Dry hopping.

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mrsupraboy

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Can someone please explain to me dry hopping.

I've got a batch in at the moment of Tooheys blonde. Can I still do something to it or once started Fermenting is it done
 
mrsupraboy said:
I've got a batch in at the moment of Tooheys blonde. Can I still do something to it or once started Fermenting is it done
Yes, you can tip it.




Sorry - couldn't resist.

Dry hopping is adding hops to your fermenting wort. There are many different beliefs on what hops should be used for dry hopping, how long into fermentation they should be used, for how long, in which method and at what temps - but to get the ball rolling….

What hops do you have? And what hops were used for this brew?

To get a noticeable effect, 2g/L of hop pellets for 3-5 days will generally add some noticeable aroma and flavour to your beer… again, this a generalisation, but you've got to start somewhere.
 
No hops have been used. It's Fermenting right no so I'm new to this idea of dry hoping.
 
mrsupraboy said:
Do hops have to be a certain temp. It's Fermenting at 28'c
For dry hopping, no. Some brewers advocate only exposing the wort/beer to dry hops for 3 days at warmer temperatures (which this certainly is), otherwise it can develop grassy/vegetable flavours. Others disagree…
 
First off and I'm sure someone else would have told you this stop fermenting so high. Drop it down to around 22 at the max.
You won't wake up with as bad a hang over and the beer will taste better
Hops don't have a temp range yeasts do. I know the kit instructions say brew up to 32 but it doesn't make good beer. There's no helping the one your doing now but for the next one try some form of temp control even if it's just a wet towel wrapped around it

Rant ou
 
If you don't have the ability to cold condition, you may be best using a cut up stocking, you can weigh it down with something stainless steel, a butter knife works well, its best to submerge the whole thing, not critical but best.

To start with, about 1 gram/L or there abouts is a good starting point.

Its exactly how brewing got exciting for me, doing the same brew and adding different dry hopping does wonders and really makes a big difference to the outcome.

If you can cold condition, just throw em in freeball ;)

Ed: don't forget to tie the stocking up with something like non scented tooth floss :)
 
To reiterate - temperature of future brews needs to drop by about 10 degrees. Dry hopping may disguise some bad flavours from fermenting so high but temp is your number one issue to sort out at the moment.
If and when you start making saisons, you can ferment that high but not much else.
 
What everyone above said about temp control is true - fermenting at 18-20 instead of 28 will make the biggest taste difference.

On dry-hopping, maybe follow Yob's advice. Around 1 gram of hops per Litre - so 23-25 grams if you are doing a standard batch could be enough to add some flavour to your brew.

As already advised, about 3-5 days before you bottle and you can either just drop the pellets in loose or pop them in some sort of sanitised hop sock. Boiling it for a few minutes before you put the hops in will work or you can use sanitiser if you like.
 
Question of I'm dry hopping during Fermenting. Won't undoing the lid wreck the brew or do something to the Fermenting process or is it ok
 
mrsupraboy said:
Question of I'm dry hopping during Fermenting. Won't undoing the lid wreck the brew or do something to the Fermenting process or is it ok
Sanitise the heck out of what ever your putting your hops in i.e. grain bag or the likes then quickly open lid and drop in, as long as you don't take the lid all the way off then have a stare at it and swill it around you'll be fine, just make sure you sanatise everything really well or you risk an infection
 
In 1 of my fermenters, I take the air lock out put a small funnel in the hole and tip the hops through the funnel, then put the air lock back in

With my coopers fermenter, I just lift the lid and just throw them in
 
Do any of you steep the hops in water first and add hops+water to fermenter when dry hopping or just put hops in hops sock and dump that in?
 
You can do either. I go straight in. Hop tea is hop tea, dry hop is dry hop. Same intention -aroma and flavour (and possibly some bitterness unrelated to ibu)
 
I am keen to dry hop my next brew as well.

So main points are:
  • Dry hop for 3-5 days near end of fermentation
  • Dry hop at a rate of 1gm/litre
  • If cold conditioning (I am) throw hops into FV
  • Hop variety should be an aromatic one not bittering
Dry hopping 20gms of cascade into 20lt of IPA thats just about finsihed up the US05 should do the trick?
 
WitWonder said:
Typically drop hop during fermentation, that's the idea.
Not me, i wait till fermenation is almost ceased then dry-hop to avoid the flavour/aroma escaping out the air-lock.
 

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