Dry Hops on the side...? Jug 'O Hops.

**TimBrewz** · 04-02-2009, 12:29 AM

I brewed a 2.5 gallon batch of Pliny the Elder clone (parti-gyle with a 5 gal of blonde ale) with whole hops...big mistake. 4 plus ounces of whole hops=tons of wort lost to the hops. Oh well, it fermented fine and just about 1/2 gallon off target volume. Dry hopping is crucial in this beer, and I don't want to lose anymore volume, so I am trying this:

I took a 1 gallon glass jug and racked 1/2 gallon of the blonde ale into the jug, then added the whole dry hops to the jug and gently agitated the jug with a stopper and airlock attached. So I now have what looks like a jug full of wet hops. I plan to let the hops sit in this jug about a week and then rack the dry hopped blonde into the Pliny to get the dry hop essence without actually adding the hops to the Pliny clone.

I realize I will be diluting the beer a bit, but my OG was 1.086 on the Pliny and 1.043 on the blonde, so I figure I will still be in the 8% ABV range as I expect to get about a quart of super-dry hopped beer out of the jug.

So, will this work? Comments? Suggestions? Abuse?

Thanks!

Tim

**Yooper** · 04-02-2009, 12:47 AM

I love dryhopping- it definitely gives a wonderful flavor. Your dryhopped blonde ale sounds good. Adding it the the pliny clone may give you some hops aroma, but probably not very much. That Pliny clone is a big beer. Adding a small dryhopped blonde to it won't hurt it, but I can't imagine you'll detect much in the final product.

Strngcheez · 04-02-2009, 01:13 AM

What about making a hop tea? I've never used it, but I've been researching it for my next ipa.

**TimBrewz** · 04-02-2009, 02:36 AM

I thought about hop tea, but I thought that was more of a replacement for late hop additions in the boil? I may be wrong.

Anyway I figure that this is kind of a cold hop tea that uses beer instead of water. I am hoping that the small volume of beer can "handle" all the resins in the dry hops and will transfer a huge aroma to the 2 gallons of Pliny clone.

**TimBrewz** · 04-04-2009, 08:20 PM

Well, I rack the 1/2 gallon of dry hopped blonde into the Pliny clone...seems to work pretty well. Aroma is not as strong as adding the hops directly to the beer, but pretty good. I am thinking about adding the pre-soaked hops into the Pliny clone now, as they are already saturated, and should not absorb anymore liquid. Hopefully they will just impart the aroma I want.