IPA/NEIPA off flavors

I've found that I need 24 hours at ~32-34F to let the hops compact on the bottom of the fermenter before racking. You would probably be fine at 40F, I just always go for 32-34F.

Additionally, when racking I've had best results racking well above the level of the compacted hops so that I don't pull any hop material into the next vessel. Don't try to push out every last ounce because the beer just above the hop bed will still have fine particulate that will make it into your next vessel.

If you have the ability, visually inspect the beer before transferring to confirm that the hop material has settled.

I haven't found that waiting extra time has much benefit.

 

Do you get a harsh bitterness though when you first try it?

 

Ya. Especially when I get lazy and don’t cold crash. After about a week to two it mellows out for me. Remember there’s a S*** ton of hop material in there. After work I’ll pull a pint or two to clear anything settling. What works for me might not for others but patience will pay off.

 

If time doesn’t settle down the bitterness, I think the next culprit may be water chemistry and/or pH. Just a guess without knowing the entire recipe and process.

 

Curious if you ever got to the bottom of what was driving this flavor? I do a handful of things similar to you and have on occasion gotten what I feel is an off flavor. I dont pick it up as plastic or medicinal though, not actually sure what it is. Seems syrup-like. I'm curious about 3 parts of my process.

1. Whirlpooling heavy amounts for 40+ mins below 180F

2. Pitching > 350 bil cells in 5.5 gals - this is brewers friend "pro-brewer/high-gravity pitch rate"

3. Hops - recently noticed it on some bargain mandarina Bavaria from 47hops. I used about 6oz of just this hop and i think it was an older 2016 lot, although packaged and sealed well.

Would be interested to see what you found out by changing your process.

 

I do 160 degs for 20 mins. What is below?

 

I generally do 3 WP additions starting at 40 mins for 10 mins each. I start at about 170F then it naturally cools about 10F every 10 mins and I add another addition. After 40 I cool with an IC then transfer to fermenter.

 

Holy moly, dry hopping for 14 days! What is this 1999!?!

I think maximum solubility is 24hrs or something like that. Any longer than like 3 days and you are extracting all sorts of yuckies.

That being said, I get vegetal, and weird hop flavors from every NEIPA I have ever tasted, some better some very very much worse.

 

Vinnie Cilurzo kindly wrote an article with a homebrew clone recipe for Pliny the Elder:

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/attachments/0000/6351/doubleIPA.pdf

From the article: “For Pliny the Elder, we dry hop for 12 to 14 days.”

From Vinnie’s clone recipe:

“1.00 oz (28 g) Columbus* 13.90% A.A. Dry Hop (12 to 14 days total)

1.00 oz (28 g) Centennial 9.10% A.A. Dry Hop (12 to 14 days total)

1.00 oz (28 g) Simcoe 12.30% A.A. Dry Hop (12 to 14 days total)”

Vinnie Cilurzo is an accomplished brewer and he sure knows how to brew hoppy beers (e.g., Pliny the Elder).

I think folks would be wise to listen to what Vinnie Cilurzo has to say on this topic.

Cheers!

P.S. I brewed my version of Pliny the Elder following the above direction and that beer turned out great!

 

Sorry, I stand corrected 2009.

 

I've dry-hopped for anywhere from 3-10 days in primary and generally dry hop in the keg as well. I do this at room temp for a day or 2 then cool and carb. Those have sat several weeks and tasted fine. I'm not sure the off flavor I'm getting is hop related. It seems a little more like syrup or caramel. Doing more digging it seems mash or sparge related.

 

Pliny the Elder tasted damn good in 2009. It tastes the same in 2018.

Cheers to Vinnie Cilurzo’s brewing knowledge/skills!

 

Pliny recipe has changed quite a bit. You can find the brew log for it online and I’m sure it’s changed since. It’s defintely different than that recipe he posted way back. I highly highly doubt he’s still dry hopping that long. There’s so much data and research published by all the Hop companies that extraction happens waaaay faster than that. Kimmich recommends no more than 5 days. Just heard the guys from Aslin say no more than 3 days. Got a friend who’s won GABF gold for his hoppy beers multiple times as well as Alpha King and he’s says no more than 2 days before crashing to get hops to drop.

As far as off flavors go. My hoppybeers got exponentially better after cooling to lower than 180 for whirlpooling and not dry hopping during fermentation. I also have moved more and more hops out of the whirlpool and into the dry hop.

 

A mountain of evidence is no match for a speck of confirmation bias.

 

Well, as of 2014 Vinnie Cilurzo stated he dry hopped for an extended duration in a homebrewing magazine article.

Folks can choose to brew differently but I am a fan of Russian River hoppy beers so....

Cheers!

 

Anyone know what effect the alcohol strength has on dry hopping lengths.

 

More alcohol means faster extraction, but my guess is that when we're talking about, say 8% ABV vs 5% ABV, the effect would be fairly small, because the environment is still mostly water.

 

If you are sensitive to hoppy/vegetal flavors, might I recommend you tie the hops up in the keg when dryhopping for the duration.