Merits of Dry-Hopping

[YamahaXS]

I am a hop freak, I love hoppy and bitter beers, especially when combined with a good alcoholo content and just a hint of sweetness. God that this good stuff.

Anyways, I noticed in the How Much does your Beer Cost thread that there was a bit of discussion about dry-hopping. I hope to share what I know, and learn what all yall know!

I dry-hopped my last Pale Ale batch. There was a nose to the foam that literally makes my eyelids quiver. It is a delicate combination of flowery sweetness and hops. I have never smelled a beer that had such a good aroma. It is only present/noticable when there is still a fresh head on the beer. I attribute this completely to the fact that I dry-hopped, which involved throwing in 1 plug Goldings (whole leaf) into my secondary for 7 days.

I used a gauze bag, tried to weight it down with marbles, but the hops floated anyways. And I did not sterilize / boil the hops. I have read that Hops are light sensitive, and exposure to light can make your beer skunky. I had intended to bottle after only a few days dry-hop time, but I got busy and it had to wait. Anyways, my beer sits in the basement, where it is usually pretty dark, and all turned out fine.

Anyways, hope to hear more from you on this practice... i know many people never do it, some always do it, and some think its all myth. Personally, I am a believer.

[S.F.B.]

Dry hopping is a wonderful way to get that little bit of extra hop aroma in your beer. I dry hop my IPA with .5 oz of cascade hops and it comes out really good. If you are a "hop head", I highly recommend it.

[paul84043]

Dry hopping is the keystone to Dogfish Head's award winning Ales, so I know there is something to it!
I will be dry hopping my barleywine, but was considering doing a bit more to boot...
How much hops are there in a plug? Is it a one ounce plug?
I'm kind of torn on which method to use, the bag seems real easy, but I wonder if you really get that much more flavor and aroma with just letting them fly free???

I sampled a Uinta Brewing Co.'s IPA last night, and subsequently ordered an IPA kit....talk about hoppy!! It's an all senses on full alert hop assault! I want to try do do that in my own beers!!
I think they use challenger in thier IPA..

[S.F.B.]

The only way that I have done it is to use a cheese cloth bag. I throw it in and syphon over the top trying to keep the hops under the flow. This is a bit tricky since the bag is very bouyant. I know some will say that this risks getting too much oxygen into the wort. I haven't had any problems with it yet.

[Tweek]

I usually just toss them whole into the fermenter. If you really want to try something fun try putting some in a bag/cheese cloth and adding them to your keg and leaving them there until the keg is empty (assuming you empty the keg in a reasonable amount of time, I am not sure what would happen if you let the hops decay in there). I have a buddy that does this from time to time it is quite interesting.

[fuji6100]

As I mentioned in the previous thread, I put mine in a nylon bag weighed down with a marble. It is an extremely fine mesh so none of the hop particles get out of the bag, but there is plenty of room for the brew to come in contact with the hops. I used to use cheesecloth, but it held the hops too tightly (and it looked like a baseball when I pulled it out of the fermenter) and so it never got much surface area exposed. I'm very happy with my nylon bags (probably like 5 x 8 inches) and use them in the boil and for dry hopping.

I don't notice any difference by dumping the hops straight in and using the large bags, so I definately go for the bag method since you don't have to strain out the hop particles (and aerate your beer).

[BluesHarp]

OK..heres another dilemma. I grow my own hops; I don't brew with them too much because I have no way of knowing what the bittering quailties will be (too dependant on temp, soil PH, rain, etc.). I just think they are cool, and the Mrs. likes to make stuff out of the vines. I believe they would be perfect for dry hopping; you can't get any fresher. The question is, do I dry them first or just toss 'em in fresh off the vine?

[shughes600]

Originally posted by Tweek
I usually just toss them whole into the fermenter. If you really want to try something fun try putting some in a bag/cheese cloth and adding them to your keg and leaving them there until the keg is empty (assuming you empty the keg in a reasonable amount of time, I am not sure what would happen if you let the hops decay in there). I have a buddy that does this from time to time it is quite interesting.

I like the keg idea. I am experimenting still. A method i used was to place a whole ounce of willamette flowers in the keg (secondary). After one week I transferred the beer to another keg using CO2. The waterlogged hops sink to the bottom and all beer leaving the keg contacts the hops. All beer flowing through the hops is also filtered of some sediment. Sort of a hop back i guess.

I haven't done this, but i will try it. Top up the keg with fresh wort. This will kick off some more fermentation. The fermentation will initiate a circulation path within the vessel. This could allow more hop wort contact.

[YamahaXS]

Originally posted by BluesHarp
OK..heres another dilemma. I grow my own hops; I don't brew with them too much because I have no way of knowing what the bittering quailties will be (too dependant on temp, soil PH, rain, etc.). I just think they are cool, and the Mrs. likes to make stuff out of the vines. I believe they would be perfect for dry hopping; you can't get any fresher. The question is, do I dry them first or just toss 'em in fresh off the vine?

will you mail me some?
:)

[BluesHarp]

Talk to me in the fall...:)

[BucksBrew]

Originally posted by BluesHarp
OK..heres another dilemma. I grow my own hops; I don't brew with them too much because I have no way of knowing what the bittering quailties will be (too dependant on temp, soil PH, rain, etc.). I just think they are cool, and the Mrs. likes to make stuff out of the vines. I believe they would be perfect for dry hopping; you can't get any fresher. The question is, do I dry them first or just toss 'em in fresh off the vine?

I think you need to dry them. I thought I READ SOMEWHERE that you can air dry or bake in oven on low (150-200) to dry out. I would research and I will look around as well.

BTW can you add me to your list of mouchers of free hops in the fall? really! I'm a mouch and cheap! haha, I might grow some this year, it is only May!

[b3s]

i just started dry-hopping...what a difference (and the first beer i dry-hopped was the stout i just bottled...it's not even done yet and WOW!). i concur with yamahaXS, the nost appeal is worth it.

i don't know how most people dry hop, but i just dump an ounce of whole (dried) hops into the secondary and then rack...i have an IPA that is still in the secondary, but when i tested the gravity the first thing i was struck with was the nose of the beer...once again, i don't know about others, but when i test the gravity i drink it up to test the beer's flavor.

i think next i'll start adding oak chips...one thing i like about this hobby is the flavor and alcohol control i have. i like high alcohol beers with lots of flavor (especially hops).

[BluesHarp]

I will see how my harvest turns out this year...if I can get any of the little beauties away from the wife...if I get a good yield, there may be some bartering possibilities...:)