IPA Lacking Aroma

[dannyboy58]

I brewed this IPA Feb 5. Nothing out of the ordinary with the grain bill. Tweaked it a little from the last few times trying to lower ABV just a bit, so would think the hops would shine a little more. Plenty of bitterness, great flavor just very light on aroma. I’m looking at the hops as culprit. Maybe they’re just not highly aromatic? They’re reasonably fresh and kept in vacuum sealed bags in the freezer.

Certainly not the MOST hops I’ve ever used in the 5, FO/WP or DH but substantial enough for better aroma than I’m perceiving from it. I DID just realize that I popped the keg straight in the fridge after putting DH hops in where I usually let it DH at room temp for 3 days. Still, if it were 2 full oz of centennial I feel like I’d have more aroma.

Anyone every use el dorado or azacca for DH? They smelled very fragrant on brew day.

I really like the bitterness from the El Dorado 60 min charge. The combo of that and the FWH seems to impart for flavor than most bittering charges do.

16 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 80.0 % 1.25 gal
3 lbs Wheat Malt (Avangard) (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 15.0 % 0.23 gal
8.0 oz BEST Acidulated (BESTMALZ) (3.0 SRM) Grain 3 2.5 % 0.04 gal
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.5 % 0.04 gal
0.75 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 5 12.3 IBUs -
0.50 oz Azacca [15.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 6 12.3 IBUs -
1.15 oz El Dorado [17.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 29.7 IBUs -
0.50 oz Azacca [15.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 2.2 IBUs -
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 1.5 IBUs -
0.50 oz El Dorado [15.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 2.2 IBUs -
1.00 oz Azacca [15.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min, 19 Hop 11 6.7 IBUs -
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min Hop 12 4.5 IBUs -
1.00 oz El Dorado [15.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min, Hop 13 6.7 IBUs -
1.0 pkg WLP066 London Fog Yeast 14 - -
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - 3.0 Days Before Bottling Hop 15 0.0 IBUs -
0.50 oz Azacca [15.00 %] - 3.0 Days Before Bottling for Hop 16 0.0 IBUs -
0.50 oz El Dorado [15.00 %] - 3.0 Days Before Bottling f Hop 17 0.0 IBUs -

[sneezles61]

It looks OK… “before bottling” I’ll assume its before kegging… I will say that Denny and Drew had a podcast… 3-5 episodes ago(?) that was very relevant to dry hopping…
Room temperature time seems to be an area I’ve recognized as aroma gaining… I get to brewing a variety of styles in the last couple years… IPA’s have been about non-existent around here… My bad…
I haven’t had an IPA pushed through a “torpedo” in a long, long time… That was like, the pinnacle of hops in a brew…
Not much help, eh?
Sneezles61

[voodoo_donut]

2 thoughts…likely misguided but…
One. is very 2020-1. You said, I believe that you thought you had Covid at some point? Anosmia (and loss of taste ) are frequently reported…but I assume you can smell other brews fine so…
Two. I double dry hop routinely for aroma/flavor and didn’t see that you did this time …perhaps that might have led to less aroma?

[squeegeethree]

As a bottler, who cannot purge with CO2 yet, I’ve largely given up Dry hopping. I do it and get a bit of aroma but in general it’s never close to the fullness my local breweries achieve.

[dannyboy58]

Yea “bottling” is the bs3 default I guess. Maybe I need to change a setting. Could’ve sworn I had but I just recently did an update too.

I do usually DH at room temp for 3-5 days before chilling. Guess I was in a hurry that day to move things along.

[dannyboy58]

That questionable short fever episode was over a year ago and I can’t say I noted a loss of taste or smell at the time or later when I learned about covid symptoms.

I’ve only double DH’d a few times and yes I’d agree it’s quite a bit more impactful. I’m probably going to pull the second keg which is already carbed and do a second DH at room temp for a couple days.

[dmtaylo2]

I have made an IPA with El Dorado as the primary hop, and… I found it very lacking in the flavor and aroma departments. El Dorado just seems like a very mild hop and you would need to use double or triple as much as a normal hop to get much effect from it. Sort of like the complete polar opposite of Citra or Mosaic, which are so strong you only need half or 1/3 as much as normal. So I think this is the problem.

If I’m right, and if you were to treat this IPA as if the El Dorado did not even exist, then you only late boil hopped with 1 ounce of good hops, whirlpooled with only 2 ounces, and dry hopped with only 1.5 ounces. This is a bit of an exaggeration but you can see why this IPA seems kind of on the low end. A good IPA in my opinion will use about 4-5 ounces late boil and/or whirlpool, then another 4-5 ounces dry hop. All assuming about 5-6 gallons, standard size batch (you did not specify but I’m assuming about 6 gallons?).

So… lack of sturdy hops, the main one being El Dorado which is a wimp, relatively speaking, in my experience.

[dannyboy58]

Good insights Dave.

I’ve seldom used that much hops late boil or DH but have definitely noticed a difference if I increase the amount or do a second DH. Maybe I’ll pop the kegs open and drop in some mosaic or something a little stronger.

[loopie_beer]

I agree with @dmtaylo2 on El Dorado. Never have been overly excited about them. I too find them lacking in aroma.