Hmmmm not what i expected

[lazarus0530]

Just tapped a keg of an imperial ipa I brewed.
I was expecting like a hoppier tasting brew. But this is more of a citrus start then a lighter dry finish. I followed it precisely ..don't get me wrong it's a wonderful brew. Tell me what you all think.
I'm a noob so I'm not real up to speed on the hops I used
This extra strong India Pale Ale (IPA) is chock full of American hoppy goodness! Its formidable malt backbone provides some semblance of balance, but the emphasis is on the wonderfully integrated flavors and aromas from the late hop additions.

Statistics
Original Gravity 1.078
Final Gravity 1.020
Alcohol Content 7.2%

Ingredients
8 lb. Alexander’s Pale Malt Extract
2 lb. Munton & Fison Light Dried Malt Extract
½ lb. Munton & Fison Carapils Malt 20° L
½ lb. Briess Crystal Malt 40° L
½ lb. Dingemans Caramunich Malt 48° L
1 oz. Columbus Hop Pellets (Bittering)
1 oz. Simcoe Hop Pellets (Flavoring)
½ oz. Amarillo Hop Pellets (Flavoring)
1 oz. Amarillo Hop Pellets (Finishing)
½ oz. Simcoe Hop Pellets (Finishing)
½ oz. Simcoe Hop Pellets (Dry Hop)
½ oz. Amarillo Hop Pellets (Dry Hop)
Wyeast # 1272 XL American Ale II

 

[brewtus_]

Next time try bumping up the dry hops by 1/2 ounce each.

 

[JLem]

Next time try bumping up the dry hops by 1/2 ounce each.

+1 - my first impression of your recipe was that there didn't seem to be enough hops for a five gallon batch of imperial IPA

 

[lazarus0530]

+1 - my first impression of your recipe was that there didn't seem to be enough hops for a five gallon batch of imperial IPA

Ok...like I said its a great beer. Just wasn't expecting a citrus taste

 

[JLem]

Ok...like I said its a great beer. Just wasn't expecting a citrus taste

Amarillo is super, wonderfully citrusy. Simcoe is more dank/piney, but also has citrusy notes. With the hops you used, I would expect the typical American IPA citrusy flavors and aromas

 

[Qhrumphf]

I get a lot of citrus from both Simcoe and Amarillo. And for an IIPA, I'd probably use a lot more hops than that, and not just dry hops. My IIPA uses almost a pound of hops for a similar OG (although mine is balanced towards hop-bomb).

 

[Zen_Brew]

I really wouldn't expect a straight citrus taste from that hop bill either. I would expect a firm bitterness with some citrus in the finish maybe. The hops are definitely on the light side for an Imperial which could be part of the problem, and the dry hop is super light. You should probably have at least 3 ounces of dry hop in something that big.

It could be the malt backbone is covering a lot of the hops as well. 1.020 is a bit on the high side for a finishing gravity for an Imperial IPA. The drier you get the finish, the more your hops shine through. I prefer to see an Imperial finish in the 1.014 to 1.016 area personally. That can take some work with a big malt bill. Straight table sugar can help with that sometimes.

 

[Golddiggie]

I would hold off on dry hopping it until you put it into keg and it either goes into the fridge, or maybe a day (or two) before then. Put the hops into a nylon hop bag (or muslin if you can't get, or are too cheap to get a nylon hop bag) to keep the particles out of the dip tube and liquid fittings. I did this [with whole hops] with the last English IPA I brewed (and kegged) and it was much better than just dry hoping then kegging. The dry hop aroma/flavor lasted for the entire keg too (never turned on me either). My only regret was that I didn't have more ready to go on tap. I might do this with the second 3 gallon keg of my MO SMaSH (with an ounce of EKG) when the first keg kicks.

I do 1oz per 3 gallons of brew now. I tried a few different amounts and found that 2oz per batch (I keg 6 gallons of each batch, typically) gaves me what I wanted from the dry hopping. Experiment a bit on your own to find the amount you really enjoy. Also try holding off on the dry hopping until it's kegged as I mentioned above.

 

[brooksy]

I've done a few beers with american ale II, and it seemed to hold back a lot of hop flavor/aroma. Just a thought.

 

[lazarus0530]

Thank you everyone...after further review it does have a nice pine flavor after the citrus

 

[WeaponTheyFear]

Next time try bumping up the dry hops by 1/2 ounce each.

I would bump them up more than that. I just bottled my second patch which was a 4.4% hoppy pale ale and I used 1 oz of citra and 1 oz of amarillo for my dry hops. The smell when bottling was amazing.