Flame Out Vs Dry Hopping For An Apa.

[Dave70]

I'd just like to get some opinions on what would be the most effective method to lend the beer the most in the way of hop flavor / aroma.
It's just a simple grain bill of pale malt with some 60L crystal.
In order to use the hops I have on hand I'll be bittering with NB 11.5% (about 25g @ 60) and cascade (30 @ 10) which gets me up around 37 IBUs.

My crude but effective chilling method is to plonk the cube into the 100,000 liter water tank which drops the temp down to around 14 deg in under 20 minutes. While I've certainly noticed more prominent hops flavor from late additions over no chilling, they just seem to be missing that little bit of aroma when you bring the glass up under your nose.
But at the same time, I don't want to wind up with 'grassy' beer.

I'm thinking 30g of cascade in the secondary for around 10 days, crash chill then bottle or keg. How's that sound?



If you don't want to specifically answer my question, please feel free to argue, post links to methods or recipes, say things like 'my mates reckon' or generally trumpet on about chill vs no chill vs late additions vs first wort vs hopback and so on.
There's always nuggets of wisdom to be had in those rambling threads.

 

[Mayor of Mildura]

I'm thinking 30g of cascade in the secondary for around 10 days, crash chill then bottle or keg. How's that sound?

good

 

[Lecterfan]

Having cracked the poops with dry hopping a while ago I increased my flame out additions. I take about 60 minutes to get down to 14c. The point of me saying that is that sometimes my "flameout" additions might be 40 mins after the boil.

I have recently started dry hopping again and I prefer to dry hop into primary at about day 4 after pitching as most of the ferment is over. I dry hop with minimum 2gms per/l and only leave it in there for 3-5 days. Then I rack into secondary, chill for a week or two etc.

Doing this method HAS increased my hop aromas (flavour is largely taken care of by the late boil additions), but nothing like a good old fashioned dry hop into secondary for 7 days used to do. HOWEVER...if you crack the shits at the slightest hint of grassiness/vegetal flavours then the larger amount into primary for a shorter period is an option worth trying - it is subtle but I think it actually blends in with the beer in a harmonious way. If you want a full-on in your face experience though I would do the more traditional method.

All of this is purely anecdotal based on my experience with my setup and my palate bla bla bla...

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Recently whacked 50g (20g Citra/30g Cascade) in the keg when I kegged it and force carbed. Fantastic OTT (I love it) flavour for about 5 days and then the aroma settled down to a good aromatic smell, rather than flavour.

I still have a good sniff everytime I pour a beer.

Slight grassiness - but I like it - attributable to Cascade (Same as fat yak).

Goomba

 

[QldKev]

Grassiness is heavily dependant on the hop variety. I would never dry hop Saaz, but Cascade is ok.

I've tried
- flameout with slow-chill
- whirlpool addition
- dry hopping the fermentor
- plunger into fermentor
- plunger into keg
- hop ball into keg
They all have their pro's and con's

I've been playing with my house beer a MIDAPA, basically a mid strength version of the Epic Pale Ale tweaked to my taste buds. For this style I think cascade in the hop ball in the keg is the best. It needs a minumun of 1 week in the keg before you can drink it, but it is the best in my opinion for this style of beer.

Another fav of mine is the Aussie Gold. I finish this with either Nugget of Cluster, depending on what I feel like at the time. Obviously the Cluster is a lot more mellow. With this beer I always do the 0min addition and slow-chill and I find it still has enough aroma for the style.

I don't think there is a one method suits all beers. Like all homebrewing read up on the processes here and what has worked for people, but always take the info away and adapt it to suit your brewery and your taste buds.

QldKev

 

[bconnery]

I have recently started dry hopping again and I prefer to dry hop into primary at about day 4 after pitching as most of the ferment is over. I dry hop with minimum 2gms per/l and only leave it in there for 3-5 days. Then I rack into secondary, chill for a week or two etc.

This is pretty much my method except I don't secondary.
Dry hop after bulk of fermentation is finished, leave for a bit (my time varies immensely) then crash chill for a few days before kegging.
I don't secondary though, just crash chill and leave sit for a little.
I've never felt I get a grassiness from this method, even when using the likes of Cascade, although I do prefer Centennial anyway...

I've done the hop ball in the keg and various other methods but this is the one I find gives the best balance of ease with results...

The aroma on my AIPA that was entered in the recent Archive comp from Babbs was just amazing using this method. I'd sometimes take a while before I'd even bring myself to have a sip... Mind you it had 4g/l so it would want to have been

 

[hsb]

No Chill v Aroma is defintely a debate for the ages. Can't say I've found an answer I'm totally happy with.

I've tried cube hopping and found I've ended up with a malty beer lacking in hop aromas. But my cubes cool naturally, no pool/tank to dunk them in.

I'm getting more satisfaction with a hop tea into primary after a few days or into a secondary.
Would love to just chill normally/make normal additions but the convenience of brew now-ferment later with cubes is just too good.

For a bigger hit, I think a hop ball in the keg for a week, then leave the keg to condition to lose any 'grassiness' over time, might give better results?


How are you dry hopping in primary bconnery? Just throw em in loose? Or in a bag/tea?

 

[bconnery]

No Chill v Aroma is defintely a debate for the ages. Can't say I've found an answer I'm totally happy with.

I've tried cube hopping and found I've ended up with a malty beer lacking in hop aromas. But my cubes cool naturally, no pool/tank to dunk them in.

I'm getting more satisfaction with a hop tea into primary after a few days or into a secondary.
Would love to just chill normally/make normal additions but the convenience of brew now-ferment later with cubes is just too good.

For a bigger hit, I think a hop ball in the keg for a week, then leave the keg to condition to lose any 'grassiness' over time, might give better results?


How are you dry hopping in primary bconnery? Just throw em in loose? Or in a bag/tea?

Loose. Flowers or pellets, just chuck them in and let the crash chill clear them when the time comes...

 

[Nick JD]

I put swiss voile "swags" of hops in the keg once it's cold, carbed and pouring.

Within about an hour I can start tasting them. Three hours it's getting quite nice.

A day later it's wicked. If I don't take them out a couple if days after this that crisp, fresh aroma wanes and is overcome by a hop flavour - the aroma has peaked - but it seems the hops are leaking flavours into the beer that simply weren't there days earlier.

I have a feeling that at fridge temps it's the beginning of the breakdown of the hops. These flavours can be quite pleasant with some varieties, but damn awful in others. Citra copes; cascade doesn't IMO. Amarillo starts to push POR flavours after about a week in the keg.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

bought some T2 tea bags, and put them in there at the bottom of the keg (after pouring kettle boiling water on it) and then put beer over it.

I think if I go again, it'll be Citra only, and I'll compensate the cascade at 10 minutes and replace some of the citra at 10m with it.

But truth be known, my current APA is the most balanced APA I've made - my missus reckons (at times) it's "too bitter" which is a good indication.

I did notice, further to what Nick says, that the bitterness is slowly increasing over time, whilst the aroma, whilst good, isn't as strong, and the fruity flavour is less, replaced with a smooth but increasing bitterness.

Goomba