No hop aroma..??

I'm wondering what can cause your hop aroma to not show up in the final product?
I used 4oz of hops to dry hop in my secondary and felt I would have an okay nose on my pale ale but once I sampled it I get nothing.? What can cause this?

Did you sample the beer carbonated and conditioned?
I made an extra pale ale and only used 1 oz of dry hop additions and got zero aroma. I'm going to dry hop another batch next week, I'm interested about this.

carb definitely will affect your aroma. (more after you carb). but did you leave the dry hop in for a full 2-3 weeks at room temp? how did you dry hop?

How long did you leave it in for? I dry hop in my secondary with only 1oz of leaf cascade for 10 days and I get great hop aroma and flavor.

What hops did you use for dry hopping? Some have more aroma than others.

What is your hop schedule? Dry hopping isn't the only way to get a dank aroma. I use a 1 oz dry hop on all of my pales but my hop schedule is pretty gnar for the final 15 minutes of the boil.

I used zythos hops for the entire brew. The profile I read was thts it should have a good aroma. Tht its a blend made to be used in place of some of the more popular and hard to fin hop varieties. I wasn't expecting it to completely match those varieties but I got nothing. I don't feel its the hop choice though.

Yes I'm sampling the final carbonated and conditioned beer. I used 4oz pellet hops for 10 days in secondary.

As for the hop schedule it was heavy in the last 15 min here it is:
1oz @ fwh
1oz @ 60
1oz @ 15
1oz @ 10
1oz @ 5
1oz@ flame out

I'm just confused as to why I didn't get at least a decent hop smell or flavor its got some hop flavor and a small amount of noticeable bitterness but no real nose..not even close to what I'd imagine for a recipe with this much hops in it.

Weird. I too want to know why this is happening.

how did the hops smell before they went in? perhaps they were old or stored improperly

dcp27 said:

how did the hops smell before they went in? perhaps they were old or stored improperly

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They smelled okay I guess I didn't notice anything wrong with them color or smell wise. I'm not a pro so wouldn't know. They smelled nice though.

Was the beer completely done with fermentation before you dry hopped?

If so, I got nothing else. Four ounces of fresh/well stored hops should give you a huge aroma.

ok,I searched zythos hops & at Northern Brewer it says;
Typical alpha: 10-12%. A proprietary blend of hops from Hopunion,designed for complex flavor in IPA's & similar hoppy American styles. Zythos is strongly aromatic,with tangerine,lemon,grapefruit,& pine notes. Try it in place of amarillo,sorachi ace,or simcoe.
At 10-12%AA,it would also be a good bittering hop. I'm wondering,was the beer at FG & settled out clear or slightly misty before dry hopping? 7-10 days is the normal dry hop time,so that's good. But if it was still cloudy at the time,that could explain it. The hop oils coat the settling yeast cells & are lost.

Do you have seasonal allergies? Do you smoke? Did you eat something shortly before sampling it? All of these things will have a huge impact on your senses. I know it seems obvious, but sometimes the obvious are the things we overlook the most.

I'm still not too good with my readings. I have trouble with the whole gravity. I know its not the best way to know if fermentation is done but I go based on the bubbler activity and always do 2weeks in primary I figure I'd be safe. I should take multiple readings and make sure fermentation has stopped completely. It was very misty and murky at the time I dry hopped I figured it was just how it looked I had never brewed a beer so hoppy this was only my third batch. Ill look into all this and brew it again thank you for all the help.

Ohh !! Another thing!

I dont live where i brew i do it at my cousins house because he has more space we have a chest freezer there with temperature control we use for fermentation. The bottles were stored In this chest freezer but my cousin didn't turn it on figuring it would be room temperature inside there. By the time I came to visit and check out if the beers were carbonating okay I felt that it was very humid I there and it was not turned on. I got a thermostat for ambient temp out in there and it read 99 humidity. I took them out but they were pretty much ready already. I got a hint if some banana like flavors such made me think the bottles conditioned too warm and the yeast gave off tht flavor. I didn't think much of it be she's it tasted pretty good. But does this take over hop flavors?

It's the fact that it was still murky that did it. The hop oils coat the yeast,etc & go to the bottom when they settle. That's why I always say that the beer should be given 3-7 days to clean up fermentation by products & settle out clear or slightly misty. That should fix the problem.

unionrdr said:

It's the fact that it was still murky that did it. The hop oils coat the yeast,etc & go to the bottom when they settle. That's why I always say that the beer should be given 3-7 days to clean up fermentation by products & settle out clear or slightly misty. That should fix the problem.

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So lets say next time I transfer to secondary and let it clear up before I toss my hops in and ill be good?
Because this time I did my primary and transferred to a secondary fermenter already filled with my hops.

unionrdr said:

The hop oils coat the yeast,etc & go to the bottom when they settle.

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The internet concurs.
So how would anyone know the appropriate time to add dry hops?

Well,I don't secondary myself unless oaking or something. But the beer should be at FG before racking out of primary. Letting the beer have that extra 3-7 days to clean up & settle out clear or slightly misty is good for the beer. That clean up & settle out time is like the beginning of conditioning.
You can count on it happening after a stable FG is reached. The yeast have consumed all the simple sugars,& start settling out while those remaining in suspension break down & consume the by products of fermentation normally produced. These by products become off flavors if the temps too high,under-over-pitching,etc.
So the right time to add dry hopps would be at the end of this clean up/settling out period. A small sample from near the bottom will tell the tale.
Or hydrometer samples.

unionrdr said:

Well,I don't secondary myself unless oaking or something. But the beer should be at FG before racking out of primary. Letting the beer have that extra 3-7 days to clean up & settle out clear or slightly misty is good for the beer. That clean up & settle out time is like the beginning of conditioning.
You can count on it happening after a stable FG is reached. The yeast have consumed all the simple sugars,& start settling out while those remaining in suspension break down & consume the by products of fermentation normally produced. These by products become off flavors if the temps too high,under-over-pitching,etc.
So the right time to add dry hopps would be at the end of this clean up/settling out period. A small sample from near the bottom will tell the tale.
Or hydrometer samples.

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I leave every batch in primary for 2 weeks. I felt that this would be enough time to clear up. But I'm going to take a reading after 2weeks to make sure.

Always a good thing to take hydrometer samples to be sure it's done fermenting. I just add 3-7 days after that to clean up & settle out clear or slightly misty. I even use a shot glass to check clarity after FG.

brewfan86 said:

I leave every batch in primary for 2 weeks. I felt that this would be enough time to clear up. But I'm going to take a reading after 2weeks to make sure.

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It can depend on the yeast, too. Some will ferment out and clean up after themselves fairly quickly while others will take longer. I did an IPA with WYEAST 1272 recently that took 2 weeks before the krausen even fell. Three weeks is a good rule of thumb. If I'm not dryhopping I'll leave my beer in primary for 4 weeks before I package it unless it's something with a low OG that I know will finish quickly. I probably don't NEED to do that but the way I look at it, either let it clear and clean up those by-products in the fermenter or in the bottle, either way you're going to have to wait.