I was pondering this recent blurb from Bill Manley at Sierra Nevada: “...The plastic under a crown is more dense than can-liners and can have a far more detrimental effect on flavor, specifically hop flavor. Our research shows little-to-slight deviation in longevity and hop aroma trials over extended aging. In fact, it gives a slight edge to cans at 120 days.” So there is conclusive evidence that plastic can scalp hop flavor/aroma. This makes me wonder to what degree a plastic bucket/fermenter can remove flavor from hop-forward beers. Thoughts? Although I'm a fan of buckets for many reasons, this kind of makes me think twice about using plastic fermenters.
But there is so much more of it exposed to the beer. Plus, I can tell using the smell test that it certainly absorbs odors. I'm just wondering to what degree it would scrub the desirable flavors and aromas.
I don`t use plastic buckets,so i can not give you a good information.I use better bottles (maybe made with food proof plastic )for fermenting and conditioning beers,if you clean them thoroughly there should be no remaining odor left.
My concern really isn't with the odor remaining in the fermenter so much as it is with the aroma and flavor that don't make it into the finished product.
Hard to say anything. Your quote says it gives a slight edge to cans after 120 day contact time. As mentioned, the plastics are different, the contact areas are different, and the contact times are shorter. Seems like more data are needed to address your questions. If subsequent studies show that plastic buckets do scrub out hop aromas moreso than glass, one easy solution is ADD MORE HOPS.
Keep in mind that the volume per surface area in most vessels is pretty high, i.e. there's a lot more beer than there is plastic. And only the outermost portions of the beer, which is in contact with the plastic, is at risk of leeching hop flavor. So, while I don't discount their findings, I kind of shrug my shoulders and will continue to dry hop in any plastic paraphernalia as needed.
Volume cubes as surface area squares. You'd have to compare the total surface area/volume ratio exposed verses time etc which might make for a tricky study that's possible but might be solved by just adding a touch more hops in the first place. I do notice that despite careful cleaning, my plastic buckets do retain some hoppy smell to them, even when dry. Not too worried though, as the beers have been coming out good. I've not skimped on the hops, and I'm not conducting a scientific study (yet, lol).
