Will my beer get more hoppy with time?

[lpstudio18]

So my first batch, a Brewer's Best IPA kit, has been 10 days in the primary and I just cracked it for the first time last night to take a specific gravity reading. I was excited/nervous to taste it, but was pleasantly surprised that despite being warm/flat it already tastes decent. It's obviously very young, but my one complaint was it was not very hoppy. I am just wondering how much I can expect the hop character to change over time and if I should consider dry hopping the primary to get it hoppier. My plan is to bottle at just under 3 weeks. Thanks for the help!

 

[Shooter]

Carbonation may change your perception of the hops, but most beers loose their hop character over time, the aroma and flavor fade first, followed by the bitterness.

 

[onipar]

So my first batch, a Brewer's Best IPA kit, has been 10 days in the primary and I just cracked it for the first time last night to take a specific gravity reading. I was excited/nervous to taste it, but was pleasantly surprised that despite being warm/flat it already tastes decent. It's obviously very young, but my one complaint was it was not very hoppy. I am just wondering how much I can expect the hop character to change over time and if I should consider dry hopping the primary to get it hoppier. My plan is to bottle at just under 3 weeks. Thanks for the help!

You can definitely expect the hop character to change once you bottle and condition it. Whether or not it will become more hoppy however, is another story. I haven't made any IPAs yet, but with most my other ales, they usually seem to smell and taste hoppier in the primary, and then mellow/balance after bottle conditioning.

I do know people say that IPAs or any beer that has a lot of hop aroma and flavor are usually better young, and that the hop character will diminish over time.

(Please correct me if I'm wrong about this)

 

[PVH]

Dry hop that bad boy!

 

[lpstudio18]

Dry hop that bad boy!

Any recs on what type of hops to use? My bittering hops were cascade and columbus I believe, and at the end of the boil I added another hop addition (can't remember what they were) for aroma.

also, the quantities were 1-2oz each i believe (dont have my notes with me)

 

[Zixxer10R]

Cascade leaf hops has to be my most favorite dry-hop type to date. Of course my first IPA that turned out really well was a St. Arnold's Elissa IPA clone so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[Jbear]

+1 for dry hopping. If you already have cascades in the beer, they'd be a great dry hop.

 

[badhabit]

At least once I would strongly suggest that you follow the recipe. Start changing and trying other things after you know what you have to begin with. Keep as detailed records as you can so that you can controal varriables in the future and then change one thing at a time. I just finished work on a Rogen that I have been working on for 5 years. I have been drinking the attempts and enjoying them and learning a lot in the process. Now I have....at long last a Rogen that I really enjoy.

 

[HexKrak]

Get an ounce or two of simcoe, citra, or cascade whole leaf / plugs and add them to the primary for 1-2 weeks.

 

[PIGMAN]

That was my first brew as well. I think you'll be happy with the final product.

 

[BrewThruYou]

My first IPA was a "American IPA" kit and it tasted like complete malt. There wasn't nearly enough hops in the kit...very disappointed.

 

[tuskenraider]

This was my first kit as well and I was glad I dry hopped it for a week with 1oz of Cascade.....the nose was beautiful, though was fading 2 months out from bottling.

 

[Hang Glider]

You DON'T have to brew from kits -

look through the recipe sections - find an IPA that sounds interesting and follow that. You can order everything individually...

and for what it's worth, most IPAs are dry hopped. Bitterness doesn't fade much - it's incorporated into the liquid more completely during the boil, but flavor and aroma most certainly disappear over about a 3-month window.

I also agree with Shooter - carbonation will change your perception.

So, for the OP (lpstudio18) - your choice. keep to the kit instructions, or make an IPA.

English IPAs use the European hop varieties, while the American IPAs primarily use northwestern varieties, those mentioned above.

Depending on how much you love that aroma & taste, try one ounce for a week, two ounces for a week, or two ounces for two weeks - of course you can vary that to your liking, but call that 'light', 'medium', 'strong' for a starting point.

Oh, and it may be "duh" but dry hopping is done after the fermentation is complete. Some say dump the hops into the primary, but I have found that the trub seems to absorb some flavor, so when I dry hop, I either use a secondary or dry hop in my keg.


If you want the hops to slap your face, look for the Pliny the Elder recipe...

 

[RobWalker]

If your beer sits for more than 3 months, then that is probably contributing. The solution? Have some friends round, get the tunes on and drink the keg away. Then make more.