On September 3 I brewed an American Pale Ale (WLP001, 1.047 OG, 1.008 FG) with Columbus (0.4 oz) for bittering, Cascade (1.8 oz) and Citra (1 oz) for finishing. Bottled on October 5. A week ago it had a huge Citra nose. By yesterday the hop aroma had essentially vanished! Is such quick fading of hop aroma typical for such a beer? Is it the Citra hop in particular? But more importantly, is there something that I could do (process-wise) to keep the hop aroma from fading so quickly?
Whenever I make a hoppy beer I always dry hop it. The dry hops will greatly improve the aroma, which should hang around a little longer.
I came across an article recently stating that oxygen absorbing bottle caps also absorb hop aroma, so if you used those, that's one possibility. A certain amount of drop off is to be expected no matter what you do, but a drop off to zilch in one week is pretty dramatic.
Were the serving temperatutes and glasses the same? If yes, a week sounds pretty short for such a dramatic difference. One factor people don't often think about is oxygen, which can make hop flavor/aroma fade faster. When I switched from bottling to kegging (and the ability to purge O2 with CO2), my APAs/IPAs stayed fresher much longer. Still, a week seems a bit fast.
For me, Citra hop aroma in particular does change a lot over time. I've found that beers dryhopped with Citra taste and smell much better after being off the hops (in a keg) for 7-10 days. Earlier than that and I get a lot of 'cat pee' pungency that I do not particularly enjoy. Maybe this is the drop off you are experiencing in yours?
Responses to the above, in no particular order: I had the cat pee thing going on 3 weeks after brewing, and to a lesser extent when I bottled. It then changed over to a very fruity aroma, which was there for about three weeks before the dramatic drop off. I don't use O2 absorbing caps, and so I cannot blame the caps. The beer still tastes quite good, so perhaps this is the result of a small amount of oxidation. Serving temperature seems to make no effect: I had one quite cold and one at 60 F. Same basic (lack of) aroma. I have another, more recent pale ale that is 100% Citra. Will be interesting to see what happens with this one.
in addition to the previous points, all good, it is possible that the difference is due to your senses. your nose is notroriously unreliable. not yours, humans in general. i know that sometimes i am surprised by hop aroma in a beer i may have had many times before and sometimes i only notice a dull aroma if i am paying attention. this is also a good reason to drink homebrew in the morning, when your senses are the least fatigued. Cheers.
