Dry hop scheduling, help please!

[thisispants]

So I've brewed a black IPA, and decided to try a staged dry hopping schedule. Essentially dry hop half the amount on one day, and then the rest of the amount three days later. Ultimately dry hopping for a week.

However, I've just realised I'm going away for a week and if I dry hop my second amount tonight It'll be a week until I can cold crash.... Thus, nearly 2 weeks of dry hopping. I really want to avoid grassy flavours. .

What should I do?

Could I cold crash now, go away for a week, then add the second amount of hops when I get back?

 

[fdsaasdf]

Just add it all early. Adding it later will oxidise your beer and you'll probably not get much life out of your dry hop aroma anyway.

 

[captain crumpet]

Just add it all early. Adding it later will oxidise your beer and you'll probably not get much life out of your dry hop aroma anyway.

Care to explain this a bit better?

 

[Mat B]

Are you kegging? If so, maybe just keg it now, then do the final dry hopping in the keg when you get back. Use some fishing line or something so you can get it back out again. At least that way it's not going to sit on the initial hops for too long getting grassy.

 

[hoppy2B]

You can leave whole cones in a ferment vessel for a couple of weeks without any dramas whatsoever. Pellets on the other hand I won't be attempting to dry hop for more than 6 hours in future, if I use them that way again. When I do that I will be jiggling them up and down to get the oils out. I've had bad experience with grassy flavour dry hopping with pellets.

 

[Crimson Cadaver]

what temperature for two weeks?

 

[pirateagenda]

You can leave whole cones in a ferment vessel for a couple of weeks without any dramas whatsoever. Pellets on the other hand I won't be attempting to dry hop for more than 6 hours in future, if I use them that way again. When I do that I will be jiggling them up and down to get the oils out. I've had bad experience with grassy flavour dry hopping with pellets.

that is utter rubbish.
most commercial craft brewers use pellets for a week no problems.
I use pellets in large amounts for 10 days with no problems.

 

[pnorkle]

Care to explain this a bit better?

It's in the latest edition of How to Brew - Palmer - dry hopping can re-introduce oxygen into the beer, risking oxidisation. So adding the hops while the fermentation is still active, allows the yeast to scavenge the oxygen.

 

[koshari]

that is utter rubbish.
most commercial craft brewers use pellets for a week no problems.
I use pellets in large amounts for 10 days with no problems.

i have to agree, i throw my dry hops in with the yeast and they sit in the vessel happily for up to 10 days,

 

[dulcetbrewer]

Will someone more knowledgable than me "please explain"? WTF is a black pale ale?

 

[pirateagenda]

Will someone more knowledgable than me "please explain"? WTF is a black pale ale?

A hop forward and bitter IPA that has some dark malts thrown in to make it black.