NEIPA Hop Flavor HELP

Could it change the flavor? Well, yes, it could cause oxidation. But I can't say with certainty that that's the cause of the problem you're describing. Do you normally do closed transfers from primary to keg, and if so, was this the only variable?

 

So then it sounds like you transferred this batch the same way as your other batches, which didn't have the off flavor. In that case, I'd probably look elsewhere for the cause.

 

I've noticed this once in a while as well.
What temp did you start your hop additions at? You may have gone in too high and gotten too much bitterness out of them. Also. How old are they?
It could be a yeast issue as well in that you're pushing them to act older than they want to be, or maybe their behavior in fermentation was muddled because you over or underpitched or its an older generation that doesn't want to work the way you expected they would.

 

@drink1121 , I'm interested in this topic. My last two NEIPA batches gave off some weird smells/tastes. Not sure if similar to yours but I'm curious to follow this.

Do you do anything with your water? Got the profile tested, add gypsum, calcium chloride, etc.?

 

I agree, could be a pH or water issue. Are you doing any treatment?

 

Just to clarify, the 6 months you mention is your purchase date? Do you have exact knowledge of the hop crop date?

Cheers!

 

Your methods and timing of adding hops is what I have done with the few NEIPAs that I've done. Could it have something to do with adding the initial dry hops? Maybe. How do you add them? I use those mesh hop bags, add sanitized marbles for weight, and try to gently drop them in. The first beer I performed this type of addition came out great. The two recent ones, not so great. I'm not sure if that was the part I messed up on though. I will say, I had to really push with my "sanitized" fingers to get the mesh bag past the initial thin neck of my glass carboy. IMO there was too much hand contact but still not sure that was the cause.

Some other factors off the top of my head:
1. Hop freshness - every time I smell the hops I buy, they smell fresh. That being said, I'm not sure if I would know what not-fresh hops smell like!
2. BeboThoughts brings up pH. I do not measure pH as much as I should. I use a rectangular cooler for mashing. I'm sure my results are not consistent yet.
3. Equipment - I'm at the point (about 10 batches) where my tubing, spigots, valves, filters, etc. are not new anymore. They might have a biofilm build up developing that I need to scrub off. This is annoying but something I can't ignore. For example, I just picked up one of those Camelbak tubing scrubbers - good for scrubbing the inside of dip tubes (if you use kegs).

My (lengthy) post is here if you're interested in my off-flavor descriptors. There's some good general home brewing advice in there as well:
NEIPA yeast experiment: Hefe 3068 vs. London 1318 (went awry)

 

So, here is the challenge. We homebrewers are on the absolute bottom of the 'food chain' when it comes to hops. Generally speaking we have no knowledge of the hop crop: where the hops were grown, when were the hops harvested (e.g., early harvest, late harvest), and even the crop year.

Needless to say but it would be better for we homebrewers if we had specific knowledge of the hops were are using for brewing consistency reasons, but...

Cheers!

 

I'll throw in a different take on the situation. I am on the 19th version of my NEIPA. I have found that less is more when it comes to hop varieties. Two is ideal and three is the max. Beyond that it gets muddy for me. I like using dual purpose varieties. Bitter with a low cohumulone variety like Simcoe and use another for flavor and aroma. I use the bittering hop at about 25-33% of the other variety in the whirlpool and dry hop too.

Your process sounds good to me. Maybe just play with the hops a little more. Good luck.