My IPA has little to no aroma

[bamcisman]

Hi all, new homebrewer here. My second beer, (first all grain) is an IPA. I used Citra and Mosaic hops, and dry hopped for 5 days. I wasn't expecting it to smell like the best of the best, but also wasn't expecting it to be almost devoid if any aroma at all! Thoughts?

 

[olotti]

I guess as a new brewer myself I'd ask how many ounces did u hop with and for what size batch. Did u dry hop in primary and at what day and for how long.

 

[bamcisman]

Yea, so I dry hopped with .5 mosaic and .5 citra in a 1.5 gallon batch for 5 days in the secondary. In the boil i had 60 minute, 5 minute, and flameout hop additions

 

[cbenn22]

Hard to say for sure. Here's a couple reasons why this could be...

1. The hops were past their prime. I assume since you're new though, this is not the case.
2. Fermentation was not complete - you can lose some of the hop aroma if yeast are still active.
3. At lower temps ~<60 it will take longer for the hop oils to dissolve/release their aroma.
4. There could be nothing wrong. Hopefully when the beer is carbonated some of the hop aroma will return.


To answer olotti's question, I'll dry hop ~5 days before I start my cold crash.

 

[Calypso]

How long after pitching did you add the hops? Fermentation (and the outgassing CO2) will carry away a lot of aroma.

 

[olotti]

Hard to say for sure. Here's a couple reasons why this could be...

1. The hops were past their prime. I assume since you're new though, this is not the case.
2. Fermentation was not complete - you can lose some of the hop aroma if yeast are still active.
3. At lower temps ~<60 it will take longer for the hop oils to dissolve/release their aroma.
4. There could be nothing wrong. Hopefully when the beer is carbonated some of the hop aroma will return.


To answer olotti's question, I'll dry hop ~5 days before I start my cold crash.

I wax just trying to figure out when he added his dry hop. I do the same as u in fact I'll take my first gravity reading at day 10 and if it's where it needs to b I'll dry hop then and cold crash a few days later.

 

[RayZab]

So as olotti was asking, how many days were you in primary for? If most of your yeast were still in solution when you went into the secondary, it's possible the hop oil got dropped out when the yeast dropped. Also what size is your secondary vessel and did you bag the hops?

 

[aprichman]

Water chemistry is a major factor in suppressing or accentuating hop characteristics. What kind of water did you use to brew your beer? Something weird must be going on because 1 ounce of hops is a pretty heady dose for a 1.5 gallon batch.

 

[Skiffy]

Water chemistry is a major factor in suppressing or accentuating hop characteristics. What kind of water did you use to brew your beer? Something weird must be going on because 1 ounce of hops is a pretty heady dose for a 1.5 gallon batch.

I second this. Hops can be sensitive to water chemistry and oxidation. Even oxidation from typically acceptable transferring and bottling practice.

 

[bamcisman]

How long after pitching did you add the hops? Fermentation (and the outgassing CO2) will carry away a lot of aroma.

It was 14 days after i pitched, FG was 1.004. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Calypso]

It was 14 days after i pitched, FG was 1.004. Thanks for the feedback!

Okay, that probably isn't it then!

 

[bamcisman]

So as olotti was asking, how many days were you in primary for? If most of your yeast were still in solution when you went into the secondary, it's possible the hop oil got dropped out when the yeast dropped. Also what size is your secondary vessel and did you bag the hops?

It was a 3 gallon conical bucket, and i did bag the hops (I've read this can decrease the utilization?). Thanks for the feedback!

 

[bamcisman]

Water chemistry is a major factor in suppressing or accentuating hop characteristics. What kind of water did you use to brew your beer? Something weird must be going on because 1 ounce of hops is a pretty heady dose for a 1.5 gallon batch.

I think this might be the issue. I used tap water from the Houston water supply. The pH is in the high 7's i believe. I've heard this is bad for hoppy beers