Three week dry hop?

I'm about to attempt my first dry hopping, and some of the reading I've done is conflicting about the length of time recommended for this. The safe estimate seems to be 1-2 weeks, but say I'm going out of town and can't bottle for 3 weeks from now.

Should I rack into secondary and dry hop for 3 weeks, or rack into secondary now and add the hops after a week as passed?

Thanks!

I wouldn't plan on leaving the hops in longer than 10 days... As I understand it they'll impart a grassy flavor if left in longer than that...

Just my .02...

I agree with the Bonger. Just dry hop when you get back. That extra time in secondary will only improve your beer.

Well, I disagree with all. Dryhop as long as possible. If a IPA you a are searching for, an IPA you will find.

There are negative effects of dry hopping for too long. Many of which have to do with temperature. While it may be ok to dry hop for 3 weeks, I would recommend you lower the temperature of your beer to 45 to 50 degrees which will significantly reduce problems like the vegetal or grassy flavors you might get. Otherwise, I usually dry hop for 4 days to a week at 68 degrees. YMMV

I'll vouch for dry-hopping too long. My first IPA (currently downing, with some difficulty) has a distinct green apple/grass aftertaste. Nothing a longer ferment/shorter hop time could hurt.

I dry-hop my IPA for 2-3 weeks at around 68 deg F. No grass flavor whatsoever, but I am just using Cascade pellets.

I'd wait until you got back. Most of the hop oils dissolve in the first week and the sooner you bottle after that the better.

i just bottled an IPA after dry hopping in secondary for 2-3 weeks. couldnt accumulate empty bottles fast enough. =/

we'll see how it turns out...

I just got done with a hoppy red ale, using a pliny inspired dry hop schedule. It got three rounds of pellet hops over three weeks (one week apiece, with the first addition being in there for three) I dry hopped in the primary after 3 weeks. this beer sat in the primary for 6 weeks. I cannot taste any off flavors from the extended dry hopping at all. my beer was at 69 degrees for the duration of the dry hopping

I dry hop in the keg and I have yet to get any grassy taste or aroma.
Scrambledegge81 that green apple taste is not a hop issues thats diacetyl.

lehr said:

Scrambledegge81 that green apple taste is not a hop issues thats diacetyl.

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Incorrect - it's acetaldehyde that is known for the green apple. Diacetyl is recognizable as a buttery slickness.

To the OP, I've dry-hopped in the keg before; as someone indicated earlier, temperature plays a role in the extent to which potentially grassy flavors are extracted and expressed.

Six_O_Turbo said:

There are negative effects of dry hopping for too long. Many of which have to do with temperature. While it may be ok to dry hop for 3 weeks, I would recommend you lower the temperature of your beer to 45 to 50 degrees which will significantly reduce problems like the vegetal or grassy flavors you might get. Otherwise, I usually dry hop for 4 days to a week at 68 degrees. YMMV

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So there seems to be some consensus that temperature is important? Does anyone have any experience with dry hoping for longer times at say 79 degrees f? I'm in the south, and temperature control isn't so easy, I really only have the space and energy to keep one fermenter cool at once, and primary fermentation gets the priority in this one.

passedpawn said:

Well, I disagree with all. Dryhop as long as possible. If a IPA you a are searching for, an IPA you will find.

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I will disagree with the above. There have been many podcast with famous brewers of IPA's. Most are under a weeks time. I would not go longer than a week.

flyangler18 said:

Incorrect - it's acetaldehyde that is known for the green apple. Diacetyl is recognizable as a buttery slickness.

To the OP, I've dry-hopped in the keg before; as someone indicated earlier, temperature plays a role in the extent to which potentially grassy flavors are extracted and expressed.

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oops acetaldehyde is correct.

ive read up to 14days your good, after then your taking a chance for some grassy flavors

bhatchable said:

... using a pliny inspired dry hop schedule. It got three rounds of pellet hops over three weeks (one week apiece, with the first addition being in there for three)

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Brew-boy said:

I will disagree with the above. There have been many podcast with famous brewers of IPA's. Most are under a weeks time. I would not go longer than a week.

