Dry Hopping

[Darkside Drew]

Earl and I started up a new IPA this past weekend and it's now starting to happily bubble away in the primary fermenter. We wanted to go with big IBUs with this one, as we both like hoppy beers. We've both read up on dry hopping, and would like to give it a try. But before we go throwing hops in the secondary, I'm hoping to pick the brains of those more experienced first... A few questions have come to mind, and I'm sure discussion will spawn more. First, what form of hops (pellet, leaf, etc) are best to use? I've read discussions about the use of hop socks and would prefer to not have hop bits floating around in the finished beer, but are they necessary? Any thoughts on what amount to use? I've read anywhere between 1 to 4 oz for a 5 gallon batch; I'd really like to get a lot of hop aroma, but want to avoid the grassy, vegetal flavour that can crop up (I wasn't a fan of the local wet-hopped beers released earlier this fall, so would rather avoid that entire taste spectrum).

Anyway, any thoughts on topics I've raised or anything else to do with dry hopping would be appreciated. Thanks for the input!

[sleepyjamie]

i usually throw in 2 oz (~12-19% AAs) for a 5 gallon batch ~ 7% ABV. as for grassy notes i find it depends on what sort of hops you use.

my favourite hop for dry hopping as of lately is Galaxy.

[mr x]

A couple ounces of something should work out fine. Just be warned that the hops can create a nucleus for CO2 release, so make sure you have adequate headspace. I like the pellets over whole for carboys. They settle out nicely.

[Graham.C]

I've tried a few different things and I will share my experience.
Leaf is better then pellets (if only because it takes so long for the pellets to settle out).
I have done 2,4,5, 7, and 18 day dry hopping, and yes its simpler if you have a mesh bag. The 18 day was the only one that had lots of grassy notes (which I don't mind), the others didn't. The last one I did I dry hopped in a mesh bag in the keg and tasted it every day to see when it was where I wanted it. 5 days smack on but that was with 4.5oz/20L.
Don't aim to up your IBU's, if you want a bitter beer you should add more hops in the boil. AFAIK Dry hoping extracts more resin then bitterness.
On the same note, pick a variety that you like the smell of, because its those resins you will be tasting not so much the alpha acids. If you don't know what you like, pick a beer you like and find out what is in it or pick a hops you do like and google it for substitutions. I tend to lean towards the North American/Washington state strains for that piny-citrusy profile (cat pee anyone!), but I have had some beers dry hoped with goldings and loved it.

Edit: trust x over my comments for leaf vs pellet. He knows far more then I do.

[mr x]

I've probably done a bit more, but whether I know far more is another story.

[NASH]

Pellets all the way for me, loose, no bags.

If you want an intense bouquet that'll hold over time hit it with 5 or 6 oz of your favorite west coast hop for 7 - 10 days @ ~ 65 F.

[GAM]

Pellets all the way for me, loose, no bags.

If you want an intense bouquet that'll hold over time hit it with 5 or 6 oz of your favorite west coast hop for 7 - 10 days @ ~ 65 F.

I was waiting for this, it is what Greg told me a few weeks ago.

Hopped a RIPA last night, but I only used 2oz.

Sandy

[Bryan]

Where do most of you get your ingredients ? I use Noble Grape in Burnside.

West Coast pellet hops seem to be limited, buy maybe there are some that I could use ?
Have any of you used Cascade or Amarillo ?

Thanks!

[mr x]

We use NG, and also buy larger quantities as a group. Amarillo and cascade are great, but amarillo may be hard to find this year.

[Darkside Drew]

Great, thanks for all the input guys. I guess now we just need to figure out what type of hop to go with!

[LiverDance]

A while back x posted up that he left dry hops in a keg of his for a very long time and didn't get any grassy notes, so I was curious! I have an IIPA that has been dry hopping in the keg in a mesh bag for 3 months now and it smells unbelievably good and no apparant grass flavors at all. The only problem i have with it is that it's almost gone

[Graham.C]

LD what type of hops did you use? I got the feeling I could leave citra in forever after one of my last dry hopping experiences, but I was afraid it might end up being cat pee.

[spears104]

I usually use 1-2 oz's of pellet hops to dry hop my pale ales and IPA's. I have used leaf hops before but they are quite a bit more difficult to clean out of the secondary when you are done. I have had good luck leaving the dry hops in for 1-2 weeks. Usually once per day I will give the carboy a nudge to make the hops sink to the bottom. It can be a challenge to keep bits of hops out of the finished beer. If there are a lot floating around, I put a stainless steel pot scrubber on the end of my auto siphon to act as a filter.

