Question About IPA's

[KPaul]

An extract IPA brew from MS I did a while back called for 2 weeks primary, 10 weeks secondary with dry hops the last 2 weeks. The beer turned out great and has good hop bitterness, but no hop aroma.

I have an AG octane IPA in the fermenter now, 2 weeks in primary, and when I took a gravity sample last week, I noticed no hop aroma. This one calls for some oak chips in the fermenter for 2-3 days to emulate the oak flavors picked up in the original barrels that IPA's were shipped in from England to India.

I'm brewing an AG Extra IPA batch tomorrow and would like to know what is the best route to go with this to end up with a brew that has both hop bittering and aroma.

In reading the forum, the general consensus seems to be that an IPA should be served soon and not aged too long as it will lose its hop character. This seems kind of contrary to what I would think would be closest to an original IPA. Wouldn't the transit time aboard a sailing vessel from England to India have taken a long time and not been a brew that was served soon after brewing? If this is the case, is what we consider an IPA today not really that close to the IPA of yesteryear?

What's the best time table to follow to produce an IPA that has the hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma I desire?

 

[Demus]

If you want to brew for historical accuracy, you have to shop around for some low quality, under modified malt. I'm sure you're right that they didn't have the character today's version has.... I'm sure just about every style of beer has improved in just about every way.... Darn modern progress!!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Weezy]

The original IPAs were 100% pale malt with a ton of hops, and very dry from very long secondary fermentation via brettanomyces in the barrels. The hops would ward of lacto bacteria, but there could be other bacterial souring having took place.

Modern IPA brewing is nothing like that historic beer.

If you want more hop bitterness and aroma, try one of those recipes again with more hops at 60 minutes. Sans using software for recipes, which we should be doing, maybe try 25% more hops at 60 minutes. Try a cleaner bittering hop like magnum or warrior.

For more hop aroma add more hops at flame out and dry hop. The boiling is what evacuates a lot of the flavor and aroma. There is zero need to age a modern IPA beyond its reaching its final gravity (say, two weeks max is a safe time frame if you din't measure granites), except for the time needed to dry hop. Most people dry hop anywhere froma few days to a week. Two weeks is uncommon as it can lead to vegetal flavors being extracted.

If you want to brew a historic IPA, that's a different discussion and should include a discussion of aging and inoculation with Brettanomyces. Google Burton Ale recipes.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

You can consider whirlpool hops. Right at flameout, add a bunch of hops, and let the wort remain hot for 20 minutes or so while stirring before you chill it.

Adds a good hop flavor and aroma as the wort is hot enough to isomerize the alpha acids but because there's no boil, they're not being driven off into the air.

 

[estricklin]

Would also mention here, that oak isn't considered a character of a traditional IPA, I believe they lined the barrels with some wax or something to prevent the beer from picking up any oak flavors. I'm not saying it won't taste good, but if your going for accuracy....

Flame out and dry hops are definitely the road map to a nice hop aroma. Hop aroma does fade with time, but not so much in just a few weeks in my experience. You may have got an old shipment of hops? Maybe try whole leaf if you aren't satisfied with the results from pellets. All just ideas.

Mitch Steele has written a book on IPA, it may be able to help you out a lot if this style really is your passion.

 

[grittanomyces]

The IPA style was popularized in Britain as the style was introduced there. Yes the hops were primarily used as a preservative for the voyage for India, where the beer probably did not retain significant hoppiness and may have been swill by then, but people in Britain came to favor more hops and want beer's done in "India style" because... well.. hops kick ass.

But really the modern IPA as Americans now know it is pretty much due to the advent of Cascade, which made way for brewers pushing the limits of how many hops you can put in a beer and still have it taste good.

 

[grittanomyces]

Now on to business.

10 weeks secondary? Is this supposed to actually mimick an IPA from the 1800's? Because if it is, then I don't think it's designed to be like a typical American Hop bomb. In fact with that time in secondary, I'm certain it's not, so I wouldn't expect some burst of hop aroma, especially if using British hops too, that tend to be much more mild.


With that long, I'd imagine you'd need a whole lot of dry hops to get really good aroma, because you've probably aged out most of what you got from the brew.

Did it taste good though?

If you want an IPA rich in flavor and aroma, I'm afraid you're not going to get it by brewing a traditional IPA recipe meant to mimick the olden days.

 

[mrgrimm101]

10 weeks seems like a loooong time to secondary an IPA. Every American IPA that I've brewed was in primary for about 3 weeks (I'm sure 2 would be fine but I play it safe), then secondary for about 7-10 days. I dry hop the last 7 days or so. I use pellet hops and I just toss them in the bucket and have always gotten an amazing aroma. The hop aroma and flavor seems to mellow down a lot over even after a few weeks of being in bottles, as does some of the bitterness.

I can only speculate that 10 weeks in secondary would pretty much take away most of the hop flavor (and any aroma not gained through dry hopping). Dry hopping the last week or 2 should still give you some aroma though. Maybe you should try a different hop to dry hop with..or increase the amount.

And there are lots of IPAs that are aged in oak barrels, (oak chips work well in homebrewing). Dogfish Head's Burton Baton is one of my favorite oak aged Imperial IPA. I'm not sure if it is actually meant to replicate the original IPAs being shipped from England, but it can add some interesting flavor to the beer.

 

[theashman661]

I did hop stooped clone for Fathers day this year. Aroma central. I dry hopped for around 5 days, almost 1/2# of hops. I also used around 3oz. at flame out. My beer has tons of aroma and IBU @ 85 approx. Try more dry hops. But adjust for it, maybe ferment 5.5gallons. I lost around 1/2 gallon by all the dry hops.

 

[j1n]

i cool my wort to 180 after the boil and add the flameout hops. let it steep for 10-15 min then continue to cool. I get a ton of flavor and aroma doing it this way. Also i ferment for only 2 weeks for IPAs. that includes dry hopping too and no secondary.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Try more dry hops. But adjust for it, maybe ferment 5.5gallons. I lost around 1/2 gallon by all the dry hops.

So much truth in this statement. I brewed a big Imperial IPA with a 1/2# of hops in the boil and 5.5 oz of dry hops. IBU over 100 and HUGE aroma. I, however, did not increase the water to account for all the hop material left over. I ended up losing a LOT because of all the hop material.

Check out this article to read about what bwarbiany and j1n have suggested:

https://byo.com/component/k2/item/2808-hop-stands

 

[pdxal]

Posting recipes would help us help you. Also, what is your water profile? Higher sulfate may help sharpen the hops impact.

 

[Clef051]

I've found my water also plays a big part in the flavor of IPA's. I"ve started diluting my faucet water in half with distilled water has made my IPA's better. I also add a pound of acid malt, calcium chloride, gypsum. I have had much better flavor and aroma since doing this. Also, as everyone else has said 10 weeks seems like a long time in secondary.