Need some help with my hoppy beers

To the OP. I would guess that water isn't your problem. You mash pH is fine, and I doubt that the sulfate is the problem, especially since it hasn't really affected anything compared to your beers without it.

Some things to consider:

(1) Do your hops smell fresh before using them? Rub them in your hands a bit and check to see that there is a good aroma from them. If not, this might be your problem. I bought hops one year from a popular online )hop-only) retailer and some of them had practically zero aroma.

(2) I tend to agree with others here that the malt bill is a bit high on the caramel malts. A less ambitious malt bill may help the hops really shine. If you want a really great IPA recipe, give Vikeman's crowd sourced Averagely Perfect American IPA a go. It is by far the best IPA that I have ever brewed. (Do a search on this forum.)

(3) Are you fining in the keg? This could potentially have beneficial or detrimental consequences. Beneficial in that you will get the yeast out of the way; yeast can definitely muddle things. OTOH, finings can strip hop character from the beer also. Something to experiment with, perhaps.

(4) Does you hop character drop off with time, or are things bad from the get-go? If they are dropping off with time, it is most likely post-fermentation oxidation. This can be a pain to get under control, but if so, you probably need to think carefully about your process.

Good luck!

 

Try fining it, and then re dry hopping your beers..

Report back.

Otherwise... I don't know.. If utahbeerdude says the water and ph is fine.. then the shit is fine for sure.

Other option is your recipes function or process of making it.

Purging sounds about right and sound..

 

Continuously flowing in and out? I'm not sure how effective that method would be as you're not actually pressurizing the keg. I pressurize with 30 psi. Then release. Repeat 5 times.

 

I do the same thing.. 20-30psi.. hit it, pull PRV.. release and do so about 5-6 times. Then I let it equal out and call it a day.

 

Can you say what you mean by muddled? From your original post, I thought you were saying not fresh. But here you say you don't think it's oxidation.

 

Repeated High pressurization and de-pressurization with CO2 results in vanishingly low O2 levels. It's all about concentrations. In a container where the gasses are being stirred (basically what you're describing in your first part), they won't really stratify, so I wouldn't count any particular gas 'pushing' another one out/up, though there will be some dilution, with CO2 replacing some O2. Does the CO2 in your living room layer at the bottom?

Muted is exactly how I would describe mild oxidation of hop aroma/flavor. Oxidized "beers" (in general, i.e. compounds other than hop compounds) and oxidized hop compounds don't necessarily taste the same.

 

How sure are you about your base water? I recently got a Ward's Lab test and it was very different from someone else's report less than a year ago.

Another way of approaching this, have you tried brewing with RO water and building the mineral additions from scratch?

 

I won't add too much to what everyone has already said, but just in case I hit on something:

- yes, back off crystal. No point adding sugar and crystal, these are fighting each other.
- I won't argue about the SO4 level, yes a bit high, and probably a bit more emphasis on bitterness. It won't hurt to back it down, but probably not causing your problem either.
- the CO2 idea is a good idea too, but again, you are saying muddled hop flavor, not muted.
- any fermentation related issues? Pitching a starter? What's your finishing gravity at? Esters, unwanted phenols, underattenuation won't help.
- Finally, I'd consider messing with the hop bill. You want pointed hop flavor? Sub out your Centennial, CTZ, and Simcoe for straight Citra. That will be an unmistakable, pointed tropical attack at your olfactory senses.

Simplicity can work wonders for an IPA. Simple malt bill, super clean fermentation, lots of hop flavor. Sometimes less is more. These are usually recipes for success.

 

I was hoping you would not say that

You might try making your next beer as simple as possible, something like 2 row or Pils malt and 1 hop like Centennial or Cascade. If you still get a muddled mess, you know it is not an overly complicated recipe.

I wish I had more to offer.

 

I didn't see this above anywhere, but how quickly are you chilling your wort? I noticed a significant difference in my hop aroma when I got a bad-ass chiller and can lock in those flavors asap. If you've got rapid chilling on lock-down, disregard.

 

Add more hops. Take away the crystal. Verify your thermometers accuracy. Recently had a batch I mashed too high, the hops were muddled to say the least. If, for some reason, the thermometer you're using is off, you may be mashing high and having your starches and protiens muddle up the beer.

 

Starches? That would have to be a really high mash temp, like outside of normal sacch rest range.

 

When's the last time you have your plate chiller a good boil?

 

OP, we must live real close to each other because our water report is almost identical! I also shop at the same LHBS and their hops are fresh, for sure. I make juicy, hop bombs, all the time with that water. All I do is filter, add some calc. chloride, and adjust PH with acidulated malt and/or lactic acid. Zero gypsum and zero carmel/crystal malts, but that's just a personal preference. One of my best DIPA's has Pearl as a base malt and a little white wheat malt and about 3 times the hops that you are using, with most of them in at whirlpool. When putting together a recipe I always think 'what can I take out, not add'. Sorry I don't have any answers, but i wanted to let you know it's not the hops or the water.

-Mike