Help With Dry Hopping An Iipa

[digahole]

I've got an IIPA in the secondary that is tasting very promising. With an FG of 1.080 at around the 85 IBU mark, its started out bitter as hell but has mellowed nicely over a few weeks. But still lacks the aroma to balance it out.

I've been a little disappointed recently with how quickly the dry hop aroma of a couple of my bottled pales faded, so am now trying to decide on what to do with this IIPA. I'm thinking of just smashing it with 4g/litre in the hope that it leaves a significant amount of aroma a month or more down the track?

Is there any way to achieve a more lasting dry hop aroma?

I'm bottling BTW. Cheers. :icon_cheers:

 

[felten]

only 4g a litre?

Looking at a few recipes I have here, in a ~20L batch the pliny the elder out of BCS uses 192g dry. Union jack clone recipe uses 176g dry over 2 dry hop additions.

 

[Fish13]

my iipa i used 100g and have a lovelu hoppy beer although way too bitter!

this is my hop schedule for 15l


2.7 g/L Columbus (12.6% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
1.3 g/L Columbus (12.6% Alpha) @ 20 Minutes (Boil)
1.3 g/L Columbus (12.6% Alpha) @ 10 Minutes (Boil)
1.3 g/L Columbus (12.6% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Aroma)

it to has been in the bottle for about 3 weeks now and its getting better

 

[digahole]

only 4g a litre?

Looking at a few recipes I have here, in a ~20L batch the pliny the elder out of BCS uses 192g dry. Union jack clone recipe uses 176g dry over 2 dry hop additions.

Holy ghost! 10g / litre. Have you brewed anything approaching that? As I've read before somewhere I don't want to end up with a beer that tastes like "hippy mouthwash".... but I do want it to pack an aroma punch.

I suppose what I'm wondering is, if I did dry hop at, say, 8g / litre would this result in a more enduring aroma. Or would it just be initially more intense, but still fade as quickly as 4g / litre?

I suppose the gauntlet's been thrown, I might just have to test it myself... after a bit more research.

Also interested in the double addition of dry hops. Why?

 

[QldKev]

Get a Randall, then you can have all the aroma you want

 

[flavo]

I recently split a double batch of an AIPA; 20L with 10g/L and the other 20L 20g/L . The 20g/L was way too bitter, in the end I blended half of the 20g/L batch 50:50 with the 10g/L and it was ok - the rest got tipped.

Edit: All hop values are dry hops - the batch was split post boil/chill

 

[BreathingHeat]

Post the original recipe please.

I have done 8 g per liter total in 2 rounds of dry hopping. Basically 100 g for 7 days, then 100 g more for 7 days. Results were great.

 

[felten]

Holy ghost! 10g / litre. Have you brewed anything approaching that? As I've read before somewhere I don't want to end up with a beer that tastes like "hippy mouthwash".... but I do want it to pack an aroma punch.

I suppose what I'm wondering is, if I did dry hop at, say, 8g / litre would this result in a more enduring aroma. Or would it just be initially more intense, but still fade as quickly as 4g / litre?

I suppose the gauntlet's been thrown, I might just have to test it myself... after a bit more research.

Also interested in the double addition of dry hops. Why?

I have made the union jack clone before, it was a great beer and was aromatic for a long time IIRC. It was over bittered for my taste at the time, but that was more down to my process with nochill.

Not sure why on the double addition, but it's probably covered in the interview with the brewer on the podcast. Probably a ton of other great AIPA/IIPA recipes there too.

 

[digahole]

I have made the union jack clone before, it was a great beer and was aromatic for a long time IIRC. It was over bittered for my taste at the time, but that was more down to my process with nochill.

Not sure why on the double addition, but it's probably covered in the interview with the brewer on the podcast. Probably a ton of other great AIPA/IIPA recipes there too.

Had a listen to the podcast. Really good stuff. He goes into all sorts of detail about the hopping schedule for the beer but doesn't specifically give reason for the double dry hopping. He does mention that he's not a fan of the "vegetative" notes that can result from longer exposure to dry hops. So maybe that's it. Longer dry hopping without the dreaded grassiness.

 

[Maxt]

I usually use between 100-150gms dry hopping in 20L. Just what the doctor ordered for those beers above 6%. Hop aroma still there for months.

 

[Markbeer]

Storing your bottles in the fridge once carbed helps the aroma and flavours stay for longer.

I have also noticed differences in yeast types too.

I've got an IIPA in the secondary that is tasting very promising. With an FG of 1.080 at around the 85 IBU mark, its started out bitter as hell but has mellowed nicely over a few weeks. But still lacks the aroma to balance it out.

