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great aroma?

R

rich

Not sure if I picked the right category. I do mostly all grain brews, but have somewhat of an unrelated question. Anyway, it may be a bit longwinded, but here it goes.

I've noticed that some microbrewed and homebrewed beers have incredible aromas, and others don't. Now I've fiddled around with dry hopping, using a hop back, and all that and this particular aroma strikes me as not coming from hops. In fact, it smells kind of like a gym locker, but in a good way, like pungent, or like rich soil, yeasty maybe... I just can't describe it. Funny thing is that homebrewers that I point this aroma out to either don't seem to smell it, or give me strange opinions as to where it derives from. In fact, one brewer had me pursuing English hops in the aroma stage... then just recently he confided that he has a really bad sense of smell. When he told me this I was a bit pissed  :mad: since I spent a fair amount of time experimenting, but still didn't hit this aroma.

My question is: has anyone noticed this aroma? Again, it doesn't seem to be hoppy, or malty, but almost yeasty. An amazing aroma in my opinion, but one that I just can't put my finger on, nor get a clear answer on. My brews have yet to come close to this.

Could it be in the yeast strain? (although I've used many types of yeast... and nothing, but mostly white labs or wyeast).
Could it be as a result of brewing with starters? (I've never done a starter).

Any feedback would be cool.  :-/

 
Some yeast will have that "bready" aroma.  Like baking bread.  Some English strains have it.

I think WLP002 has it.  I use that in my Brown and love it.

Don
 
Agree with dog. Most hops you should be able to pick out the smell especially using a hopback so guess would go to yeast type. May help if you identify which beer you are discribing?
 
Alright, here is a possible brew that has this particular aroma right as it starts to warm up - Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on tap.

I've used quite a number of yeasts in the past, including English Ale yeast, London Ale yeast, Irish Ale yeast, American Ale yeast, California Ale yeast.

But have you guys noticed this aroma? Again, pungent in a great way? I can pull off nice tasting beers, but if I can start hitting this aroma, I'd really be happy with my brews.

Again, any feedback would be great.  
 
The yeast they use is WLP001 California ale yeast I beleive.

They also use Cascade for finish hops.

But WLP001 has a clean profile.  

Don
 
Rich
From your descriptions of "gym locker", "pungent", and SNPA example,  I'm guessing it's finishing or dry-hopped Cascade. In large quanities, it can have a cloying, pefumey, floral, composting hay pungency. Like being in a hot elevator with an over-cologned old lady.
Try dry hopping with at least 2 ounces in a  5 gallon secondary fermenter for 7-10 days.
 
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