Dry hopping European Pilsner

I recently brewed a european pilsner and its been fermenting for about 4 days now. I know its still early to dry hop however im looking for suggestions on what kind of hops would be a good addition, how much and when to add to primary? The hops that came with the kit were pellets, BITTERING: German Perle and FLAVORING/AROMA: Czech Saaz. I have never dry hopped in a primary before so i am open to suggestions and technique. Also, can i dry hop with pellets or whole hops more suggested??

Typically the lagering period of pilsner moots any dry hop additions. That said if I have any left over saaz I will dry hop in the primary about the time that I start the D rest. I just pore the pellets in, I do not dry hop with leaf hops because I lose too much beer in the hops.

i'd save trying dry hopping in primary for an ale and wait til after lagering to bother to dry hop, otherwise you'll lose quite a bit of the aroma. i'd go with tettnang, but any noble hop will work well

so, this brew is done and kegged. I am getting again, the damn off flavors i have had for almost every brew! Its extremely frustrating and hard to put into words. Its almost like alcholy, sour, and just not good! When smelled deeply it almost so strong and smells sour, strong, alcoholic and almost chokes you out! Any idea why i keep getting this, my routines are always by the book with extreme sanitation and ferment just around 62-65 degrees. I am wondering if could be that i never used a wort chiller and only ice bath to get down to about 75 degrees in about 30-40 min. I recently purchased a wort chiller could this help/be part of my problem? I use kits, so who knows how fresh ingredients i am getting also. so many things it could be but its getting me extremely frustrated. PLEASE HELP!!

If you are using a lager yeast and fermenting in the 62* to 65* range that could be your problem. Lager yeast should be fermented in the upper 40* to low 50* range.
I assume lager yeast as you did describe a pilsner.

You're fermenting at way to high for a lager yeast! (On the other hand you may have a traditional "european" steam beer) - What yeast are you using?
You're also trying to turn out a pilsner in less than a month - that's not recommendable..

this is the yeast that the kit came with.??

how often do you use that strain? it's not directly available to homebrewers and clearly re-packaged, not sure by who, but that could be the problem right there, esp if you're getting sour notes.

Actually I don't know if I've ever use the strand before I get my kids from the same home brew store however I just recently purchased one online from Austin homebrew here in Texas. Do you think it could be that some of the kids are coming with the wrong yeast or old ingredients which is why I keep getting the same strange flavor? I have only ever use the kits from the same local homebrew store so I'm anxious to try this pale ale kit that I just bought hopefully this weekend.

This is the partial mash Pale ale kit that I am planning on this weekend. Please when you can take a look and see if the yeast is ok(I purchased an extra pack in case). What's a good fermentation temp for this recipe and also and do's and don'ts or things to be careful with this pale ale? Went out today a purchased a fridge so I can monitor exact ferment temps so I can eliminate fermentation as a possibility to this not so great off flavor I continue to get. Please keep the advice coming!!

Since you are getting that same off flavor with every beer you say, I'm guessing it's not the yeast. That yeast is ale yeast anyways. Prob technique or water. Do you filter your water from chlorine/choramine and are you pitching enough yeast?

I use ro water from my filtration system and pitch the packets of yeast that comes with the kits. I did purchase ph stabilizer so I will use that on my next brew. Gosh I hope this doesn't happen again with this flavor!!

Okay, well Kölsch is per definition an ale - that is you're making a european ale, not a lager.

As for the yeast-issue why don't you just try a completely regular strain like S-05 or Notty? A yeast with a general consensus of reliability an clean flavor (Repacked yeast is always a warning sign).

Off flavors are often hard to pin down - "Alcoholic, strong and sour" does not sound like astringency to me. Do you rehydrate the yeast? How much do you pitch? Is your sanitation proper?
Have you encountered this off flavor anywhere else? In any commercial brew? Do you use a secondary?

You mention that you are doing the partial mash kit. Walk us through your brew day with details like your mash temp, and whatnot.

A hot alcohol flavor can be a sign of fermentation temps that got too high (see fusel alcohols). It can also be a sign of just a high ABV beer that needs time to age so the flavors blend better. I've seen patience turn a beer I didn't like much into a great beer.

Sour could be a contamination issue or it could be that your beer isn't bitter enough for your tastes (not enough hops at the start of the boil). Adding more hops, or fresh hops instead of old hops, might fix that problem. I once bottled a beer that had zero hop additions just to see what that'd be like. It was hideously sour. Truly, truly hideous.

YeastHerder said:

Sour could be a contamination issue or it could be that your beer isn't bitter enough for your tastes (not enough hops at the start of the boil). Adding more hops, or fresh hops instead of old hops, might fix that problem. I once bottled a beer that had zero hop additions just to see what that'd be like. It was hideously sour. Truly, truly hideous.

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a lack of hops would make a beer sweet, not sour. a complete lack of hops could more easily lead to an infection tho as hops are antimicrobial, which in turn could make a beer sour, but lack of hops alone won't do it.