Something wrong with my technique?

[Blinky]

I seem to not be able to make a hoppy brew anymore:-( Last brew was a Lagunitas clone, it has 150g of hops boiled for 3 mins but I cant taste them!
Im wondering what I can be doing wrong? I add the 3 min hops, boil for 3 mins then turn off the boiler and leave for 30 mins then chill down as usual etc. I know these end hops are sometimes called whirlpool hops, should I constantly be stirring them in the boiler? The reason I dont is that once you switch off the boiler the cold break starts to form and I have found before that if I keep stirring the cold break gets all mixed up and I end up with a cloudier brew.
I have another small 10l brew on the go at the moment (the one above was 20l) and just added 100g of dry hop, it already had 100g of 3 min boil hops as well.
I have been trying for the past year to make a hoppy brew, tried various recipes, my own and punk IPA and Lagunitas but none seem hoppy - in the past a couple of years ago they used to turn out alright. This time I also bought Aldi water and added 2 teaspoons of Burton Salts...

 

[GerritT]

Hop insensitivity? Seems a real problem, so I've read. Do you miss the bitterness or the aroma? Dryhopping is an option too. Old hops perhaps?

 

[Gunge]

Maybe you're just developing a 'tolerance' for hops? To me that sounds like an incredible amount. Serious answer btw... just as folk (ie me!) develop a tolerance for super-hot chillis. Unless someone has the answer, maybe make some less hoppy beers to readjust then go back to them full-on.

 

[Blinky]

Erm... Dont think so, I still enjoy a punk IPA or Lagunitas when Im out. Seems to just be my hoppy pale ales that I brew at home. This last one that I dry hopped tonight is going to be my last if it does not turn out hoppy, going to go back to kits which are pretty dam good nowadays anyway

 

[Leon103]

What hops are they?

 

[dan125]

I know i suffer from hop insensitivity but I just don't think you're using enough - the punk IPA recipes calls for 150g in the dry hop alone.

 

[serum]

I've found that when I aim for a certain IBU it's always a bit lacking. I think we get the crap end of the hops as homebrewers or maybe it's our technique letting us down.

 

[dan125]

Sorry - just re-read your OP and 200g in your 10L batch should be a pretty hoppy brew - what hops are they?
I've just used 400g in a 24L batch - all post boil, and the smell coming off it when I kegged was intense.

I don't think you need to worry about cold break getting mixed in, especially if you give it a chance to settle out after cooling, before you transfer to the FV.

 

[Blinky]

The hops used in the last one and this one currently brewing were centennial and cascade, with Williamette at 30mins and the c hops at the very end. This one also has 100g of dry hop as well as 100g at 2 mins.
Maybe that’s it, not enough hops, would not surprise me if us home brewers get the sweepings from the floor!

 

[Dads_Ale]

Are you using leaf or pellet hops? I have found that pellets give me more hop flavour and aroma.

 

[Blinky]

Always pellet for the c hops

 

[Grizzly299]

Try a moving that 3 minute addition to a 0 minute addition. Reduce your wort temperature to between 71-77°c. 3 minutes of boiling is bound to vaporise a lot of essential oils.

You'll gain a bit more punch in terms of aroma/flavour, but you'll lose between 10 and 15% of the bittering because the alpha acids aren't undergoing isomerisation.

You can leave the hops to stand anywhere from 5 mins to overnight.

Combine this with dry hopping and see how it goes. It may help, but I'd be keen to examine the rest of your process rather than your materials and boil techniques.


The issue may be the hop flavours are being dulled by oxidised beer. Nothing kills hop flavour like it. Make sure that once your yeast has been pitched, you're not accidentally adding oxygen at any point, by splashing/pouring clumsily/stirring.

Transfer is usually the point where it gets in, like filling bottles from the top of the neck, rather than with a wand, splashing when transfering to bottling bucket or splashing when batch dosing with priming sugar.


Or simply by leaving the beer for too long in the fermenter, IPA is best consumed fresh.


Hope this helps.

 

[Dads_Ale]

Always pellet for the c hops

In that case you may need to do some more stirring at the whirlpool stage.
It may be that the hops are simply sitting in the trub and not imparting much flavour to the bulk wort.
I usually give several stirs over a 20 minute period after flame out and then leave to settle for a further 20 mins.

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
Many members know that I keep banging on about this but this article suggests that boiling drives off most of the essential oils responsible for flavour and aroma. The writer's conclusion is interesting.

 

[pvt_ak]

Add at flame out once temp drops to below 80. Read this gives more hop aroma and I’ve done this with my grapefruit brews recently and I get more aroma.


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