Calculating Aroma Hops

Beersmith is a godsend when trying to figure out bitterness and ABV for a brew. The one aspect I still have to guess at though is the quantity of aroma hops, im never too sure if ive added too little/too much, im sure id get there with a combination of googling styles & trial and error but it would be great if on the style guide comparison there was an aroma indicator. Maybe this is already covered elsewhere in the app? or perhaps because of the number of variables involved it would be impractical to calculate effectively? If so what methods are people using to judge levels of hops say at flame out? Cheers

Aroma hops in both late kettle and dry hopping are subject to a lot more variables than they are when bittering. Aroma hopping remains one of the real arts of brewing, rather than science. Predicting aroma is an acquired skill for a brewer. I'm not aware of any software that does this job, at this time.

Chances are, your most favorite and aromatic beers are dry hopped by perception, rather than formula. I know that Russian River, Stone, Boulevard and Firestone all taste their beers during the dry hop process. If it needs more aroma, they all just add a little more hops and give it a little more time.

Predicting aroma is a matter of both experience and checking your ingredients. Making sure your hops are the freshest possible is vital. Stone and Russian River use only unopened boxes. A partial box is only to be used for bittering or kettle flavor.

As a general rule, higher alpha hops contain more aromatic oils, too.

There are a couple of things you can do to train yourself to be an expert in predicting aroma. First, break up a pellet or two in your hands and smell it as it releases oils. Remember the intensity and qualities of the hop. If you come across some that are cheesy, woody or just flat, they're old and unsuitable for your beer.

great, thanks for the info, I suspected that would be the case but wasn't sure, but that helps allot, cheers