Lost all hop for my Imperial IPA

My first batch of beer was, perhaps, a little aggressive, but I love hoppy IPAs.  Used 1oz Magnum for bittering (that worked!), then another oz of Magnum for flavor, and an oz of Cascade for aroma nearing the end of the boil, then dry hopped for 7 days with another oz of Cascade.  New to judging hops, but they were sticky and aromatic when I was putting them in. 
I was concerned about getting too much oxygen in the fermented beer (and a bit concerned about sanitation, but felt I could control that), so I opted to dry hop in the primary fermenter.

The beer has good flavor and good bitterness, but the hop aroma is almost non-existant.  Probably under carbonated, too, but maybe i'll save that for another post.

Any ideas on why this much hops didn't produce the hoppy flavor/aroma I was expecting?

Thanks much

  I love Imperial & 2x Imperial IPA's.  My last 5 gallon 2xIPA batch I used 9 oz combined of Bullion/ Cascade & Willamette.  I used .5 oz Bullion for bittering @ 90 minute,  with 5,  1/2 to 1 oz hop additions every 10 minutes after the 60 minute point of Cascade & Willamette.  Primary got 1 oz Cascade, Secondary got 1 oz Willamette for a total of a 21 day dry hop.  Total IBU of 102 with a 10.4+ ABV.  My dry hop floated so I did not get everything from that but it was still hoppy with good, but not great aroma.  It was very well received by friends who don't even like hoppy beer!

Wow!  That resets my levels for what "a lot of hops" means!  And 21 days dry hopping!  Monumental! 

What you mentioned about the dry hops floating got me thinking, though - I didn't weight my hops bag when i put it in.  And you said you didn't get alot of hops aroma either.  Hmm...

Well, I've got a blueberry honey ale in the fermenter right now bubbling away (put in Sat night), and it should be ready to bottle in a couple of weeks - haven't completely decided what to make then, but i think it will be another dry-hop ale, so i'll make sure the hop bag sinks to the bottom.  Still not completely convinced i need to use 2-stage fermentation...

  I've had a few comments about useing marbles in the hop bag.  I do not have marbles but I do have several Stainless Steel plumbing elbows!  I'll boil them first, then bag the hops and drown them .  As long as you are using good fresh hops, infection should not be a concern.  Hops were introduced to beer to prevent spoilage!  HOP away!!

Hi Groucho,

When dry hopping hops need space. Use the largest bag possible in your fermenter.
Regards,
Slurk

Hey Slurk,
Thanks for the hints - gives me some ideas.  Yeah, I put the hops into the same kind of muslin bag I used for steeping the grains.  The bag is very stretchy, so it probably only expanded as much as it needed too.  I'd thought about just putting the hops in without a bag, too, but was a little worried about filtering them out.  Maybe I'll invent something  ;D

Take care,
-greg

I have used a bazooka screen on my racking cane with good success.  I have used the muslin bags mostly out of convenience while measuring ingredients.  I filter my beer prior to kegging and/ or bottling and force carb with CO2.  My Danish Lager, a very pale gold is crystal clear despite the dry hop with zero sediment.  With most brews I use a 1 micron filter, for the really light colored brews I use the .5 micron.  Wheat brews and stouts that I want to bottle condition, I use a 5 micron filter.  I plan to try a 2xIPA filtered through hops!

Hi PetenNewburg,

What is your experience so far with using a 5 micron filter before condition bottling? I am considering filtering my pils/lagers.
Do you want to share your Danish Lager recipe?
Regards,
Slurk

Forget the bag and dryhop without it (just wait for them to settle before racking) . Also if your not doing so measure your pre boil gravity. If its higher or lower than it should be than your ibus will suffer. If your looking for copious amounts of hop aroma you can either first wort hop or even hopburst.  On my Imperial IPA I put in about 3/4 pound of hops total (per 5 gallons) most going in towards the last 15 minutes. The Pliny the elder clone I made had like twenty something ounces in a 10 gallon batch.  ;D 
Also switch your hop formula to rager in beersmiths options. This is the formula most breweries use and Takes more hops to reach targets than tinseth formula. Might help with the hop aroma. Good luck.

Try reading this...
http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.php

Hi Maddspoiler,

Thanks for the great link/article about late hopping, inspiring!
Regards,
Slurk

Thanks for the link and advise, Madspoiler.  Last night I brewed a clone recipe of Dogfish Head 60-minute with some pretty good late hop additions, but only about half of that Evil Twin recipe - I'll post how it turns out, but my post-boil and OG hit the mark (missed taking the post-boil gravity ).  This recipe also dry hops, so I'll try just putting the hops in loose.  How do you keep the hops from clogging the syphon when you rack to the bottling bucket?

Thanks again!

It will take at least two weeks for the hops to settle. Once they do I start siphoning with the racking cane about halfway down the carboy and move it down as I go and just leave everything on the bottom (never had a problem with clogging out of the fermenter). You could also sanitize some nylons or a hop bag and tie it to the bottom of your racking cane. I really dont mind if a little bit gets through because I keg everything and it settles out in there. As they said in the article if your adding lots of hops you need to increase your boil volume about one quart per 5 gallons. This goes double if its whole hops or if dry hopping with whole hops. Good luck.

I have been hop bursting (lots of late additions) with good results, plus dry hopping.  I've been using 2 or more ounces for dry, and easily 3 or more ounces late for five gallon batches (more for IPAs).  I might have to even up it some more because I've gotten pretty good but not necessarily fantastic aroma from most of my batches.  When I really hopped the hell out of my last IPA with 10 oz of hops (6.5 late, almost half of it at flameout, 2.5oz dry hop), it came out with great aroma and flavor (see here for full recipe).  I'm sold on hopbursting, needless to say.  Even in my non-super hopped beers I'm still going to hopburst a little on late additions just because I love hops so much.  ;D