My new dry hopping technique

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Beerbeque

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4 or 5 days before I bottle my Pale ale or IPA, I spray my french press coffee maker with star-san solution, add 1/2 to 3/4 oz of finishing hops (whole leaf) and fill with beer from my fermenter. I then push the plunger/strainer down a bit so that the hops stay submerged in the beer. I put the french press back into my fermenting chamber and on bottling day I press the hops down and add the super hoppy tea to the rest of the beer in my bottling bucket. This technique has produced better results for me than either dry hopping in the carboy which is messy and hard to keep the hops submerged, and better than making a hot hop tea on bottling day. I thought that the hot hop tea produced stemmy, grassy flavors. This is the best technique I have tried yet to give my ales an intense hoppy flavor and aroma without using a lot of hops.
 
Have you ever tried dry hopping in your keg while the beer is on tap being served. I've been thinking about going that route. I usually just dry hop when I rack to secondary and have never tried making a tea. I would wonder at what point the solution becomes saturated and can't take in anymore hop magic (for lack of a better term) if making a concentrated tea. Just like dissolving sugar in water, I would think that at some point the tea would be so strong that the hops might be wasted. I've never tried it though so I don't know. Please keep us posted on your experience with this.
 
Have you ever tried dry hopping in your keg while the beer is on tap being served.

Would this result in the beer getting progressively more hoppy as you went along. the last pint would have been on the hops for longer than the first pint. Not a big problem if you drink quickly, but if you're more moderate in your beer habit, would your last pint taste like chewing on a whole fresh hop? (not saying this is a bad thing :D)

Terje
 
Isn't there a risk of oxydizing the French press beer. I could see infection not being an issue due to the hops, but I'm wondering if there is anything that could go wrong without being contained like the fermentor. Have you had any problems in that regards?
 
Isn't there a risk of oxydizing the French press beer. I could see infection not being an issue due to the hops, but I'm wondering if there is anything that could go wrong without being contained like the fermentor. Have you had any problems in that regards?

If you were concerned w/ oxidation just purge the press w/ CO2 and your golden!

Great idea. I am going to have to give this a shot. I really dislike that "Grassy" flavor I get from dry hopping.
 
Would this result in the beer getting progressively more hoppy as you went along. the last pint would have been on the hops for longer than the first pint. Not a big problem if you drink quickly, but if you're more moderate in your beer habit, would your last pint taste like chewing on a whole fresh hop? (not saying this is a bad thing :D)

Terje

No it will only get so "hoppy". I do this with all of my dry hopped beers. I have had kegs go 2 months with no adverse affects. I recently started tying a doubled over piece of dental floss to the tea ball, so it sticks up through the lid, that way I can remove the hops if necessary.
 
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