Dano's All Grain Feral Hop Hog Clone

[danestead]

Danestead,

Great work on this recipe so far.

Just thought I'd share the dry hopping technique I picked up at ANHC.

I turned a corny keg into a dedicated dry hop vessel by cutting an inch off the bottom of the pickup stem with a pipe cutter. When fermentation is complete I transfer to this keg with a bit of CO2 to try to achieve a blanket. Add dry hops as pellets. No bag! I then put lid on and purge with CO2 and put a bit off pressure on. I always try to do this on a weekend cos I then put the keg upside down for 30 minutes and flip it every half hour (or so) for 8 hours. (sometimes leave it overnight). Once this is done I put it in the fridge right way up for a day. The pressure and the chill help flocc out any remnant yeast and the hops. Next day I use an 'Out' to 'out' hose (got homebrew shop owner to make it for me) to transfer the beer prom the outlet of the dry hopping keg to the outlet of the final keg (again with a Co'2 blanket) with the lid on and the vent open. Then its done.

Seems like a bit of stuffing around, but equipment required was one corny and the custom hose. I rate the effect of dry hopping in this way to be at least double the aroma for the same recipe if not more. Since I've bee doing this the "mystery' of how they get that massive aroma in the DIPAs is no longer even a challenge.

Looking forward to trying your recipe.

Thanks a lot woodfired. That seems like the most amazing way to dry hop I will most definitely try that on my next hoppy ale! That doesn't seem like much extra effort at all tbh.

Cheers!

Edit: 1 question, only dry hop for 1 day prior to chilling? Have you experimented with longer dry hopping times?

 

[Dan Pratt]

I'm very interested in that method, 1 day seems very fast. I am used to 5-7 days so possibly use the cornie method and flip every day or half day, but heck if you get full contact and excellent results from 36hrs.....sweet hoppy aroma.

Looking forward to trying the method.

 

[Alchomist]

This is a great thread Dano

I do something similar to woodfired. Removed the auto pressure relief valves from a couple of cornie lids & installed a blow off tube, as well as shortened the spear by an inch. These I call my Ghetto Conicals that I use for secondary / dry hopping.

Swap lids on these kegs prior to transfer & pump out a schooner or so till no hops are visible then transfer away.

 

[Alchomist]

I've been following your Recipes with interest & did 4 versions over the long weekend based loosely around your versions 4 & 5. Chilled 2 & cubed 2 to check out how that effects the flavour & aroma levels.

Planning to keg carb & age in my cellar for a month if I can hold out that long.

 

[technobabble66]

^^ v keen to hear your report on the comparison between the chilled & no-chilled versions.
For the no-chilled, did you add the hops to the cube, or did you do regular kettle additions then drain to the cube?

... I'm currently keen on a theory that cube-hopping captures the most hops oils of the common techniques; and so might offer the best way to instill hops flavour (& aroma) (cf dry hopping being best for aroma impact).
So I'm v interested to hear of anyone's comparisons of parallel brews.

 

[Alchomist]

I figured that 185g from the kettle additions was pushing it bitterness wise. Beersmith rates all versions between 59 - 62 IBUs which is close to the limit for this style, so I figured dry hopping after primary would add aroma without too much additional bitterness.

I did notice a marked difference between chilled / cubed after 5 days when I took gravity readings & transferred to secondary. The chilled version (as per Dano's whirlpool lock-in at 70C) had a much smoother/ hoppier flavour with a lingering background bitterness. The cubed version had more of an up-front bitterness & was much less hoppy.

Early days tho, time & 125g of dry hops might produce something altogether different.

 

[woodfired]

Thanks a lot woodfired. That seems like the most amazing way to dry hop I will most definitely try that on my next hoppy ale! That doesn't seem like much extra effort at all tbh.

Cheers!

Edit: 1 question, only dry hop for 1 day prior to chilling? Have you experimented with longer dry hopping times?

Yes I have but didn't notice much increase, even tried it for an identical recipe. The 8 hours of flipping the keg every half hour forces the hops to travel through the beer 16 times resulting in much more surface area contact. The spend hops when emptied out at the end of the process are a very fine mush.

 

[technobabble66]

Sorry for being a bit thick, but I just want to make sure I understand exactly what you did:
I take it the cubed version had all the hops additions done into the kettle and was *not* "cube-hopped"?
If that's the case then your results are definitely what I'd expect - no-chill has a sharper bitterness and loss of hops impact.

Apologies - I probably should've been clearer in post#185, :lol:
I'm v keen the compare cube-hopping to chilled.

And yeah, by the time it's bottled/kegged and left for a week, it has a tendency to turn around a bit.
Still keen to hear how it goes, so report back in a few weeks!!

 

[Alex.Tas]

Danestead,

Great work on this recipe so far.

Just thought I'd share the dry hopping technique I picked up at ANHC.

I turned a corny keg into a dedicated dry hop vessel by cutting an inch off the bottom of the pickup stem with a pipe cutter. When fermentation is complete I transfer to this keg with a bit of CO2 to try to achieve a blanket. Add dry hops as pellets. No bag! I then put lid on and purge with CO2 and put a bit off pressure on. I always try to do this on a weekend cos I then put the keg upside down for 30 minutes and flip it every half hour (or so) for 8 hours. (sometimes leave it overnight). Once this is done I put it in the fridge right way up for a day. The pressure and the chill help flocc out any remnant yeast and the hops. Next day I use an 'Out' to 'out' hose (got homebrew shop owner to make it for me) to transfer the beer prom the outlet of the dry hopping keg to the outlet of the final keg (again with a Co'2 blanket) with the lid on and the vent open. Then its done.

