dry hopping flavor

i have been reading and reading about how dry hopping doesnt add flavor. There is no way this is true how are hops gonna sit in delicious beer for x amount of days and not give it flavor. i want to go on a rant but i wont. someone please tell me this is old school knowledge.

Dry hopping adds aroma. Any flavor gained is negligible - though aroma can certainly add to the perception of flavor.

Hop contributions have more to do with chemical reactions than anything else.

Early boil hop additions add bittering. You tend to get little aroma or flavor from these, as the compounds get broken down by the boil.

Later on in the boil, you get the flavor additions.

At the end of the boil, you get aroma additions. Aroma compunds are delicate and easily broken down by heat, which is why these come at the end.

Dry hopping also gives aroma - the primary purpose of the act. But again, little in the way of flavor.

its just hard for me to believe. because every dry hopped beer ive ever made with the same amount of hops always kicks me in the face with hop flavor. I cant see it not giving a noticeable amount of flavor. I usually dry hop with at least 3 oz

"Dry hopping adds aroma. Any flavor gained is negligible - though aroma can certainly add to the perception of flavor."

This is one thing I have struggled with a bit as far as putting dry hops in my IPA's. All for smell, which may slightly give the perception of taste? I dunno...

The IPA I have fermenting right now I had initially skipped the dry hop on and added it to the 5 min aroma addition as I've heard dry hopping loses it's smell rapidly, and that by adding it to the boil keeps it longer. But I gave in and tossed an oz of Simcoe in yesterday. It's supposed to go in an IPA, right?

is it being asserted that dry hopping doesn't add any flavor to the beer? That one literally would not be able to taste dry hops in a side by side beer comparison, one that was dry hopped and one that was not?

I too struggle with that assertion. There have been too many threads that talk about adding hops to the keg if the beer is lacking in flavor. Too many discussions about how dry hops tend to overpower the flavor of 5 min additions if you are trying to make two batches that have a minor change to compare and contrast...

Maybe I'll have to split my next batch and test. But I just have a hard time buying that dry hopping does nothing but add smell.

You are forgetting that a major component of "tasting" something has to do with smell or aroma.

The taste of hops has to do with actual utilization of the alpha and beta acids of the hops which only occurs during the boil. The aroma compounds come out when you dry hop and to some degree during the latest of additions to the boil.

If you plug your nose before you even pour the beer and then taste it your perception will be different. If you were really "tasting" the hops you would get a vegetal, grassy taste which can become apparent if you over hop a beer for too long a time

Smell and taste are intertwined. Hieronymous talks to this point in his recent hop book.

That said all you have to do is eat something while you have a cold to notice the difference.

Dry hopping definitely adds flavor. Hop oil in solution = flavor.

To the people that say plug your nose or when u have a cold notice how you can't taste anything duh if u plug your nose and bite into an onion u cant tell it tastes bad in fact some people think it tastes like an Apple. This does not apply I'm talking about the flavor. If I plug my nose while drinking the beer then pull the glass away then unplug that beer away if it was dry hopped it will taste hoppier.

Does the aroma last longer if added to the boil around 5 mins vs dry hopping with it?
How long does it take before the aroma has been muted by 50%? Or totally gone?

Dry hopping definitely adds flavor. I just did a little experiment with a Blonde ale and I’m amazed at how much flavor was introduced by the dry hopping. Very cool!

rodwha said:

Does the aroma last longer if added to the boil around 5 mins vs dry hopping with it?
How long does it take before the aroma has been muted by 50%? Or totally gone?

Click to expand...

While noting there is a direct connection between how humans perceive "flavor" and "aroma", the conventional wisdom is kettle hops are for bitterness and flavor, while dry hops - especially added after the risk of CO2 scrubbing has diminished - are for aroma.

Seems to work well

Cheers!