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These two statements seem to contradict. Is Pliny dry-hopped over this three week schedule?

dunnright00 said:

These two statements seem to contradict. Is Pliny dry-hopped over this three week schedule?

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from what i can gather it is... I don't think that you are going to get grassy flavors for going three weeks. I didn't anyway.

I did have, speaking to temp, an ipa some time back that spent a week and a half in secondary at 80 with two ounces of hops... no grass then either.

I think though, and this is just a guess, that grassy flavors are harder to extract from pellets vice whole hops...

I didn't even occur to me to worry about it, but I racked my pumpkin beer onto a yeast cake that was dry hopped. It sat on that for about 2 months. I kegged it last week and it tastes a little bit grassy. Does anyone know if the grass flavor will mellow over time? It's not horrible, but it doesn't seem to complement this beer very well.

bhatchable said:

from what i can gather it is... I don't think that you are going to get grassy flavors for going three weeks. I didn't anyway.

I did have, speaking to temp, an ipa some time back that spent a week and a half in secondary at 80 with two ounces of hops... no grass then either.

I think though, and this is just a guess, that grassy flavors are harder to extract from pellets vice whole hops...

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Well bhatchable, that's pretty much the answer I wanted to hear--because it sounds like everything that's happening to my beer will be okay!

The temp is probably hovering a in the high 70's right now, and I'm doing an almost three week dry hop with only one once of hops. And I'm using pellets, which if you're guess is right, should help me out.

I'd also like to second masonsjax's question regarding aging grassy flavors out. I'd guess that the flavor would mellow out--in my experience aging a beer is good for mellowing out everything but my patience.

Does anyone actually have evidence of this "grassy" or "vegetal" flavor that magically happens when you dry hop longer than 2 weeks? I've never experienced it. I brew mainly Ipa's and pales of which I dry hop at least half of them. I usually do it in the serving keg (42F) I have left some for 6 weeks with no ill effects.

The others I dry hop in my conditioning kegerator (60f) for 10 days to sometimes 3 weeks, with no ill effects. So I guess only some people experience these effects, I haven't.

This may have more to do with the hop variety than the time frame or temp (within reason) I think.


An article I found on dryhopping in BYO:

"Some brewers feel that if the hops are in the beer for more than a few weeks, the beer develops a “grassy” flavor. Personally, I’ve never experienced it, despite leaving hops in my kegs for as long as six weeks."

The mythological "grassiness" is far more related to the variety of hop you use than the length of time you dry hop. At least that's been my experience. I've dry hopped for months at a time and never experienced it. OTOH, I've had grassy flavors from dry hopping just for a week or so with EKG, Fuggles and Willamettes.

Denny said:

The mythological "grassiness" is far more related to the variety of hop you use than the length of time you dry hop. At least that's been my experience. I've dry hopped for months at a time and never experienced it. OTOH, I've had grassy flavors from dry hopping just for a week or so with EKG, Fuggles and Willamettes.

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I second this, I get the grass from most of the English and english hybrids as well. Regardless of duration of DH.

Some even from select German varietals, Hallertauer for one.

bhatchable said:

I think though, and this is just a guess, that grassy flavors are harder to extract from pellets vice whole hops...

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because everything else is so much harder to extract from pellets?


I don't get the logic here.

I dry hop with whole hops in a bag inside my serving kegs and don't remove them until the keg kicks (sometimes 3-4 months later). It could be temp dependent though. It tastes grassy in the first 3 days, then never again.

++ long term dry hop

It's another of those myths that in general you will be drinking grass if you leave them too long in your beer. As others have pointed out it is the hop itself that seems to impart grassy or off flavors. Willamette for sure messed up one of my early dry hop attempts, recently I left an ounce of Saaz in the keg and had no problems whatsoever.

I have no opinion on grassy or not from a long dry hop. I do know however that a long dry hop will release more bitter polyphenols that can result in an overly bitter beer if one doesn't plan for it

Brew-boy said:

I will disagree with the above. There have been many podcast with famous brewers of IPA's. Most are under a weeks time. I would not go longer than a week.

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Where can one find these podcasts? I would enjoy a listen.

