Dry hopping

[DandyMason]

When you guys dry hop, do you just toss the pellets in, or do you use a hop bag?

[Richard]

Toss them in, wait til they settle (a few days or so), rack off the top. Can make yeast washing a pain in the ass though, depending on how well they re-settle when you're doing the washing.

[DandyMason]

No prob, I havent washed any yeast yet, and I probably wont start with this one.

Thanks I will just toss them in!

[DandyMason]

How long do you usually dry hop?

[Kyle]

after the primary fermentation is done, I generally throw them into the primary fermenter for a week for a mild character, and 2 to 3 weeks for a strong character.

I don't know how to do it with a spunding valve except to caution you to not over fill the keg when doing so, as the valve will spew hop good and then clog.

[DandyMason]

Okay ill go for 2 weeks dry hopping

[Richard]

Like many things in brewing, this is both surrounded by a lot of contradictory information and has a podcast from someone with experience ("Tasty"): http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/ ... ry-Hopping

Seriously; check out all that these guys have to offer, on any topic that piques your interest. Ditto for the "Basic Brewing Network" guys.

[Dean]

what kind of beer is it?

[DandyMason]

Nice Richard I will check that out, Thanks

Its an IPA

[Dean]

cool ...yeah, IMO definitely more than one week

[DandyMason]

Okay sounds good.

Im definitely going for a strong character, so Ill do two weeks ish

[Richard]

FWIW the take-home points from that show seem to be:

• Dry-hopping is for aroma, which of course impacts your perception of flavour, but other methods (late-hopping/hopback) are more appropriate (and are distinct in their contribution as opposed to dry-hopping), if you are addressing flavour concerns rather than aroma.
• The timing and quantities are entirely down to taste. You don't like it, change it; however:
• Longer contact equals grassier/more vegetative, and tannic/dry/puckering tastes.
• Higher alpha varieties tend to have higher quantities of aroma oils, in addition to resins, meaning that like bittering - you need less.
• Dry hopping in the keg will likely lead to tannin extraction if you do not get those things out of there past a couple of weeks.
• Higher temperature will more quickly extract the "desirable" qualities of dry-hopping (non-tannic, non-vegetal).
• Adding dry-hops during the final stages (last few points of gravity) of primary fermentation can increase the stability of the beer.
• Less vegetal matter = less potential for tannin and grassiness, so generally using less, higher-alpha hops, will be a kind of insurance. Of course you may want a specific profile, so this is not a panacea.
• Shaking the carboy is good during dry-hopping to speed up the process - and contrary to what might be intuition speeds up precipitation (dropping out) of hop particles, and other undesirables.

[DandyMason]

Thats awesome Richard, thanks... I am just listening to the podcast now

[DandyMason]

Really glad you summarized that because it was a ton of info, but extremely useful.

Sounds, from the podcast, that those guys dry hop 1-2 weeks tops.

and you're right, shaking the carboy is definitely not somehting I would ever think of doing, but I will start for sure.

Going through some other podcasts now... Im "working" while listening.

[Kyle]

And for a completely non-scientific anecdote, a month-long dry hop with 3oz in an IIPA is the absolute limit of drinkability. I had to let it sit for a month in the serving keg before it was good. It turned outstanding in the end, but probably best to use fewer hops.