Dry Hop Temperature - Different Flavours?

[sluggerdog]

This year, I have re-discovered Citra. I hadn't used it for a few years, I'm now on the Citra bandwagon again.

Over the last 3 months, I have made 3 beers which have been mostly Citra (whirlpool and dry hop mostly, nothing boiled for more than 10 mins anyway).

The first 2 beers I dry hopped fo 3-4 days at 18c (ferment temperature). After the 3-4 days, I pull the hop bag, cold condition for a few days, keg and enjoy. From these beers, I got huge amounts of peach from it (mostly aroma).

The 3rd beer, similar malt, yeast and hopping profile I dry hopped for 5 days at 14c, the same process as above. This beer I get mostly passionfruit. No peach whatsoever. If I didn't know the recipe I would have guessed it was Galaxy.

All 3 are great beers but both quite different and the main difference was the dry hopping time and temperature.

So my question is, has anyone else experimented with different hop temperatures and found different flavour profiles coming from it?

YEAST: US-05 (All Beers)

 

[mtb]

I definitely have - more so from differing whirlpool temps, but the same concept applies. I've done a couple of single-hop Enigma pale ales recently, the only difference being the temp of the whirlpool addition (70C in the first, 50C in the second). Vastly different aroma although still ridiculously tasty.

 

[citizensnips]

You'll find a lot of pro brewers will dry hop at varying temperatures dependent on the strain of hop and the strain of yeast. There's a section in the book 'For The Love of Hops' where he details some of the bigger american craft breweries and there dry hopping schedules and temperatures, pretty interesting how it differs. I've found it comes down to what works for you. I use to be a believer in colder dry hoping, however since dry hoping in the keg I've determined I really don't enjoy the aromas and flavours imparted when dry hopped cold, for whatever reason I pick up a skanky wet grass aroma (the hops aren't left in the keg for any wondering) that I don't get when dry hopping at primary temps.

Cheers

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

From your description, it sounds like there was also a difference in timing: if the brews were fermented at the same temp then one lot went in immediately after ferment and the other after a period of cooling.

In any case the most likely mechanism for a difference is the level of glycosidase activity: warmer temps and more yeast residue will increase glycosidase activity, colder temps and cleaner beer will reduce it. I personally prefer the characters imparted by dry hopping when glycosidase activity is high.

 

[n87]

From your description, it sounds like there was also a difference in timing: if the brews were fermented at the same temp then one lot went in immediately after ferment and the other after a period of cooling.

In any case the most likely mechanism for a difference is the level of glycosidase activity: warmer temps and more yeast residue will increase glycosidase activity, colder temps and cleaner beer will reduce it. I personally prefer the characters imparted by dry hopping when glycosidase activity is high.

LC, Is there a certain flavour(s) that this glycosidase activity accentuates/diminishes?
Good to know that there is actually a difference between the two (and im not just crazy)

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

Like everything else it changes with each hop variety but as a general rule I find the flavours with higher glycosidase activity are softer and subtler. It can mute the primary flavours a little, so if you want really strident in your face hoppiness it might work against that.

I don't use Citra but I'd characterise peach as a less obvious flavour than passionfruit, so the OPs descriptions fit this general plan.

 

[sluggerdog]

From your description, it sounds like there was also a difference in timing: if the brews were fermented at the same temp then one lot went in immediately after ferment and the other after a period of cooling.

All 3 were fermented at 18c (and us-05 yeast too), I dry hopped them all at the same point, about 8 days into the ferment which was when the gravity had settled. The only difference was the number of days and the temperature of the dry hop.

Thanks

NOTE: I actually preferred the peach flavours so will go back to the higher temperature and see what happens next time.

 

[Gloveski]

This year, I have re-discovered Citra. I hadn't used it for a few years, I'm now on the Citra bandwagon again.

Over the last 3 months, I have made 3 beers which have been mostly Citra (whirlpool and dry hop mostly, nothing boiled for more than 10 mins anyway).

The first 2 beers I dry hopped fo 3-4 days at 18c (ferment temperature). After the 3-4 days, I pull the hop bag, cold condition for a few days, keg and enjoy. From these beers, I got huge amounts of peach from it (mostly aroma).

The 3rd beer, similar malt, yeast and hopping profile I dry hopped for 5 days at 14c, the same process as above. This beer I get mostly passionfruit. No peach whatsoever. If I didn't know the recipe I would have guessed it was Galaxy.

All 3 are great beers but both quite different and the main difference was the dry hopping time and temperature.

So my question is, has anyone else experimented with different hop temperatures and found different flavour profiles coming from it?

Interested in what yeast you used , I read that at lower temps that safale s-04 gives off peach like flavours

I replied before your previous post and see that you used us-05

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

So what caused the difference in temperature?

 

[Gloveski]

I definitely have - more so from differing whirlpool temps, but the same concept applies. I've done a couple of single-hop Enigma pale ales recently, the only difference being the temp of the whirlpool addition (70C in the first, 50C in the second). Vastly different aroma although still ridiculously tasty.

Only new to brewing but I noticed a massive difference in flavour when whirpooling with galaxy only . I seemed to get way more flavour and aroma that lasted the whole keg when adding whirpool hops at 70c compared to flameout . Havent tried whirlpooling at 50 so interesting that you noticed a difference in aroma

 

[sluggerdog]

So what caused the difference in temperature?

I was controlling the temperature with my fridge, specifically aiming to dry hop and 14c over the usual 18c (ferment temp) to see how it came out.

 

[Lyrebird_Cycles]

OK, thanks for the explanation. A difference of 4 degrees won't drop much yeast but it will still drop some (the CO2 on which they are floating goes back into solution).

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Having read Gordon Strong's book Brewing better beer, I tend to agree with him as far as dry hopping is concerned but I have also been looking for more answers to hopping techniques. This is what I found.
It's a long read with lots of words I didn't know the meaning of but it is quite easy to understand.
http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/34093/Wolfe_thesis.pdf

 

[malt and barley blues]

Dry hopping in the bright tank, no yeast, secondary?