Where's the hop flavour gone?

[melikidabeer]

I bottled a pale ale about two weeks ago; my first all grain experiment it tasted good and hoppy out of the fermenter but when I cracked a bottle today I could barely taste or smell the hops. Any ideas what this could be about?
It was a two gallon batch and I used 100 grams of hops. 10g cascade @60 and 20, 10g citra @60 and 20. Then 20g cascade and 20g citra at flameout followed by the rest as dry hop at 2weeks.


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[beerkench]

Maybe it's a slight infection? I had a wild yeast infection in a few batches even though I thought was sanitizing correctly. My beer was turning out, thin, slightly flavorless and slightly over bitter, almost tonic like. I changed my bottling wand, siphon and tubes and started getting real anal with cleaning. My beer's back now!


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[unionrdr]

I had the same thing happen with my most expensive 5 gallon batch of IPA. Sometimes I think the carbonation is too low & when it fizzles out, so does the flavor. I'm thinking now that 2.3 Vco2 might be a bit low for the American Style IPA?

 

[BreezyBrew]

I bottled a pale ale about two weeks ago; my first all grain experiment it tasted good and hoppy out of the fermenter but when I cracked a bottle today I could barely taste or smell the hops. Any ideas what this could be about?
It was a two gallon batch and I used 100 grams of hops. 10g cascade @60 and 20, 10g citra @60 and 20. Then 20g cascade and 20g citra at flameout followed by the rest as dry hop at 2weeks.


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Which yeast did you use? I find that makes a big difference in the hoppyness of the beer.

 

[wsmith1625]

I've never had issue with hop flavor, but I do notice that my hop aroma's are not as strong as I would like them to be, even after dry hopping. I think unionrdr may have a point about the CO2. With my batches, the aromas are not great right after I pour them, but as the beer warms up a bit and CO2 starts escaping, the aromas come back nicely. I would try pouring a glass and letting it sit for 10 minutes before you drink it. Then see if those awesome hop aromas are present.

 

[melikidabeer]

I used mangrove jacks west coast yeast. My lhbs didn't have an us05 and I usually use that.

 

[BreezyBrew]

I've never had issue with hop flavor, but I do notice that my hop aroma's are not as strong as I would like them to be, even after dry hopping. I think unionrdr may have a point about the CO2. With my batches, the aromas are not great right after I pour them, but as the beer warms up a bit and CO2 starts escaping, the aromas come back nicely. I would try pouring a glass and letting it sit for 10 minutes before you drink it. Then see if those awesome hop aromas are present.

Are you sure it's not the temp of the beer instead? My colder beers definitely are not as aromatic as warmer ones.

 

[unionrdr]

Mine warm up to 45-50F & some just lose hop flavor & aroma a lot quicker than they should.

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

I sound like a broken record on this forum but I'll just say that I always had similar experiences when I was bottling hoppy American ales. Tasted great out of the carboy but after conditioning in the bottle, things changed and turned very neutral. Hops flavor and aroma was hurt badly. After I started kegging, my APAs and IPAs started tasting the way the gravity samples did.

If you are dead set on gnarly hop presence (like I was), you might want to consider getting a corny keg and CO2 tank. Cheers

 

[BreezyBrew]

I used mangrove jacks west coast yeast. My lhbs didn't have an us05 and I usually use that.

Hmm. Guess it's something else.

 

[melikidabeer]

From what I've been reading, it looks like is got something to do with the bottling process. Putting a corny keg on my list to Santa. I've been good this year and I think I deserve it. Thanks for the input.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

My hop aroma and flavor got a big boost when I started doing a hop stand. My process is: bittering hops at 60 min (however much you need for your IBUs); late hops at 10 min (2-3 oz); after boil, cool to 175 and add 2-3 oz for 30 min hop stand; finish cooling, pitch and ferment; dry hop for last 7 days (2-3 oz). Great aroma and two months after bottling I still have good aroma and flavor. Added bonus is that head improved a lot.

 

[beerkench]

I sound like a broken record on this forum but I'll just say that I always had similar experiences when I was bottling hoppy American ales. Tasted great out of the carboy but after conditioning in the bottle, things changed and turned very neutral. Hops flavor and aroma was hurt badly. After I started kegging, my APAs and IPAs started tasting the way the gravity samples did.

If you are dead set on gnarly hop presence (like I was), you might want to consider getting a corny keg and CO2 tank. Cheers

This is in my eyes is often due to contamination:
Any old beer or wort lurking in/on your equipment or bottles will have wild yeast spores develop on it. This then contaminates the beer which is then bottled with priming sugar, therfore feeding the the wild yeast so it can reproduce at room temperature. Wild yeast strips hop flavour and thins out the beer.
With kegging there's no need for the sugar and the beer is often carbonated under cold temps so there's less chance of a contamination multiplying and taking over.

Just make sure you really clean everything. Boil your hoses or soak in bleach, maybe change your wand and syphon or soak them too. Buckets and bottles should be really cleaned and not just rinsed.
Try this and brew another batch.

 

[unionrdr]

^ This. And also cut abou as 1/2" or so off the ends of your tubing used on spigots & such. They get stretched out eventually. They then will leak or suck air. Cut them off below the stretched part & it'll tighten them up.

 

[sweetcell]

limit how much air your beer is exposed to after fermentation - don't use a secondary, rack very carefully to the bottling bucket without splashing, flush the bottling bucket with CO2, etc.

use more hops. your recipe is low on hops, i wouldn't expect a ton of hop character. certainly some, but not a ton. you could easily double your later additions (that dry hop could be tripled or quadrupled if you want crazy hop aroma).

 

[Singletrack]

Contamination.

Or, the government. They're watching us.

Or, aliens. They can steal hop aroma right out of the bottle.

Edit: The same probability for each of these alternatives.

 

[unionrdr]

Contamination. Or, the government. They're watching us. Or, aliens. They can steal hop aroma right out of the bottle.

Yeah, darn Borg brewers. We are the Borg brewers. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile!