I’ve noticed recently, since I switched to all pellet hopping, that my ales tend to be have an off “young/green beer” type aroma for about a week or two in the keg before they condition into shape, so to speak. This is vastly different from when I used solely whole hops - it always seemed beers were ready to drink right as soon as they were in the keg. In both cases, I have always primaried an ale for 3 weeks prior to hitting the keg.
Anyone else seem to notice this?
All of my hoppy beers seem to need at least a week in the keg before they meld together. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed any difference between pellets and whole hops.
I have noticed this lately. I have been using a lot of new Zealand hops and European hops and those I always buy pellets of. I notice a lot more hop material in the fermenter and the yeasty pints at the beginning of the keg tend to be more harsh and hoppy.
My hoppy beers normally need a week or two in the keg before the harsh, green aroma/flavor subsides.
Are you getting hop matter from the kettle into the fermentor? Pellet sludge is much more difficult to keep out than whole flowers, and with 3 weeks in primary, it would definitely give off some less-than-desirable qualities.
I’ve never used all whole-flower, so I don’t have anything to compare it to.
Cold crashing before kegging may help. It’s possible that you have more particulate matter from the pellets that’s getting into the keg and takes time to settle out.
very little, if any - I use a hop spider or blichmann hop blocker (still deciding on which i like better - last weekend i used both) and keep a huge amount of the vegetative muck behind.
I generally do a trub dump at high krausen as well and while there is some green matter, it is not excessive, IMO.
that’s a good idea - i try to do so when i think of it ahead of time - on this last one, an amber ale, I did not.
I’ve had issues with this is a few beers. They have had a couple of things in common. They have all had a crapload of dry hops (> 1 oz/gallon) and had 3 days or less of contact time with the last dry hop addition prior to bottling. They all did use pellets (although some had both pellets and whole cone hops). I’m not sure what the major factor was in giving the grassy/muddy/green flavors, but some cold conditioning time in the bottle did clear out those off flavors after some time.
+1. I not only use fine mesh paint strainer bags to dry hop, I also use one wrapped around the end of my racking cane (with a rubber band) as a second “filter”. I think it helps remove just a little more of the hop particulate, which I feel is the main offender. +1 to cold crashing as well.
So, Paul, you’re just noticing it now only after switching to all pellets or since switching to your new badass system? Seems odd that pellets would cause such a noticeable difference. But, having never brewed with whole hops or leaf hops, I guess I don’t have any authority on the subject.
I have noticed a difference in using a hop sack in the boil versus just tossing them in and letting them roam free. Hop sack gives less of the flavor and aroma characteristics, in my experience. But perhaps it’s because I was doing that in conjunction with fermenting in cornies, which I’ve read that the geometry of them changes the final flavor, somehow.
I line my bottling bucket with a paint strainer bag when I rack, but either the hop load or not allowing enough contact time for more of the hops to drop clear in certain batches have let more matter through to my bottled beer. The strainer catches a lot, but it wasn’t enough in those batches.
Sounds like a good plan to me.
Were these beers dry-hopped?
You have a valid point - it could be other factors - but I don’t notice it at all in non hoppy beers.
It could also be due to whirlpool/hop standing. I am not sure at the current moment - trying to deduce the culprit and this was first in mind.
Check your boiling wort pH before adding hops.
You might be drifting up and it is not the hops at all that gives you harsher hop taste.