Dry Hopping - How Long

[mahonya1]

Evening all,

Maybe a stupid, irrelevant question but still going to ask it.....

I have not dry hopped before, but am planning on brewing this weekend and dry hopping. My question is this, is there a max or optimum length of time you leave the hops in the fermentor when dry hopping? The reason I ask, is I am going overseas for a couple of weeks and will leave the hops in the fermentor whilst I am away and bottling when I get back. Could this lead to any issues if they are left in too long?

Cheers.

 

[manticle]

Depends a little on the hops in my experience - some hops can give a grassy quality if left in too long. Some seem fine after two weeks.

Personally I aim for 5-7 days and would avoid using saaz as a dry hop.

 

[mahonya1]

Depends a little on the hops in my experience - some hops can give a grassy quality if left in too long. Some seem fine after two weeks.

Personally I aim for 5-7 days and would avoid using saaz as a dry hop.

I'm brewing a Best Bitter and dry hopping with Goldings. They'll be in the fermentor for 14 days or so.

 

[manticle]

I've dry hopped for extended periods with EKG successfully. Beer was cold conditioned at the same time.

 

[Kai]

If your beer is cold then a couple weeks will be OK. Warm, no more than a few days.

 

[MattC]

As Manticle said, it depends on the hop. It also depends on how much character you want from the process.

I have experimented with dry hopping in the keg using a stocking and some marbles to weigh it down, most of those beers have turned out really good, a real fresh hop aroma (the technique I usually use in an APA). After 7 days pull the stocking out (as it will float to the top).

I recently brewed an IIPA where i dry hopped with 60G of mixed flowers in the secondary for 5 days, then crashed chilled for 2 more days. Racked the beer into keg, gelatined then filtered, came out superb IMHO.

You will get more from you dry hopping per unit of time if the beer is not chilled.

Cheers