When do you dry hop?

[letsbrewit]

The problem with dry hopping while fermentation is still active is that, even if tank is closed up and co2 is not escaping, you will lose a lot of hop aroma as the yeast crash because the hop resins stick to the yeast and drop out with them. It's best to drop out as much yeast as possible before you dry hop. I've had beers with absolutely fantastic hop aroma after 2 days of dry hopping that lost nearly everything after cold crashing.

today we bottled an amber ale, we did a test, at day 4-5 we dumped the yeast, add the hops,close the op valve or bung the tank, on day 2 the pressure was at 7psi, at day 3 pressure was at 10psi, we started filtering by using the head pressure (10osi) then we open the prv valve at 1psi by using also with a esterile filter air, we carbed the beer and taste nice not so big aroma but we didnt get astringency as we always got it by recirculating the hops for 1-2 hours.

next time we plan to dry hop for 3 days, on day 2 we are going to get down at 60F to prevent pressure build


some other brewers end with 30psi in their head pressure after dry hopping for 3 days at 60-70F

[NanoMan]

Dry Hopping: Torpedo Question

For reasons I don't want to bore you with here, the normal dry hopping procedure isn't gonna work. I have choice between skipping the dry hopping (American Pale Ale, BTW), or trying to dry hop via a torpedo on the way to the keg (uncarbonated beer, and no, don't ask!).

Question: Any guess at how many ounces/pounds of whole leaf aromatic hops would be needed per each half barrel to achieve at least some modicum of aromatics? Again, this was never the plan but a brewer's gotta do what a brewer's gotta do!

Cheers!

[ShawneeCraft]

Ive found that i actually gain less aroma when dry hopping warm, and the aroma that's there usually fades a lot quicker. My process has been to ferment fully, crash, ditch/harvest yeast, fine, then dry hop. We use pellets and bubble co2 through the bottom of the tank every couple days to keep the hops in suspension, and leave the hops on the beer for 1-2 weeks. I have noticed that it takes longer to gain the aroma were looking for, but we get less of a vegetable character and the aroma seems to stay in the beer for an extra week or so.

This thesis from oregon state is a worth checking out, lots of good information on the subject http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xm...lfe_thesis.pdf

[Matt Dog]

A lot of it comes down to your time and equipment constraints and what you consider optimum hop aroma(mild vs over the top). Its all well and good to have someone say continuous stirring is optimum but it is not practical for most smaller operations. New Belgium centrifuges Ranger removing yeast, dry-hops with continual circulation for 48hrs or so, centrifuges again to remove hops crashes and packages. I believe they dry-hop at around 58F. Either way not many of us can pull that off. I think Stone does a similar recirc method for 48-72 hours. Ive heard Vinny from RR give a talk where he said his preference was to just dump the hops through the PRV but they use a cannon on the bigger tanks where its not practical or safe to dump. (Please don't hold me to these specific details as these breweries may have changed their techniques).Then you have to figure how you are packaging or serving the beer. A crappy bottling line with high oxygen pickup will quickly destroy the best hop aroma quickly. Warm storage of finished beer will also kill aroma pretty quick. Trade offs also come in to play whether you hop with a bit of active fermentation going, pros oxygen scavenging is achieved, Cons losing some hop aroma to the yeast. In a Brewpub do you want consistency? If not a priority you could dry-hop in bags in the brite and continually increase hop aroma til the point you don't. How much aroma are you losing to headspace in a large serving tank as it empties? In the end your situation and constraints will ultimately determine the best practice for you. Experimentation is great if its allowed!

[nvrstck]

After diacetyl rest, drop to 55F for 24-48 hours, collect yeast, then dry hop for 4 days before dropping to 32F. Works terrific for APA

[JosephZ]

Timing is everything: Dry Hop/Diacetyl

Diacetyl in dry hopped beers, especially IPA's is a serious problem. Eliminating or reducing diacetyl and dissolved O2 (which can also bring out diacetyl) is our main goal. From my own experience and after discussing with a top brewmaster from one of the largest craft breweries in the country ~ here's what we've learned.

~ Risks of dry hopping towards the end of fermentation and/or during the diacetyl rest is: the stimulation of dormant yeast and yeast that are at the end of their cycle; it can start their cycle again and the end result could be: the Big D!

~ Another risk if dry hopping towards the end of the diacetyl rest is: hops can get in the way of (yeast's steps) of diacetyl reabsorption which in turn = the Big D!

~ From what I've learned about some large craft brewery techniques is to crash it, blow the yeast out and then warm it back up to 50 F and recirculate thru a hop filter of some kind. We don't have a chiller that also heats, so we dry hop as soon as the chill starts and recirc. We'll then take our time chilling bout 48 hrs and recirc again. After the fermenter hits 32 we will either filter the hops out after a couple days of crashing or blow them out (with a 20 micron filter as to not filter aroma). If recirculation is not an option or too risky, one could blow Co2 into the bottom of fermenter and stir pellets up. We only use pellets but can also filter with whole hops.

Cheers, All ~~~~~~ Joe

[Viridian]

If you want some serious hop oil punch....

For a NEIPA, we've been doing 3.5lb / BBL hopped during the biotransformation window of fermentation.

We do the same with IPAs, APAs, IIPAs, etc.

[AllGrainNZ]

Once the wort is in the FV after KO, pitch your preferred amount of hops directly into FV, and then pitch yeast (unless you pitched yeast in-line to FV, that's fine too). Then pitch more hops when you are 20% to FG. Then perform D Rest as necessary, without hop activity. According to research papers, you can get full hop oil extraction in as little as 6 hours.

For a NEIPA, we've been doing 2.25 lb / BBL and 2 lb / BBL, respectively, for the two hop charges mentioned above.

We do the same with IPAs, APAs, IIPAs, etc.

Hi Ryan. Can you confirm those dry hop quantities? 4.5 lb per BBL translates to about 50kg per 24 BBL FV. Cheers

[Viridian]

Commercial breweries that are having great success with NEIPAs use somewhere between 3-4.5 lbs / BBL dry hop. This number is not outside of the acceptable range for this style. There have been several research papers that have referenced magnitudes such as 3 or 3.5 lb / BBL regarding changes in pH.

Try 3 or 3.5, see what you get. Then try 4.5, and see if you can tell the difference. Above all, make sure that Dissolved Oxygen is completely and totally minimized.

[Swags]

Whirlpool hops

Commercial breweries that are having great success with NEIPAs use somewhere between 3-4.5 lbs / BBL dry hop. This number is not outside of the acceptable range for this style. There have been several research papers that have referenced magnitudes such as 3 or 3.5 lb / BBL regarding changes in pH.

Try 3 or 3.5, see what you get. Then try 4.5, and see if you can tell the difference. Above all, make sure that Dissolved Oxygen is completely and totally minimized.

How much are you putting in the hot side? for NEIPA specifically, I've seen recommendations from almost zero in the boil to 1.5# / bbl. in whirlpool only.

[Viridian]

How much are you putting in the hot side? for NEIPA specifically, I've seen recommendations from almost zero in the boil to 1.5# / bbl. in whirlpool only.

Exactly. As of late, we have been putting zero hops in for purpose of aromatics and flavor - we only use hops in hot side for bittering. I figured, why only give the hops 30-60minutes during whirlpool (which would only be partial oil extraction), versus putting all hops directly into the FV, so that oil extraction is 100% by the end of ferm.

I have seen posts that one of the biggest NEIPA players in the country does this as well - hot side is for bittering only.