How Is This Beer So Aromatic?

Good morning. We are a full week into the New Year, coincidentally the same day that most New Year’s fitness resolutions start going out the window.

Don’t worry though - still 51 more weekends ahead of us to put time aside to make some beer. Making and eventually drinking beer is better than getting fit anyway.

-Brandon Copeland

How Are Hazy IPA’s So Aromatic?

If you’ve ever had a Hazy IPA described as “dank” or even “juicy”, you’ll have had opportunity to smell the hops from the rim of the glass almost as clearly as if they were in your hand. This may have left you wondering: How did they do that?

When you add hops to the boil, you are adding some aroma to the beer, but most of the aroma is boiled off and instead you’re left with the bitterness we love and adore in beer. There are 3 main strategies that homebrewers use to make their beers more aromatic:

1. Add Hops At The End Of The Boil

This is the method you often see in extract recipe kits because it’s the simplest approach. Usually with about 5 minutes left in the boil, you add the most aromatic hops so that there is minimal time for them to boil and bitter, and so there is a higher likelihood they will maintain their aromatic qualities.

This method can be used anytime along with the next two methods, just as another way to minimize bitterness while adding more aroma.

2. Whirpool Hop Additions

Out of the 3, whirpool hop additions are the most difficult to master. At there very core, they are “flame out” hop additions, meaning they occur post boil. However, the ideal temperature for a whirpool is generally around 160 - 170 F (71 - 77 C). This means you’ll need to pause your wort chilling for anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes.

The whirlpool itself is used a means of increasing hop aroma extraction as well as a way to have cleaner beer since your trub will pile up in the center. It also helps cool the beer down faster. However, creating a whirpool can be a challenge on a beginner setup.

The simplest way to whirpool is to stick your brewing paddle in and stir steadily to create a whirlpool. If you’re using an immersion wort chiller, this may be difficult since it will be in the way. If you wanted to approach this from a DIY perspective, you could attach a paddle to a drill like this guy to achieve the whirpool.

I personally use the whirpool arm shown above on my Brewzilla Gen 4. This attachment makes whirpooling simple and a no brainer for $19.99. This same arm could be applied to other units via a camlock fitting - from quick scan of the reviews it looks like people have used them on the Robobrew 2.0 and Grainfather.

3. Dry Hopping

Dry hopping is the process of adding hops to the fermenter near the tail end of your primary fermentation. This is a great way to add more aroma from the hops without bittering the beer further. However, they should not be used for too long or else they may cause off flavors in your beer as explained here.

Beer Trivia Question

🍺 Where is the southernmost brewery in the world located, and for bonus points, what is it called?

Read to the end to find out if you're right!

Homebrewing Equipment Highlight

Anvil Stainless Bucket Fermenter - 7.5 Gallon

If you’re tired of the plastic bucket fermentor life and want to upgrade to something a little more substantial and reliable, but don’t want to break the bank on a BrewBuilt X2 Conical Fermenter, then the Anvil Bucket Fermenter is your best bet.

The only reason I have not purchased this fermenter is because it does not fit in my fridge which is serving as my fermentation chamber. However, one day when I eventually buy a dedicated fermentation chamber, I will definitely be grabbing one of these.

While they are not rated for pressure transfers, I have seen videos of people who have jerry rigged an attachment and completed a closed transfer under ~2 psi of pressure. If you go this route, just be careful not to overpressure and have the lid shoot off like a cannon ball.

Deal of the Week

Buy One Beer Kit Get Another 50% Off

Most of you all probably prefer to find and source your own recipes/ingredients, however if you’re feeling uninspired and need to start off the New Year with a couple beer kits, I certainly wouldn’t blame you.

This deal allows you to buy two kits with the second 50% off if you use the code ABCDEAL. I personally would indulge in the Pliny the Elder…

Brewgr Recipe of the Week

Cascade Pale Ale

Maybe it was digging up the picture of me harvesting cascade hops last summer that made this recipe catch my eye, but its beautiful in it’s simplicity. It’s always good to throw in some one hop beers into the rotation to really get a grasp on different varieties.

Credit: TheHomeBrewer

And the Answer Is...

🍺 The brewery is located in Ushuaia, Argentina, also known as “El Fin Del Mundo” or the “End of the World”. The brewery is called Fuegian Beverage Company S.a. and they are primarily known for their Beagle beer.

When I visited Ushuaia, you could not visit the brewery (there is no tap room) but you could buy the beers all over town. Very cool place if you’re ever in the neighborhood at the southernmost tip of South America.