I have used cascade, amarillo and simcoe in PA/IPA's and I really like to dryp hop my ESB with about 1 oz of goldings.

Cheers!

[mr x]

Yeah, that hugo iipa i had dry hopped for hoptoberfest i think had hops in the keg for a long time, nine months at least. And it was great when finished. I believe grassiness has less to do with time, and more to do with the hop itself, maybe the fertilizer used, harvest stage, etc...

[LiverDance]

The hops that are in the IIPA are cascade and simcoe pellets, but I'm also doing the continuous dry hopping thing with citra in Tim's Black IPA and no signs of ill effects.

[erslar00]

Yeah, that hugo iipa i had dry hopped for hoptoberfest i think had hops in the keg for a long time, nine months at least. And it was great when finished. I believe grassiness has less to do with time, and more to do with the hop itself, maybe the fertilizer used, harvest stage, etc...

Have you had any issues with clogging or a slow draw if adding hops to the keg?

[IanCompetent]

Are you doing an American or British IPA??

For American styles, I'm fond of Amarillos, Citras and Cascades for aroma. I like the citrus-y qualities of the first two, and the light cirtus and spice of Cascades.

For British IPAs, I love Fuggles as an aroma hop.

Personally, I've been increasing the amount of dry-hopping that I've been doing, because I love the aroma of a super dry-hopped beer. Lately I've been doing 3-5 oz for a 6-gallon batch. I never use hop socks, but floaty hops in my beer don't bother me that much, either. I just try to get the trub out when I rack to my bottling bucket.

Whatever you do, it sounds like you are going to get something nice and hoppy. Good luck!!

[Graham.C]

Yeah, that hugo iipa i had dry hopped for hoptoberfest i think had hops in the keg for a long time, nine months at least. And it was great when finished. I believe grassiness has less to do with time, and more to do with the hop itself, maybe the fertilizer used, harvest stage, etc...

Have you had any issues with clogging or a slow draw if adding hops to the keg?

I have with leaf hops and it sucks so now I use a sock when dry hopping in the keg. That's just me and it looks like I have been doing things a little different then everyone else.

It's not the end of the world though, just hook up your gas to your output line. More a hassle then anything but only takes a min or two to fix.

[mr x]

Yeah, that hugo iipa i had dry hopped for hoptoberfest i think had hops in the keg for a long time, nine months at least. And it was great when finished. I believe grassiness has less to do with time, and more to do with the hop itself, maybe the fertilizer used, harvest stage, etc...

Have you had any issues with clogging or a slow draw if adding hops to the keg?

Always use a hop bag in the keg. There is a product out there that is a screen attached to the end of the out tube, but it's for whole hops only.

[Graham.C]

Doesn't stone or one of those guys out east have a special tap that filters your beer through hops before its served? Does anyone know how well it works?

[mr x]

DFH, Randall the Enamel Animal. Supposedly, Picaroon's bought one.

[sleepyjamie]

I find the best thing is to throw the hops in as pellets, they hops get absorbed much better this way.

When you decide to rack the beer for bottling/kegging use a 1/2" siphoning hose. At the end of the hose (the end that goes into the keg) tie a cheese cloth to filter any larger particles from entering the keg.

This has worked quite well for me.

[amartin]

I use whole hops, because most of my late hops are home grown. I don't recommend it. I don't filter, like with a SS scrubber or cheesecloth or a hop bag, but I've never had any problems with a haze or hop bits in my finished beer. However, it's a pain stuffing them through the carboy's neck hole, and a pain again when you go to clean it out. That alone seems reason enough to use pellets if it's an option.

If anyone's done a side by side taste comparison between pellets and whole hops, I'd be interested to hear how it went.

[mr x]

pffffttt...who knows. I almost always do whole in the keg, and pellets everywhere else. The variables are too great for me to comment on effect. Other than it was all good.

[derek]

I use whole hops, because most of my late hops are home grown. I don't recommend it. I don't filter, like with a SS scrubber or cheesecloth or a hop bag, but I've never had any problems with a haze or hop bits in my finished beer. However, it's a pain stuffing them through the carboy's neck hole, and a pain again when you go to clean it out. That alone seems reason enough to use pellets if it's an option.

That's exactly why I swore never again to use whole hops in a carboy - but then I stopped bothering with secondaries, anyway, so I have no objection to whole-hopping in my keg.