Dry Hopping

[damianjthorpe]

G'day Brewers,

I am in need of some advice. I trawled through AHB, but to no avail. When dry hopping is it better to rack then dry hop, or can I just dry hop in the primary fermenting tank? Obviously this is a K&E brew.

I look forward to your comments.

Cheers and happy brewing,
Damo

 

[mxd]

your choice, I dry hop in the primary (day 5ish) and don't go to a secondary.

 

[mxd]

just make sure you leave it in for 3 or so days.

 

[damianjthorpe]

Thanks for the rapid response mxd

Cheers and happy brewing,
Damo

 

[beerbog]

I'm with mxd, except I leave it in for about 9 - 11 days. :beerbang:

 

[DanRayner]

Epic in their Pale Ale will dry hop a couple of days before end of ferment and then after the end of ferment they chill the beer right down and add more hops claiming each addition adds a different character to the beer.

I would definitely suggest adding hops after most of the main ferment is over (so the aromas aren't blown off with vigorous ferment) but a few data before racking (to either keg or secondary, whatever your preference)

Good luck!

 

[felten]

I 2nd whats said above, If you want to add 1 addition of hops just do it in the primary for a few days. If you want to do a 2nd addition you should rack onto it so you don't extract any grassyness from the first one.

 

[Bizier]

I currently have an IIPA conditioning with gelatine added. I am going to rack. I normally don't, but with large amounts of hops I have been getting that 'berry ester' thing that I have heard discussed on The Brewing Network. To me it smells like cooked strawberries, like in a strawberry pie. That aroma/flavour is definitely unwelcome in my hoppy beers. Aparently this comes from something along the lines of the yeast actually feeding on the hops. I have no evidence from controlled testing, but I believe, based on the instances I have seen first hand, that it is only such an issue when you add large dry hop additions (e.g. 5g/L dry hop).

 

[RobB]

With pellets, I get much better results when racking onto the hops. I find that they tend to bury themselves in the yeast cake when dropped into the primary.

If you are going to dry hop in the primary I would suggest using flowers (they float) or if using pellets, suspending them in some sort of bag or tea-ball.

 

[beerbog]

With pellets, I get much better results when racking onto the hops. I find that they tend to bury themselves in the yeast cake when dropped into the primary.

If you are going to dry hop in the primary I would suggest using flowers (they float) or if using pellets, suspending them in some sort of bag or tea-ball.

All my pellet hops float in the primary. They are in a hop bag but it is not tied off to anything. Just hanging loose in the juice! :beerbang:

 

[Pumpy]

G'day Brewers,

I am in need of some advice. I trawled through AHB, but to no avail. When dry hopping is it better to rack then dry hop, or can I just dry hop in the primary fermenting tank? Obviously this is a K&E brew.

I look forward to your comments.

Cheers and happy brewing,
Damo

Damo

1. For the eternal search for a good dry hopping regime I havetried them all
2. Blitz the pellets in a coffee grinder
3. add the second or third day to the fermenter ( so the CO2 dont strip the flavour and aroma
4. and gently stir them into the top of the beer so they get wet dont stir too deep .
5. leave until four or five day until fermentation finished.
6. chill four days at 2 C.
7. filter using a Beer Filter Cartridge (1.0 micron "Absolute")straight from the fermenter the keg via the out connect.
8. You will get a 'big bang' for your 14 gms of dry hop with this method
9. Especially if you use the Amarillo hop for a Fruity Summery refreshing ale

Pumpy

 

[kierent]

I've just racked a lager with gelatine for cold conditioning and suspended 17g of cascade. it's the first time I've dry hopped in secondary so i'll be very interested how it turns out. i have always added hops at flamout so hopefully this one will be hoppier!

 

[damianjthorpe]

G'day Brewers,

Thanks for all the great responses. I ended up dry hopping when fermentation had all but finished (very little gas from airlock, plus SG reading almost stable).

Left this for about 3 to 5 days (can't remember :wacko: ), then cold crashed. Bottled after that. Tried it again with my Krystal Light and used finings to clear the beer. Quite pleased with the result.

Cheers and happy brewing,
Damo

 

[Nick JD]

I've just racked a lager with gelatine for cold conditioning and suspended 17g of cascade. it's the first time I've dry hopped in secondary so i'll be very interested how it turns out. i have always added hops at flamout so hopefully this one will be hoppier!

I find cascade dry hopped in a lager gets grassy. As always YMMV, but thought I'd mention it.