I've been a little disappointed recently with how quickly the dry hop aroma of a couple of my bottled pales faded, so am now trying to decide on what to do with this IIPA. I'm thinking of just smashing it with 4g/litre in the hope that it leaves a significant amount of aroma a month or more down the track?

Is there any way to achieve a more lasting dry hop aroma?

I'm bottling BTW. Cheers. :icon_cheers:

 

[Kranky]

The hop oils released from dry hopping are volatile. After about two weeks the flavour and aroma from dry hopping starts to dissipate. Adding more hops may make the aroma and flavour you get from dry hopping last somewhat longer but maybe not a whole lot.

Pliny the Elder tastes best if it consumed within about two weeks from production. Russian River date stamp each bottle and put a blurb on the bottle saying it should be consumed fresh.

Different hops have different effects so the amount you should use can vary for this reason. A good example is citra hops - if you use too much you'll get a taste sort of like mango soup but if you use the right amount you get a great tropical punch out of it.

Depending on the hops I'll use anywhere up to about 10g/L. You just have to play around to find out what level you like best.

 

[Jazzafish]

One tip I recall from a dogfish or russian river interview was to filter before dry hopping as the yeast will absorb a bit... then when the beer clears your missing a bunch as it is absorbed in the yeast that is no longer in solution.

There is also a lot to be said about the temperature of beer when dry hopping and solubility of the oils... I'm still playing but have noticed a flavour difference between dry hopping at 18*C vs 4*C. Starting to hedge my bets and dry hop either side of the chill... sometimes in the keg too... or pick fresh hops and put them into a tea jug... I think I have a problem?

I'm still getting hoppy beers loosing their flavour and aroma fast after 5 to 6 weeks. Very fast transition over a few days. I used to try and ration stand out beers... but you gotta drink them while they are drinking well. PROST!

 

[Kranky]

One tip I recall from a dogfish or russian river interview was to filter before dry hopping as the yeast will absorb a bit... then when the beer clears your missing a bunch as it is absorbed in the yeast that is no longer in solution.

There is also a lot to be said about the temperature of beer when dry hopping and solubility of the oils... I'm still playing but have noticed a flavour difference between dry hopping at 18*C vs 4*C. Starting to hedge my bets and dry hop either side of the chill... sometimes in the keg too... or pick fresh hops and put them into a tea jug... I think I have a problem?

I'm still getting hoppy beers loosing their flavour and aroma fast after 5 to 6 weeks. Very fast transition over a few days. I used to try and ration stand out beers... but you gotta drink them while they are drinking well. PROST!

Yeast will strip out a lot of hop oils during fermentation and that is why dry hopping during primary fermentation doesn't really work. If you ever brew a Pliny the Elder clone it's good to try a small sample of the beer everyday. At first you will think you've got a disaster on your hands but as the yeast chews through sugars the enormous hop bitterness reduces into something more palatable. Dry hopping after filtering may help to retain hop oils but it's not necessary. Russian River do not dry hop Pliny the Elder made at the brewpub but do filter at their brewery.

I agree with you that dry hopping at different temperatures produces different results. Lower temperatures seem to produce a slower release of hop goodness and more subtle flavours and aromas. I usually do both.

There's not really anything you can do about oils dissipating bar one thing - re-dry hop your beer by putting more dry hops in the keg. I usually brew 40 litres to get two corny kegs. I'll use one straight up and put the other one aside. After the first keg is finished I'll clean it out and put hops in it and then transfer the beer into it. I'll let it sit for a week to twelve days and then transfer it back to it's original keg with more dry hops. I then put the beer straight into the fridge and when it is cold I force carb it. I've found this method works really well for me.

 

[Impy]

I've got an IIPA in the secondary that is tasting very promising. With an FG of 1.080 at around the 85 IBU mark, its started out bitter as hell but has mellowed nicely over a few weeks. But still lacks the aroma to balance it out.

I've been a little disappointed recently with how quickly the dry hop aroma of a couple of my bottled pales faded, so am now trying to decide on what to do with this IIPA. I'm thinking of just smashing it with 4g/litre in the hope that it leaves a significant amount of aroma a month or more down the track?

Is there any way to achieve a more lasting dry hop aroma?

I'm bottling BTW. Cheers. :icon_cheers:

I assume your FG is a typo? Otherwise you would have had to start with an OG of ~1.400 (and 45% alcohol! WOW!)

I've never managed to get a dry hop aroma to stick around for more than a month. I think it's just the nature of hop aroma, it's the first thing to age out.

The best thing to do is to have a speedy carbonation (carbonate at a good temp, not too cold) then drink ASAP to be sure of a fresh big hop aroma.