Stronger hop aroma after a few months in the package

[anthonybaraff]

I know the mantra from everyone is drink it fresh, but I've been having an odd experience. I find that the hop aroma is typically better on our beers after a few months in the package. The only other reference to this phenomena is under the "Less is More and Other Aroma Secrets" section of For the Love of Hops. It talks about Ted Rice preferring a two month old sample of his IPA to a fresh sample. The suggested solution is reducing the late hop and dry hop amount.

For three beers we found this to be the case on our hopping rates are as follows:
IPA 1 lb/barrel late + 1 lb/barrel dry
Pale .5lb/barrel late + .8 lb/barrel dry
hoppy amber .625lb/barrel late + .625/barrel dry

The strange bit is that we are quite a bit below the "reduced" rates mentioned in the book .8 lb/barrel late and 1.2 lb/barrel dry. Bumping up the dry hop addition to the pale seems to have improved things when the beer is young. Bumping up the dry addition to the IPA seems to have made things worse. The amber has the lowest hopping rates of any of the other beers and seems to benefit the most from additional time in the package. After 3/4 months it has this huge floral citrusy aroma that is decidedly missing when the beer is young.

Have any of the rest of you had similar experiences? Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Anthony

[Swedish Brewer]

Yes! We found year after year that especially Amarillo hops is better in the beginning of summer, that is half a year after its been processed.. We had that feeling for a few years and last year we read this in a hop science news letter from Baart Haas:

"Hop aroma needs to breathe !
These US researchers (as reported in July 2013) are
exploring the idea that oxidized hops may be more
beneficial than once believed. The exposure to prooxidative
conditions led to an increase in the oxygenated
fraction of hop aroma compounds and a generalized
decrease in the hydrocarbon fraction. The researchers also
produced dry hopped beers (using 600g/hl) with oxidized
and non-oxidized hops. Panelists were able to detect the
flavor difference and the beer produced with the oxidized
hops was described as more fruity, floral, and herbal! This
may break a German brewer’s heart, but maybe oxygen is
not always the bad guy….May this also have an impact on
flavor stability?"

[BiteMyLip]

Oxidized…cheesy hops

Oxidized…cheesy hops…….you really believe that hops that are not processed in a timely fashion and/or stored improperly will make a better beer?

Its on the Internet, it must be true…. Consider the source.
Maybe it’s just a merchant’s way of selling old crop or promoting the idea that freshness is not important.

But then again they do promote their “Finest Harvest Edition”
So I guess its up to you to pick the one you like.

[Swedish Brewer]

That´s not my point.. Of course hops oxidize and get cheesy after too long. What i´m talking about is a few months, for the hop to "rest" and (i don´t find a better word then) "mature".. Freshness of hops is very important, and that leeds me to my next thing.. Living and brewing in Europe i´m afraid that we dont´t get the best hops..

[scotts]

Just another anecdotal data point, but I find no difference with the quality of Northwest hops I buy from YC in Belgium or Charles Faram/Simply Hops in England versus what was available to me in the US. In other words, the boat ride over doesn't do measurable harm beyond receiving the most recent harvest a month or two later than US customers. In either location it's no fresher than the last harvest.

More generally speaking, as long as hops are kept in the original, unopened bag at a low temperature, I find they'll retain their aroma for a long time. But from homebrewing experience, hops left in an open bag for a couple months makes awful smelling and tasting beer. I see nothing good that comes from oxidizing hops.. at least late aroma/dry hops.

[anthonybaraff]

So all of this is of course interesting, but when you guys to tasting panels with your beers or when you are just kicking back and drinking one, at what point after the bottling date do you think your beer has the best aroma? I had noticed that our refermented beers seemed to have their peak aroma sooner than our counter-pressure filled ones, and I thought that it was possibly due to yeast reprocessing something from the dry hops into something more aromatic, but a brewer friend of mine just experienced the same thing with one of his brews which only had only late hopping but no dry hop, and clearly everything in that beer was thoroughly processed during primary fermentation.

The oxidation could definitely explain it. I've read that Cascade's oxidized by-products have stronger citrus characteristics than the hop itself. I've also read about German brewers in blind experiments identifying hops aged in open air for a period of time as having more "noble" character than those quickly packaged to minimize oxygen exposure.