Seems like a bit of stuffing around, but equipment required was one corny and the custom hose. I rate the effect of dry hopping in this way to be at least double the aroma for the same recipe if not more. Since I've bee doing this the "mystery' of how they get that massive aroma in the DIPAs is no longer even a challenge.

Looking forward to trying your recipe.

Could be a bad idea, and i don;t keg so am not too sure as to the shape of the base of a corny, but could you use a big stir bar, and put your stirplate underneath it (with a platform to support the full keg weight) as a substitute for shaking it? with a decent stir plate and a big stir bar, you should be able to get enough movement within the keg to keep the hops in constant contact with the beer?

 

[Alex.Tas]

Danestead,

Great work on this recipe so far.

Just thought I'd share the dry hopping technique I picked up at ANHC.

I turned a corny keg into a dedicated dry hop vessel by cutting an inch off the bottom of the pickup stem with a pipe cutter. When fermentation is complete I transfer to this keg with a bit of CO2 to try to achieve a blanket. Add dry hops as pellets. No bag! I then put lid on and purge with CO2 and put a bit off pressure on. I always try to do this on a weekend cos I then put the keg upside down for 30 minutes and flip it every half hour (or so) for 8 hours. (sometimes leave it overnight). Once this is done I put it in the fridge right way up for a day. The pressure and the chill help flocc out any remnant yeast and the hops. Next day I use an 'Out' to 'out' hose (got homebrew shop owner to make it for me) to transfer the beer prom the outlet of the dry hopping keg to the outlet of the final keg (again with a Co'2 blanket) with the lid on and the vent open. Then its done.

Seems like a bit of stuffing around, but equipment required was one corny and the custom hose. I rate the effect of dry hopping in this way to be at least double the aroma for the same recipe if not more. Since I've bee doing this the "mystery' of how they get that massive aroma in the DIPAs is no longer even a challenge.

Looking forward to trying your recipe.

Could be a bad idea, and i don;t keg so am not too sure as to the shape of the base of a corny, but could you use a big stir bar, and put your stirplate underneath it (with a platform to support the full keg weight) as a substitute for shaking it? with a decent stir plate and a big stir bar, you should be able to get enough movement within the keg to keep the hops in constant contact with the beer?

 

[woodfired]

It might work, but if you wanted to do it that way you are probably better off doing it in a 'better bottle' or carboy so you can visually gauge how much mixing you are getting.

Just a note. I don't shake it. I only ever change it from right way up to upside down then back again every half hour (or so) and I do this pretty gently. There's always the chance of a bit of un-purged oxygen.

I pick a day on the weekend that I'll be home and just turn it over whenever I think about it. The key to this technique's success (according to the speaker at ANHC) is the shape of a keg being tall. It forces the hops to travel through all of the wort each time you flip it. The hops come out as a very fine mush at the end, so I think they are very well utilized. Another possibility is that the pressure in the keg has some effect. But that is only a guess. Maybe someone with chemistry knowledge could comment on that aspect???

 

[Dan Pratt]

^ ^ im really keen to try this method, ive always seeked that clean pungent aroma and it was always not quite their.

was the ANHC recorded on podcast or and media content to have a listen??

 

[woodfired]

The presentation is on the page but not the recording. lots of other great presentaitons there too.

http://anhc.com.au/images/pressos/Dry%20Hopping%20Techniques%20-%20Vinnie%20Cilurzo.pdf

 

[woodfired]

PS. How could I forget that it was Vinnie Cilurzo?????????????????

 

[goatus]

On dry hopping - I'm thinking of getting a SS brew tech chronical fermenter, and after primary + dumping the yeast/trub, connecting a pump between the two bottom ports so the dry hops are constantly circulated around the conical portion of the fermenter. only challenge will be finding a way to purge oxygen from the pump / hoses first. Could work out amazing, or could be oxidised rubbish :-/

 

[N3MIS15]

I had a retail hop hog along side my last hop hog brew last night and kept thinking it was a bit salty. I haven't done any water chemistry yet in my brewing (I'm still an amatuer brewer) but was wondering if anyone had tried adding a bit of salt? I put a pinch of salt in the glass and it seemed to perk it up a bit. I've been adding 5.2 ph stabalizer to the mash water but nothing else..

 

[technobabble66]

An interesting observation!
Salt (sodium chloride) is toxic to yeast so no one adds it to any brewing that I know of. Obviously a pinch might not have any toxic effect, but I'm guessing you'd need to add a bit more than a pinch in 21 L to taste it.
Maybe altering your water chemistry with the regular salts (CaSO4, CaCl2, MgSO4) will add the particular flavours you've detected.
I'd hazard a guess that maybe the Chloride could add what you've detected, plus a bit of (hops) sharpness from the Sulfate.
2c

 

[rockeye84]

I add 3-4g per 50L batch for some Sodium, I find it helps with the overall flavour, no ill effects.

 

[technobabble66]

^^ interesting to know, rockeye84.
Didn't think anyone bothered with sodium, so i've never considered adding it.
I should probably admit i'm also one of those people who generally don't add salt to all their food... so i might be a little biased in this.

 

[rockeye84]

You may also be interested.
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/15432-do-you-add-table-salt-when-mashing-or-in-the-boil/