dry hopping....

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gator

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i know, dumb question, but how do you decide "if" and "when" a brew needs dry hopping?

and, if you decide it does, are you not worried about contamination???

gator
 
If is definitely up to you and your tastebuds.
When - I'd say about a 3-7 days before you rack to bottles or keg (of course others here will have different opinions)
 
I dry hop all of my IPAs and some pale ales. It really makes an IPA that much better IMO. No, not worried about contamination because you usually add to secondary after the profile and the alcohol has been established.
 
I'll decide after I've had a few bottles from a batch - write down my tasting notes and if I think it will benefit much from dry hopping, then I'll make sure I do it the next time I make that batch. Certain styles like APAs and IPAs pretty much always benefit from dry hopping so I just automatically do with those styles.
 
Its primarily an aroma thing, so if you want your beer to smell a bit better, and because of that taste a small bit better, than do it. On IPA's i usually do two separate dry hops after about 5 days of violent fermentation, then dry hop for a week each stage. on a five gallon batch I use about 2 oz in each stage. usually amarillo, cascade, simcoe, centennial.
 
i know, dumb question, but how do you decide "if" and "when" a brew needs dry hopping?

and, if you decide it does, are you not worried about contamination???

gator

According to the most respected beer guru - John Palmer, contamination is just not an issue with dry hopping. He doesn't even say you should be careful handling the hops.
 
When you are dry hopping, you are doing it at the end of your beer's fermentation. At that time, there is plenty of alcohol in the batch to prevent any type of bacteria from taking root in your beer. Hops are almost certain to contain some type of bacteria, but I have never gotten an infection in any of the beers I have dry hopped.
 
At that time, there is plenty of alcohol in the batch to prevent any type of bacteria from taking root in your beer. Hops are almost certain to contain some type of bacteria, but I have never gotten an infection in any of the beers I have dry hopped.
No, there is not enough alcohol to keep bacteria from taking hold. In fact, the lower pH environment is preferred by many kinds of wild yeasts. I am not saying that you will get a contamination by dry hopping, but that is because dried hops are not a comfortable environment for contaminates. You should not think that fermented beer is immune to infection.
 
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