Dry hop for 2 days OK?

[alimac23]

Hi Guys,

I have got to dry hop an ale tonight but the room that my fermentors are in is being used on Sunday morning by the mother-in-law so I need to bottle that batch by Saturday night at the latest.

If i dry hop tonight, will two days be enough time for the hops to have their maximum effect?

 

[manticle]

Maximum? No.

Some noticeable effect? Yes.

Depends a little on the hop and the beer. I usually dry hop for 3-5 days but prefer the shorter times mostly.

 

[Florian]

I only ever dry hop for three days max so two days should be fine. Better than not dry hopping that's for sure.

 

[Parks]

I know some guys that only hop for 2-3 days max to reduce any chance of grassiness and maximise the good fresh hop character.

 

[Nick JD]

48 hours is my maximum dry hopping time. If I want more flavour, I use more hops, not more time.

More time = grass. More hops = more hoppiness.

 

[Byran]

48 hours is my maximum dry hopping time. If I want more flavour, I use more hops, not more time.

More time = grass. More hops = more hoppiness.

Agree with Nick 100% I reckon the shorter time the better to avoid grassiness. Also gives such a great aroma to the beers you just cant quite get without doing it. Hops in the primary for me to give it a chance to settle out before kegging bottling.

 

[paulmclaren11]

What effect does temp have on dry hopping? Eg, dry hopping for the last 2-3 days of cold crashing and then kegging to maximise hoppy goodness?

 

[Byran]

Im not sure mate? I have done in the cold crash, keg and fermenter and havent noticed a huge amount of difference, except for clarity.

 

[Florian]

What effect does temp have on dry hopping? Eg, dry hopping for the last 2-3 days of cold crashing and then kegging to maximise hoppy goodness?

In general, the warmer the more effect, be it desired or undesired effect. Cold and short is your safest bet, but I also do warm and short from time to time with good results, though mostly followed by a cold and short cycle, so hard to distinguish.

 

[MartinOC]

Curious to read folks only dry-hop for 2-3 days! How do you explain the dry-hopping of the original IPA's shipped to India??

 

[paulmclaren11]

Will try it with my APA that's fermenting - my last attempt of keg hopping wasn't great, all Centennial - not to my tastes and so pungent. It is amazing how quick the aroma/flavour is imparted into the beer.

 

[alimac23]

Thanks Guys i'll try this tonight, i've got 25g of Amarillo to throw into a Cascarillo Ale so i'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Byran]

Curious to read folks only dry-hop for 2-3 days! How do you explain the dry-hopping of the original IPA's shipped to India??

Ha ha They were probably rather grassy........ h34r:

 

[Parks]

Curious to read folks only dry-hop for 2-3 days! How do you explain the dry-hopping of the original IPA's shipped to India??

They also didn't have temperature control and those beers would have been pretty oxidised by the time they were drunk

 

[Nick JD]

I've experimented a lot with keg hopping times (and the requisite real-time sampling effort) and TBH, even at fridge temperatures in 24 hours with most hops, 36 with others ... you've got all you're gonna get from the dry hops.

After that there's all these other flavours that taste wrong in a beer. Especially in some hop varieties.

I think the alcohol level in the beer has more to do with extracting the hop oils than just about any other parameter. It's the forgotten aspect of dry hopping.

A 9% IIPA seems to suck the flavour out of the hops way quicker than a 4.5% APA.

If you buy hops in bulk they're cheap enough to use shitloads and pull them. Taste. If it's not enough put some more in ... but they key to controlling dry hopping is to either be able to remove the hops or remove the beer from the hops. Many a great beer was ruined with the best dry hopping intentions.

 

[Nick JD]

Ha ha They were probably rather grassy........ h34r:

I think they probably tasted like arse, but adding your malaria prophalactic to your gin was what they were accustomed to - so it probably tasted delicious even though it was flat, grassy and warm.

 

[manticle]

I usually dry hop in during cold conditioning.

Due to a number of factors, I recently dry hopped 2 beers (reasonably high gravity) a bit earlier than normal and subsequently left them longer than normal. I used Styrian goldings which I have dry hopped before with good results. Weren't in the cold fridge either.

Both beers were great except for a particular flavour common to both which I believe came from the excessive dry hopping.

What this means I guess is that I agree with Nick. Happens from time to time.

Take care when dry hopping - getting the maximum may involve getting flavours you'd rather avoid.

 

[Florian]

When I triple dry hop an IPA I usually start with hops in a very fine meshed hop sock at pitching time. After three days they get pulled out.
Second lot is added during cold conditioning, three days before kegging, without a hop sock, as I then take the beer off the hops.
Third lot goes into the keg, again in a very fine meshed hop sock on dental floss. Those hops I leave for 48 hours absolute max, usually just over 24 hours.

I've done this a few times now and am very happy with the results, certainly no grassy flavours that I can detect.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

I whacked 60g on 16L of an APA (to fix some aroma issues), and again, 3 days is around the normal for me.

I've left it 5 at times and a couple of times 7 - but only with hops I am confident will not throw the weirdo flavours. Citra being the main one. I like Cascade's grassiness in moderation, so that has been used for 7 in the past at cold conditioning temps.

 

[Byran]

I keg hopped a pale ale with like 50grams of galaxy as an experiment just cause.
The first schooner was like muddy, bitter fruit juice. Thought it was fucked. But the next one was clearer. Then the next one crystal clear. And the flavours.......wow. Then as i kept drinking it over the next week or so I noticed subtle changes in the flavours. After a week or so it really started to taste average, grassy, astringent ect.
But from day 2 onwards to about 5 . Amazing. Even with galaxy which I have heard plenty of people hate to dry hop with.