English IPA

Salyangoz

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I'm trying to develop an English IPA recipe for months. I'm close to what I want but I still need to get rid of some flavors that I don't fancy. The problem is I can't find East Kent Golding in my country so I use straight Golding. I used both Fuggle and Golding in boil and dry hop because I read somewhere that they were used together and now I'm not sure which creates the harsh grassy flavor. It has a floral flavor and aroma to it, which I love and I want to make it more signifcant without the harsh grassy flavor. I decided to use Fuggle for aroma and dry hop additions but I'm not sure. Also what do you think of the 30 minute Golding addition? Is it unnecessary? I use 30 minute average AA hops in my Pale Ale (like Perle) but don't know if it's necessary for this one. Also I had US-05 before and I had to use that one but now I have S-04 so it will taste more like the original style however I feel like it's not that relevant about the hop flavors.

The original recipe with the harsh grassy flavor:
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/764144/english-ipa
The new recipe I'm working on:
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/813946/english-ipa-v2

What are your thoughts?
 
I know some people doesn't like fuggles, some do... I guess you will learn if you like it or not. I think the amount of dry hop is a bit too much though, personally I would cut it down quite a lot.
 
I know some people doesn't like fuggles, some do... I guess you will learn if you like it or not. I think the amount of dry hop is a bit too much though, personally I would cut it down quite a lot.
The one before I used 28g for 3 days and there wasn't enough aroma. Then I used 56g for 8 days, aroma was fine but there was a very harsh grssy flavor. Some experts say 3.8g/l and I got an advice to dry hop for 3 days so I raised it to 72 grams for 3 days in my next recipe. What do you suggest? Did you brew English IPA before?
 
I've done a few English IPA, but what suits me perhaps doesnt suit you. If/when I dry hop these ales I probably have (at maximum) about 1g/L.
 
I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything very favorable about fuggles but personally have never used them before. Looks like you’ll get a good feel for them in this batch.
 
I'd look at the Target bittering hop. Some high-alpha English hops can be harsh. Even though it's not an "English" hop, Magnum is a perfect bittering hop, being supremely smoothe and having plenty of presence to support the flavor of other hops.
The grassiness is probably coming off of the dry-hop. Dropping the time from 8 days to 3 should help. Maybe you could try to find an cross-bred hop like Willammette which is an excellent hop for dry-hopping.
Alternately, you could try skipping the dry-hopping altogether and just put a lot of hops in a whirlpool addition. I think of English IPAs as primarily bitter and not quite as aromatic as American IPAs. You'll still get plenty of hop aroma from a whirlpool but none of the vegetal grassiness associated with dry-hopping.
 
Grassy notes can be the result of too long of contact with the dry hops. 3-5 days is enough time to get all the benefit of the dry hops and short enough to avoid grassyness. I think all hops can impart the grassyness but some may be more prone to it.
 
I'll add have you tried as above a short post primary 3-4 day dry hop before packaging then keg hopping using a stainless hop canister or as I use a hop ball. I've found whirlpool 80c 20mins then the above spread out dry hopping delivers bang for your buck when it comes to dry hoping with less Grassiness.
 
I’d bet it’s the hop type. I dry hop all the time for 7 days without any ill effects. Usually though the hops stay in the keg until it’s kicked. Never had an issue with grassy/vegetal notes.
 
I’d bet it’s the hop type. I dry hop all the time for 7 days without any ill effects. Usually though the hops stay in the keg until it’s kicked. Never had an issue with grassy/vegetal notes.

Which one do you think causes the grassy flavor?
Fuggle or Golding? Fuggle is 4.5 but the Golding I've found here is 6.2 AA.
I've read somewhere that dry-hopping with low AAs could give nasty flavors. But people dry hop with Fuggle. My mistake was using both of them, now I can't say which is which :(
 
I've read somewhere that dry-hopping with low AAs could give nasty flavors. But people dry hop with Fuggle. My mistake was using both of them, now I can't say which is which

I've never seen problems with low-alpha hops. Some just have better aromatic qualities. Cascade can easily be as low as 4.5 or so and that's a supreme hop for dry-hopping.
Those hops you used are often used together. Hop combo is not your issue. Gassy flavor can come from just about any hop. A lot might depend on how fresh and how they've been kept. Ideally, you'd have hops from a recent harvest that have been stored cold or preferably frozen in their original packaging.
Just try again with a different process or fresher hops and see if you still get objectionable flavors. Everybody's tastes are different.
 
I’d bet it’s the hop type. I dry hop all the time for 7 days without any ill effects. Usually though the hops stay in the keg until it’s kicked. Never had an issue with grassy/vegetal notes.

To be honest I thought most English hops were supposed to have grassy notes. I can’t comment on specific varieties. I think of ekg as more grassy and fuggles more earthy but that’s just from reading others experiences
 
To be honest I thought most English hops were supposed to have grassy notes. I can’t comment on specific varieties. I think of ekg as more grassy and fuggles more earthy but that’s just from reading others experiences
"Grassy" is generally from too much contact time with the hops and is generally a flaw. If that is we're talking about the same flavor, the one described as an off-flavor in the BJCP guidelines.
 
"Grassy" is generally from too much contact time with the hops and is generally a flaw. If that is we're talking about the same flavor, the one described as an off-flavor in the BJCP guidelines.

Sounds good. Months of contact time with keg hops has never given me grassy flavors but I must be the exception.
 

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