Gemadrken
Well-Known Member
Hello everybody
Over the last few years, the quality of my homebrew has greatly increased. The two biggest factors were switching from extract to all grain, and swapping from bottling to kegging.
I have experimented with hop quantity over probably 40-60 six gallon batches of all grain, and have hopped between 3-11oz per six gallons depending on the recipe. I typically dry hop between 1-4 oz per six gallons, with 1-3oz of flame out addition hops, and a balanced amount of bittering hops.
What I really want to focus on is maximizing flavor and aroma. I have noticed that between my homebrews and top quality commercial IPA's, mine seem to be lacking in the hop flavor and aroma. I have a few following questions.
-What do commercial breweries do different than the average homewrecker to get the most flavor and aroma out of their hops?
-I have noticed when dumping my trub that there a lot of hop particle, as well as aroma remaining. I often have 1 gallon of hoppy trub from my six gallons of beer, leaving me 5 for the keg. Can I stir that hoppy trub back into the beer extract any of that remaining hop aroma and flavor? Will stirring the trub back in at around 11-14 days after the initial yeast pitch cause any possible issues (assuming dry hops have been in 4+ days)? Is there any hop oils remaining to even extract at that point?
-What have you learned about getting different styles of bitter in your beers? Sometimes a harsh bitter is nice, sometimes a clean bitter is nice, and what do you do to achieve different styles of bitter?
-What are the best hop boil addition timings/dry hop timings that you have found get the best results?
-I use RO water + gypsym and CaCl. How important are water minerals in regards to hop flavor and aroma? Which ones and why?
-Is there anything else you have learned about hop utilization over the years?
-What are you favorite hop pellet combinations?
-Where do you buy your hops?
These are a lot of questions, and by no means does anybody need to answer all of them. If anybody is willing to impart any wisdom that would be great, I'm really trying to get my brews to the next level. I mostly brew pale ales and IPA's, but have brewed most popular styles.
Thanks!
Over the last few years, the quality of my homebrew has greatly increased. The two biggest factors were switching from extract to all grain, and swapping from bottling to kegging.
I have experimented with hop quantity over probably 40-60 six gallon batches of all grain, and have hopped between 3-11oz per six gallons depending on the recipe. I typically dry hop between 1-4 oz per six gallons, with 1-3oz of flame out addition hops, and a balanced amount of bittering hops.
What I really want to focus on is maximizing flavor and aroma. I have noticed that between my homebrews and top quality commercial IPA's, mine seem to be lacking in the hop flavor and aroma. I have a few following questions.
-What do commercial breweries do different than the average homewrecker to get the most flavor and aroma out of their hops?
-I have noticed when dumping my trub that there a lot of hop particle, as well as aroma remaining. I often have 1 gallon of hoppy trub from my six gallons of beer, leaving me 5 for the keg. Can I stir that hoppy trub back into the beer extract any of that remaining hop aroma and flavor? Will stirring the trub back in at around 11-14 days after the initial yeast pitch cause any possible issues (assuming dry hops have been in 4+ days)? Is there any hop oils remaining to even extract at that point?
-What have you learned about getting different styles of bitter in your beers? Sometimes a harsh bitter is nice, sometimes a clean bitter is nice, and what do you do to achieve different styles of bitter?
-What are the best hop boil addition timings/dry hop timings that you have found get the best results?
-I use RO water + gypsym and CaCl. How important are water minerals in regards to hop flavor and aroma? Which ones and why?
-Is there anything else you have learned about hop utilization over the years?
-What are you favorite hop pellet combinations?
-Where do you buy your hops?
These are a lot of questions, and by no means does anybody need to answer all of them. If anybody is willing to impart any wisdom that would be great, I'm really trying to get my brews to the next level. I mostly brew pale ales and IPA's, but have brewed most popular styles.
Thanks!