Dry Hopping

[banjobrew]

I've read mixed information on dry hopping. Some say 14 days, some 7. I have one in the FV and I intend to rack after a week and then dry hop for two weeks before bottling. What have you all done in the way of dry hopping?

Any tips appreciated thanks!

[Dr Jacoby]

A lot of the west coast IPA producing breweries in the states limit their dry hop additions to 3 or 4 days max. It helps to avoid the raw grassy flavours you sometimes get with dry hopping. I take this approach as well and it seems to work well.

The most important factor in successful dry hopping IMO is to use fresh hops.

[banjobrew]

That's good to know thanks! Add them at the last 4 days in secondary then?

[Dr Jacoby]

Yep, that'd be fine. I don't normally bother with secondary (I don't see any clear benefit and it's another infection risk). My process is usually to crash the temp to 17C in primary once I'm happy with the beer, wait a day or two and then add the dry hops. I'll usually remove the hops after 3 or 4 days and then cold crash for a couple of days (to 0C) and fine with gelatin.

The process you use will depend on your equipment and preferences. 

[Bubbles]

I've read mixed information on dry hopping. Some say 14 days, some 7. I have one in the FV and I intend to rack after a week and then dry hop for two weeks before bottling. What have you all done in the way of dry hopping?

Any tips appreciated thanks!

The biggest factors in dry hopping are:

- time - 7 days max in my opinion, especially if you're using large amounts of hops.
- temperature - slightly warmer is better, as this aids in oil extraction.
- pellet or leaf hops (pellet hops are pulverised and give up their oils a lot easier. But they will also give more of the grassy flavours that Jr Jacoby talks about. It's particularly important when dry hopping with pellets to watch how long you're dry hoping for.)
- variety (generally speaking, the higher alpha hops will have a higher oil content which gives a stronger/harsher dry hop character)

Always worth mentioning sanitation. Many a brewer has come unstuck because of muslin bags that weren't fully sanitised. And if you are using muslin bags (and I recommend you do) make sure you weigh the bag down with sanitised marbles or similar)

[Shanna]

I've read mixed information on dry hopping. Some say 14 days, some 7. I have one in the FV and I intend to rack after a week and then dry hop for two weeks before bottling. What have you all done in the way of dry hopping?

Any tips appreciated thanks!

The biggest factors in dry hopping are:

- time - 7 days max in my opinion, especially if you're using large amounts of hops.
- temperature - slightly warmer is better, as this aids in oil extraction.
- pellet or leaf hops (pellet hops are pulverised and give up their oils a lot easier. But they will also give more of the grassy flavours that Jr Jacoby talks about. It's particularly important when dry hopping with pellets to watch how long you're dry hoping for.)
- variety (generally speaking, the higher alpha hops will have a higher oil content which gives a stronger/harsher dry hop character)

Always worth mentioning sanitation. Many a brewer has come unstuck because of muslin bags that weren't fully sanitised. And if you are using muslin bags (and I recommend you do) make sure you weigh the bag down with sanitised marbles or similar)

2nd that opinion on sanitation of the muslin bags unless you like the taste/aroma of "giddy up/horse blanket" off your beer. I would suggest boil & simmer for 15.minutes, drain squeeze (with rubber gloves sanitised in star San or similar) & then drop the bag in starsan for 30 seconds before squeezing out again & using.

Shanna

[craiclad]

I've read mixed information on dry hopping. Some say 14 days, some 7. I have one in the FV and I intend to rack after a week and then dry hop for two weeks before bottling. What have you all done in the way of dry hopping?

Any tips appreciated thanks!

The biggest factors in dry hopping are:

- time - 7 days max in my opinion, especially if you're using large amounts of hops.
- temperature - slightly warmer is better, as this aids in oil extraction.
- pellet or leaf hops (pellet hops are pulverised and give up their oils a lot easier. But they will also give more of the grassy flavours that Jr Jacoby talks about. It's particularly important when dry hopping with pellets to watch how long you're dry hoping for.)
- variety (generally speaking, the higher alpha hops will have a higher oil content which gives a stronger/harsher dry hop character)

Always worth mentioning sanitation. Many a brewer has come unstuck because of muslin bags that weren't fully sanitised. And if you are using muslin bags (and I recommend you do) make sure you weigh the bag down with sanitised marbles or similar)

Why do you recommend muslin bags out of interest? I always thought they were a pain to remove from the carboy, and sanitising them adds an extra step to the dry hopping process.

Of course, I'm cold crashing and gelatin fining so no loose plant matter makes it into the bottle, but if you're not using these steps I can definitely see why a bag would be necessary. If your hops are in a bag then it's also super simple to harvest the yeast cake... Any other reasons?   

