Dry hopping my brown ale?

Hey guys,

My second batch is just finishing up in primary, and I'm thinking of transferring to secondary today. I hit my FG after a little agitation a few days ago. The original recipe called for two hop additions, 1 oz cascade at the beginning, and 1 oz Fuggle for aroma. Obviously Fuggles have been in short supply, so they didn't include any with the kit. I ordered some German Tradition as a replacement, and I'm pretty sure I do want to dry-hop, but I guess I'm wondering what kind of timing I should aim for to affect the ultimate flavor.

Here's the kit in question: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/products/ProdByID.aspx?ProdID=3365

Since it is technically a traditional brown ale recipe, will I funk up the flavor too much with more hops, or just give it that American hop-head flavor?

Thanks!

I doubt dry hopping with German Tradition would be a problem. You won't get the Left-coast IPA bite, but it could be nice. I've dry hopped browns with EKG and Fuggle. It can be a good way to liven-up a slow keg.

I agree with david_42. Dry hopping will only add hop character. I have found that I get the best results from dry hopping when I add the hops to the fermenter no more than 1 week prior to packaging.

Well I haven't dry hopped yet because I figured out that I actually hadn't hit my target gravity. I was taking a quick reading and didn't account for some air bubbles.

I just pitched most of a packet of Munton's dry yeast (rehydrated of course), to try and get down from 1.019 to 10-12. Do I need to arrest the fermentation or is it likely to give out on its own around 1.010? Isn't this due to the amount of fermentables left in suspension?

Thanks again guys

Munton's is a low-attenuating yeast selected for the sweeter Southern English Browns, so don't expect it to dry the batch out much. Munton's Gold, Nottingham are good choices for maximum attenuation. The fermentation will stop when only unfermentable sugars are left.

Hey thanks, I think it'll work out well. Even though Munton's may be low-attenuating, if it drops it down by a few points, I'll be happy. Moving it to secondary for a few weeks should help to keep it from going out of control.

Transferred to secondary with dry-hop pellets of Tradition today. The gravity has dropped to 1.012, which is perfect for the recipe. The taste was astounding going into the secondary. I'm very excited about this beer!