Did my first 10 gallon all grain brew on January 9th. Missed original gravity slightly (.008 under). Transferred to secondary 5 days later after after bubbling stopped in primary. Today I opened the secondary to add dry hops and took a gravity reading which was perfect (1.019). When I tasted what I used to get reading there is absolutely zero hop flavor or aroma that I could tell. All malt despite a pretty aggressive hop schedule targeted at 84 IBU's. Since this is the first time I tasted an all grain brew before it finishes I'm wondering if that's normal and the hop smell and flavor will re-emerge after the week dry hop and 2 week bottle conditioning?
Missing Hop Profile
- Thread starter Jhu1321
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There's your answer right there. Never secondary an IPA. its pointless for most styles but will actually hurt an IPA due to the high potential for oxidation.
Also, 1.019 is way too high of an FG for an IPA. It has too much residual sweetness that clashes with the hops. Plus, your OG was 0.008 low but your FG was "perfect" so Im thinking you mashed too high. Ideally, if the OG is off, the FG should be over/under accordingly
There may be additional factors if you post your recipe and technique but im guessing those are your main culprits
tezcatlipoca
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1.019 seems really high unless your OG was huge. But I think that is a separate problem, which will make it taste too sweet.
The hop profile is only really huge if you use mainly flameout hops. IBUs just translates to bitterness, which is mainly from the beginning of boil. As far as I know, there is no real measurement for characterizing the aroma and flavor of your brew, just bitterness.
Therefore, I would not worry too much and just stick with your dry hop schedule. Most of my flavor comes from dry hop and my hop schedule for IPA includes 60 min, 30 min, 15 min, 5 min, flameout, and dry hop.
Remember, early in boil hops equals bitterness and later/after boil hops gives aroma and flavor.
The hop profile is only really huge if you use mainly flameout hops. IBUs just translates to bitterness, which is mainly from the beginning of boil. As far as I know, there is no real measurement for characterizing the aroma and flavor of your brew, just bitterness.
Therefore, I would not worry too much and just stick with your dry hop schedule. Most of my flavor comes from dry hop and my hop schedule for IPA includes 60 min, 30 min, 15 min, 5 min, flameout, and dry hop.
Remember, early in boil hops equals bitterness and later/after boil hops gives aroma and flavor.
I use a secondary for some of my IPAs, and my IPAs are pretty darn good, so I don't like blanket statements like "never use a secondary or your IPA will suck".
I often dryhop in the secondary, especially when I want to save the yeast from the primary.
What was your recipe/hop schedule? If you're going to dryhop, that will bring much of the hops flavor and aroma to the forefront.
I often dryhop in the secondary, especially when I want to save the yeast from the primary.
What was your recipe/hop schedule? If you're going to dryhop, that will bring much of the hops flavor and aroma to the forefront.
curtw
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Totally agree with Yooper. I rarely rack to secondary, but I've never had a noticeable oxidation problem from it. And I can't believe this would be the cause of "no hop presence" in an otherwise well-crafted IPA recipe.
So... Recipe please, with hop schedule used?
So... Recipe please, with hop schedule used?
tezcatlipoca
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Yep, and I agree with the previous two gentleman. I rack some into secondary and dry hop there. Never an issue.
Thanks for the feedback guys. I took another gravity reading yesterday after moving the secondary fermenters to a warmer location and dry hopping with an ounce of citra and cascade. The gravity is falling a little (down to 1.018) and flavor has improved. Recipe is as follows:
30 lbs pale ale
1.5 lbs two row caramel 40l
1.5 lbs six row caramel 40l
3 ounces of centennial for 60
3 ounces of Columbus for 20
2 ounces of Cascade for 5
2 ounces of Amarillo at FO
White labs California Ale with starter pitched at 72 degrees.
Feedback on recipe is always appreciated!
30 lbs pale ale
1.5 lbs two row caramel 40l
1.5 lbs six row caramel 40l
3 ounces of centennial for 60
3 ounces of Columbus for 20
2 ounces of Cascade for 5
2 ounces of Amarillo at FO
White labs California Ale with starter pitched at 72 degrees.
Feedback on recipe is always appreciated!
That's a lot of caramel malt- 3 pounds of caramel 40L will leave a strong residual sweetness, which may 'cover' some of the hops. You're just under 10% caramel, by my super quick math. Next time, for an IPA use between 0 and 5-7%, depending on how much you like caramel character in your IPAs. A few of my favorites use 0 crystal malt, but I have one I like at 5%.
Also, next time reduce the 60 minute hops so that you can get 30-35 IBUs or so with that addition and load up more on the 5 minute or whirlpool hops. That will make a big difference in the hoppiness of the beer, rather than so much bitterness.
Awesome! Great feedback. It was my first all grain recipe and I wasn't quite sure about how much crystal malt to add so I appreciate the guidelines about lesser percentages. I did a pale about a week ago and didn't use any crystal (used pale, Vienna, Munich and a touch of honey) so I'm pumped to taste how that malt profile works. Thanks again for the help.
Cheers.
Cheers.
According to Brulosophy, the "residual sweetness" might not actually be perceptible - at least as far as flavor. I don't believe that the "high" FG will cover up his hop profile.
http://brulosophy.com/2015/10/12/the-mash-high-vs-low-temperature-exbeeriment-results/