Banjobrew - I'm a new brewer so still figuring out my processes, but I generally dry hop somewhere between 3-7 days. There also might be reason to believe that less time can be beneficial when it comes to dry hopping - http://brulosophy.com/2015/10/26/dry-hop-length-long-vs-short-exbeeriment-results/

[craiclad]

I've read mixed information on dry hopping. Some say 14 days, some 7. I have one in the FV and I intend to rack after a week and then dry hop for two weeks before bottling. What have you all done in the way of dry hopping?

Any tips appreciated thanks!

The biggest factors in dry hopping are:

- time - 7 days max in my opinion, especially if you're using large amounts of hops.
- temperature - slightly warmer is better, as this aids in oil extraction.
- pellet or leaf hops (pellet hops are pulverised and give up their oils a lot easier. But they will also give more of the grassy flavours that Jr Jacoby talks about. It's particularly important when dry hopping with pellets to watch how long you're dry hoping for.)
- variety (generally speaking, the higher alpha hops will have a higher oil content which gives a stronger/harsher dry hop character)

Always worth mentioning sanitation. Many a brewer has come unstuck because of muslin bags that weren't fully sanitised. And if you are using muslin bags (and I recommend you do) make sure you weigh the bag down with sanitised marbles or similar)

Why do you recommend muslin bags out of interest? I always thought they were a pain to remove from the carboy, and sanitising them adds an extra step to the dry hopping process.

Of course, I'm cold crashing and gelatin fining so no loose plant matter makes it into the bottle, but if you're not using these steps I can definitely see why a bag would be necessary. If your hops are in a bag then it's also super simple to harvest the yeast cake... Any other reasons?   

Banjobrew - I'm a new brewer so still figuring out my processes, but I generally dry hop somewhere between 3-7 days. Take this with a grain of salt, but there might be reason to believe that less time can be beneficial when it comes to dry hopping - http://brulosophy.com/2015/10/26/dry-hop-length-long-vs-short-exbeeriment-results/

[Bubbles]

Why do you recommend muslin bags out of interest? I always thought they were a pain to remove from the carboy, and sanitising them adds an extra step to the dry hopping process.

I use pellets, so I want to remove any chance of them clogging up my siphon and prevent me from packaging the full amount of beer.

Also, it gives me a level of control where I can easily pull the bag of hops out of the fermenter if I think they've been in there long enough, or if I see that I'm not going to get a chance to bottle for a few days and don't want to leave the beer on the hops any longer. I don't use carboys, so I can easily do that.

[molc]

I tried with bags and just found it too fiddly. Now I cold crash to drop the yeast, throw in the hops and let it free rise for 3 days, then cold crash again for 1 - 2 days and then keg/bottle. If anything does get through, some gelatin fines the beer if I'm really worried about the haze.

[craiclad]

I see, so precise control and autosiphon issues are important factors to consider.

I used a bag before I started cold crashing, at which point I started tossing the loose pellets in the carboy. I'm thinking of switching back to bagging though, as I always end up throwing out my hop laden yeast cake at the end of every batch. 

Have you noticed any reduction in aroma/hop character since you started bagging? How much do you usually hop with for say a pale ale or an IPA?

[Dr Jacoby]

Bags have pros and cons for sure. On the plus side they allow for easy removal of hop matter. On the down side they are an infection risk and encourage the hops to form into a ball which can reduce the contact with the beer.

Throwing the hops in loose is great for maximam contact, at least initially, but the bulk of the hops tend to fall out of suspension fairly quickly - this is less of a problem in wider bottomed vessels where the large surface area keeps at least a decent portion of the hops in contact with the liquid.

The best method in my experience (which I stole from Markc who makes the best hoppy beers I've ever tried) is to use a stainless steal hop filter that can be gently agitated every day to keep the hops in constant contact with the beer. It's not a cheap option but does give amazing results - assuming you use fresh hops 

[DEMPSEY]

Anything like the bags are a risky thing to use again and again as the risk of contamination is there . What about the paint strainer bags and only use them once then throw away.

[Bubbles]

... as I always end up throwing out my hop laden yeast cake at the end of every batch.

I can't believe I forgot to mention this.. yeast recovery is very important too. I typically try to get 3 or 4 brews out of every vial/sachet of yeast I use.

[Bubbles]

Have you noticed any reduction in aroma/hop character since you started bagging? How much do you usually hop with for say a pale ale or an IPA?

Sorry, forgot to address this..

I've always bagged, so to speak.. Typically around 50g for a 5 gal batch. I prefer lots of late kettle hops to dry-hopping.