@Nick Z
I have ran into similar problems brewing IPAs. It took me about 4 tries before I landed a good one, and on occasion still run into a brew that is seriously lacking in hop flavor. For me, bottling off the fermenter helped. I also tweaked my processes of hopping a bit, and it helped. For example, my flameout additions were getting lost because I was tossing them in, and just chilling immediately. I've since started tossing the hops in, then covering the kettle and letting it sit for 5-10mins before chilling. I also started doing whirlpool/hop stand additions at 170-175F for 15m. It might just be me, but I have rotten luck with us05 in hoppy beers. I switched to notty for most of my ales and had better luck, which is completely assbackwards. Note, that I've only skimmed this thread over the course of multiple days, so you may well be doing these things already, but I do recall reading your whirlpool additions seemed to be at a higher temp than I would normally see.
I wish I had better input, but I havent been able to completely figure it out myself. I rattled off like 3 great tasting IPAs in a row and thought I was in the clear, only to randomly get hit with another muted brew. As bottlers, we will battle some obvious forms of oxidization, but I can generally keep flavors pretty respectable while watching the color lose its brightness.
I have ran into similar problems brewing IPAs. It took me about 4 tries before I landed a good one, and on occasion still run into a brew that is seriously lacking in hop flavor. For me, bottling off the fermenter helped. I also tweaked my processes of hopping a bit, and it helped. For example, my flameout additions were getting lost because I was tossing them in, and just chilling immediately. I've since started tossing the hops in, then covering the kettle and letting it sit for 5-10mins before chilling. I also started doing whirlpool/hop stand additions at 170-175F for 15m. It might just be me, but I have rotten luck with us05 in hoppy beers. I switched to notty for most of my ales and had better luck, which is completely assbackwards. Note, that I've only skimmed this thread over the course of multiple days, so you may well be doing these things already, but I do recall reading your whirlpool additions seemed to be at a higher temp than I would normally see.
I wish I had better input, but I havent been able to completely figure it out myself. I rattled off like 3 great tasting IPAs in a row and thought I was in the clear, only to randomly get hit with another muted brew. As bottlers, we will battle some obvious forms of oxidization, but I can generally keep flavors pretty respectable while watching the color lose its brightness.