Brew Strong, Dry hopping show.
There have been others on the Session but I do not remember which one.

dunnright00 said:

These two statements seem to contradict. Is Pliny dry-hopped over this three week schedule?

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I am kegging a Pliny Clone tonight and I did a 3 week hop schedule, but I racked to a clean fermenter on top of new hops each week.

GilaMinumBeer said:

because everything else is so much harder to extract from pellets?


I don't get the logic here.

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I certainly wasn't stating it as fact. just reading through these forums it seems when one complains about grassy flavors in a "is my beer ruined" thread, that it just seems to happen in a shorter time frame with whole versus pellet hops. and with some more speculation, I'd say that it maybe has something to do with the way pellets are processed. They are pulverized and heat is applied in the process. chlorophyll denatures with heat, so in my mind that would leave a beer on pellets slightly less suceptable to grassy flavors in three weeks time compared to whole hops in the same time.

samc said:

++ long term dry hop
...
recently I left an ounce of Saaz in the keg and had no problems whatsoever.

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That's also reassuring to hear, I'm drying hopping with a 1/2 ounce of Saaz and a 1/2 ounce of Simco.

I'm in search of the awesome NON-grassy dryhop. Since i quit smoking, I can tell you which beer has been dryhopped almost every time. The most recent commercial beer that i tried and detected grassyness was Great Divide Titan IPA. I know some people at a local brewery that dryhops beers and every one seems grassy to me. On the other hand, I cant pick up grassyness in any of bell's, or Stone's beers and they do lots of dryhopping. How are they doing it? I just dryhopped an amarillo SMASH with two ounces for four days at 33 degrees and it came out just slightly grassy. I really hate what is happening. I may have to break down and just ask the pros.

oldschool said:

I'm in search of the awesome NON-grassy dryhop. Since i quit smoking, I can tell you which beer has been dryhopped almost every time. The most recent commercial beer that i tried and detected grassyness was Great Divide Titan IPA. I know some people at a local brewery that dryhops beers and every one seems grassy to me. On the other hand, I cant pick up grassyness in any of bell's, or Stone's beers and they do lots of dryhopping. How are they doing it? I just dryhopped an amarillo SMASH with two ounces for four days at 33 degrees and it came out just slightly grassy. I really hate what is happening. I may have to break down and just ask the pros.

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I'd say what you are looking for are the noble hops: Saaz, Tetnanger, Spalt, Hallertauer, a few others. These are characterized as being low in cohumulone and high in humulene, making them smooth dry-hoppers.

I use a lot of Saaz.

Read up on hops here.

BTW, I recently made a Amarillo-dryhopped pale ale. At first I was not liking the aroma, but 2 months later I find that it is not quite floral and even citrusy, and that I really like it. I am certain the character was much different when I opened the first bottles 2 months ago.

I'm not talking about noble hops. Brewers use american C hops and reduce the grassy aroma/flavor.

I heart this thread. I'm planning on leaving an ale with 3oz centennials in the carboy for 2.5 weeks. Hopefully that's not too long

I finaly had room in a Keg for my latest Belgian (brewed 2-6-10, 14day primary, then to 2ndary and dry hopped) So it was 8 weeks in 2ndary dryhopped.
It's carbing now. I didn't notice any grassy odors when racking to keg, but didn't tast it either. I had tasted it going into 2ndary and it was "SPECTACULAR"... I hope I didn't ruin it... well if I did, I'll just have to brew it again.

Thats the problem when I make 10 gal of something and can't drink it fast enough to open space on the Kegerator for the new beer.

passedpawn said:

I'd say what you are looking for are the noble hops: Saaz, Tetnanger, Spalt, Hallertauer, a few others. These are characterized as being low in cohumulone and high in humulene, making them smooth dry-hoppers.

I use a lot of Saaz.

Read up on hops here.

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WOW, Saaz is the "grassiest" dry hop I've ever used!

brewtastic said:

I heart this thread. I'm planning on leaving an ale with 3oz centennials in the carboy for 2.5 weeks. Hopefully that's not too long

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I leave 'em in the keg for months and it's not too long.