling (counterflow).

 

[brendanos]

I'd be concerned about CO2 scrubbing if adding to primary, so
I'd make sure it was added after most of the fermentation has finished. This would also be more efficient in that the alcohol content should allow for more of the hop compounds to be dissolved/absorbed into the beer.

Out of curiosity, how much time does your beer spend after knockout before going into your storage vessel? I'm not familiar with the so called no chill "method".

Another option might be boiling up a litre or two of water, adding this with your aroma hops to a sanitised vessel, sealing it immediately, and putting it in the freezer to chill rapidly (preserving more of the volatile aroma components). You could then add this to your fermenter when you pitch the yeast, or even when you bottle/keg. Obviously you would have to factor the extra water into your equations.

*edit I think I spent far too much time on this post, Jye beat me to most of it by half an hour!

 

[brendanos]

I brewed an IPA a few weeks ago and although I'm still only tasting from the fermenter, I'm dissapointed with the aroma. Its there but it's not very pungent. I only used 40g of hops at flame-out, but in total there were over 100g of hops used withiin the final 15 minutes. This was for quite a small batch too (21L post boil).

Could this be due to my whirlpool time? After brewing I give it a gentle stir to start a whirlpool action, then leave it to settle for 15 mins before chilling (counterflow).

If you have a spare bucket handy, it's probably a good idea to chill with the hop trub immediately after knockout into a spare bucket before whirlpooling/racking off the trub into the fermenter. This would help retain a lot of the aroma, though it may cause some problems (chiller blockage) if you're using flowers/plugs "free range" in the boil.

Cheers
Brendan

 

[randyrob]

Out of curiosity, how much time does your beer spend after knockout before going into your storage vessel? I'm not familiar with the so called no chill "method".

Heya Brendanos,

once i flamout, i whirlpool and let it settle for 15-20mins then transfer to a no chill cube until it reaches ambient temp usually 24 hours. i was thinking this is part of my problem?

Rob.

 

[goatherder]

randyrob, have you considered a late-hop only brew (hopburst)? Add all of your hops at 5 min intervals starting at 20 min - don't use a bittering charge. Obviously you need a lot more hops, but hey, that's the point. I end up with loads of aroma using this technique. It's great for an APA/IPA.

 

[neonmeate]

aroma is a tricky one. sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt. I think quality of hop aroma is often where homebrewers struggle to compete with commercial breweries.
ive gone back to dryhopping lately and i think it definitely gives the biggest aroma, no question, ive been disappointed with flameout additions. however with pilseners etc dryhopping is going to make it too resiny/grassy. so the answer there is to use wayyy more than you think you need at flameout. and make sure your hops are as fresh and aromatic as possible - let the quality and freshness of the hops dictate which hops you brew with rather than thinking for example cause a recipe calls for hersbrucker you have to use those hersbrucker pellets that have been sitting at the back of yer freezer since the last time you made a hefeweizen 6 months ago. better to use fresh NZ hallertau and make it a slightly different beer, but have good aroma I think. the NZ flowers Ive found to be better for aroma than euro pellets a lot of the time, even though they're a bit tangier and not as mellow as their euro equivalents. but grab the tettnang, styrian, EKG plugs etc as soon as they come in to the shop and you won't go wrong.

i'm sure ross will have some interesting thoughts on hop aroma?

 

[Jye]

if i dry hop in primary like you suggested should i just leave out the aroma hop additions in the boil?

and then in the next attempt i will try steeping them for 20 mins after flamout see how i go.

thanks Rob.

If I plan on dry hopping I wont add any additions between 5min and flame out, I also chill very quickly as soon as the burner is turned off.

I have also tried up to 100g at flame out and allowed them to steep for 20min with very disappointing results.

If you love hops try a hopburst as goatherder suggests. Ive made a few and some have had great aroma without any dry hops, I have one planed for this week without any :chug:

 

[geoffi]

I use the no-chill method, running the hot wort into cubes.

I usually add my final-addition hops to the cube before I fill. I find this gives an excellent aroma, without the harshness I've found with dry-hopping.

Not sure what to call this method (wet-hopping?), but it works for me.

 

[warrenlw63]

Since switching to the no-chill darkside I've got to admit that in tandem with a hopback it's a match made in heaven. :beerbang:

You also get slightly filtered hot wort in the cubes as well. B)

Warren -

 

[Bobby]

warren with your hopback do you use a pump or is it is gravity fed?

 

[warrenlw63]

Gravity is good Bobby (don't own a pump). Kettle outlet is 65cm from the ground. More than enough room to use gravity.

Warren -

 

[goatherder]

Sort of on topic, but maybe out of reach of most homebrewers, there was a good interview with a pro brewer on the Basic Brewing Radio podcast (9th Nov 06). He found they got maximum hop aroma by dry hopping for 2 weeks and periodically "burping" the hops back into suspension by blasting C02 into the tap of their conical fermenters. Interesting technique, any ideas on how it might work in a HB environment?

 

[BigAl]

Could this be due to my whirlpool time? After brewing I give it a gentle stir to start a whirlpool action, then leave it to settle for 15 mins before chilling (counterflow).

Kook, i used to do a similar process, but recently have changed the timing of some of my aroma hops to post whirlpool, and i do believe it has made a significant difference for me. I will continue to do it.