Beginner Dry Hopping Mistake!

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Jeffries55

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Ok, so I made two five gallon batches of beer over the weekend (one hefeweissen, the other an IPA, my second and third batches ever). This is my second time doing the IPA recipe, but this time I decided to dry hop in the primary fermenter. I don't plan on doing a secondary at the time, so with that aside, I've done a little reading after pitching the yeast and realized I made a rookie mistake!

I added 2 oz of centennial and 1 oz of chinook right after i pitched the yeast... it appears most (or all) of the aroma will be gone, will the flavor be too? Do I run the risk now of getting grassy flavors from the hops if it takes more than 10 days to ferment? Has anyone else made the same mistake, and if so, how did your beer turn out? I am contemplating adding more of the same hops after the kraussen falls back down.

Should I be worried that this will ruin my beer (it was very tasty last time!), or just note the correct way to do it and brew it again soon!?
 
I've never made this mistake,so I'm not sure you'll get grassy notes. but,on the other hand,when the yeast starts to settle,the hop oils coating them go to the bottom too. So that might save you with the grassy notes. Nothing to do now but wait & see if it at least ferments out to FG range.
 
Ferment it out and rack it to a secondary and dry hop again. I accidentally let an ipa go for 3-4 weeks on a dry hop and had zero grassy flavors. You will be fine
 
If the hops are in a bag then you can pull them out in about 7 days - after fermentation. If they are not then transfer to a secondary in 10 days or so. I doubt it will take more than 10 days to ferment, but it might.

You shouldn't lose everything the hops will impart, just some of it. It will still have an impact on both aroma and flavor, just not as much and slightly different (not in a bad way). After transferring to secondary, you should hit it with more dry hops and you should get a really nice IPA that way. Most people don't put hops in for the fermentation because it's looked at as being kind of wasteful, but it's not a bad thing (with the exception of leaving your beer on them for too long).
 
It's bad because the hop oils coat the yeast cells. so when the yeasties go dormant & settle out,the hop oils coating them go to the bottom too.
 
I pitched the hop pellets right into the wort; I don't have any more fermenters (or centennial/chinook hops), and the brew store is 25 miles away, so i think i'll ride this one out all the way through fermentation and strain the hops out when i empty it into the bottling bucket.

@StPug, it's good to know it shouldn't completely ruin my beer! As I am fairly new to brewing, i'll be quite happy if it turns out as good as my first batch! I've already improved my efficiency quite a bit from the first brew, using a proper mash tun & sparge; The OG was 10 points higher this time, it sucks that it takes a month before you can drink it!
 
Don't strain them out, you run the risk of oxidation if you do that. Just let them settle out and rack above them. Plenty of people have hops go into their primary from the boil kettle so its nothing to worry about
 
if you can dry hop it again. I regularly do two (or three!) dry hops, the first one being about 2-3 days after fermentation begins. I throw them right in there on top of the krausen. Dry hopping during this stage will give you different flavor and aroms than dry hopping post-fermentation, which is why i like to do both!
 
I would not worry about it.

Yes you will lose some hop oils but not all of it will bleed away and you never know it might work out great.

Instead of worring about it get ready to brew your next batch and do it the way you originally planned.

I asked a local brew master here about how long I should leave my hop in and he said 3 to 10 days or more than 30.

It was his opinon that most of the benifit was in the first 10 days and to get more out of them it took over 30 days.

DPB
 
Don't worry about it.

You'll lose some of the hop oils but it might still taste good.

I did that the first time I made my IIPA and it came out fantastic! Then the next time I dry hopped after fermentation and it wasnt as good. So you never know.

Let me know how it turns out.
 
unionrdr said:
It's bad because the hop oils coat the yeast cells. so when the yeasties go dormant & settle out,the hop oils coating them go to the bottom too.

I don't see how this is any different than doing a hop stand. You will get different qualities than a dry hop, but it's all good.
 
Just a guess here but this doesn't sound too different that adding hops at flameout. You shouldn't get any grassy notes but the aroma we be substantial less than if you waited.
 
whew,boy my heads swimmin from multitasking & tryin to keep my brain straight on here. I'm gettin to old for this shizz. :D
It's one of those brewing things that are commonly known/thought of. Lupulins (ie oils) come out of the hops to give flavor & aroma. With all the yeast cells still in suspension,dry hop oils coat the yeast cells & go to the bottom with them. Idk exactly how much of them do,however,as it would seem to vary by the actual numbers of yeast cells coming into contact with the lupulins from the hops.
 
unionrdr said:
whew,boy my heads swimmin from multitasking & tryin to keep my brain straight on here. I'm gettin to old for this shizz. :D
It's one of those brewing things that are commonly known/thought of. Lupulins (ie oils) come out of the hops to give flavor & aroma. With all the yeast cells still in suspension,dry hop oils coat the yeast cells & go to the bottom with them. Idk exactly how much of them do,however,as it would seem to vary by the actual numbers of yeast cells coming into contact with the lupulins from the hops.

Lupulins? Didn't they attack Gulliver?
 
Yeah,that'll teach him to mess with their brewery! lolz. I hope that was a lil clearer of an explanation. I need a beer.
 
How about RDWHAHB (yes, I know it's a little after 8 in the morning. Can't drink all day if you don't start early). It's not going to be the same as a "regular" dry hop, but assuming sanitation/basics were all good, I'd be willing to bet it'll be a darn good beer.
 
Don't worry about it...

That's what I decided to do. I was worried a few hours after i pitched the yeast & hops, but even if it didn't turn out, it is a good learning experience.

I did that the first time I made my IIPA and it came out fantastic!

I just checked the specific gravity, and it hasn't even been a full 7 days and it's already at 1.012 (O.G was 1.060).

It's not going to be the same as a "regular" dry hop, but assuming sanitation/basics were all good, I'd be willing to bet it'll be a darn good beer.

Since it appears fermentation is complete, i sanitized a measuring cup and took a sample into a snifter glass. It has a pretty strong grapefruit nose, and tastes like grapefruit! This is interesting, because the last time I did this recipe exactly the same, minus the dry hops, and last time before carbonation it almost tasted like honey mead. It will be interesting to see how the flavor changes once there is 2-3 weeks of bottle conditioning (I'm aiming to serve for friends memorial day weekend, and this is a week ahead of my planned schedule!).

IMG_20130505_140550.jpg
 
Yeah, I didn't realize the thread had three pages.
The color does look good, has it cleared a bit more since the last picture?

I'd be interested in your hop bill also. We've been experimenting with a PA trying to maximize the Tangerine/Grapefruit qualities and have had pretty consistent results. We've got a PA in secondary right now dry hoping with Chinook and Cascade.

Anyway, let us know how it turned out after bottling . . .
 
The color does look good, has it cleared a bit more since the last picture?

I had quite a bit more trub/yeast in the bottles this time around, but it mostly settled at the bottom so as long as you don't drink bottoms up, it's all good! It was in the stone bottle in this picture, I was drinking a founders all day beforehand (if you like grapefruit, this beer is the bomb).

IMG_20130519_173233.jpg


I'd be interested in your hop bill also.

I used a combination of centennial and Chinook in the last 15 minutes (of a 90 minute brew) for aroma, and added the same amount of hops to the fermenter. I used about an oz of two other hops at the beginning for bittering.


We've been experimenting with a PA trying to maximize the Tangerine/Grapefruit qualities and have had pretty consistent results. We've got a PA in secondary right now dry hoping with Chinook and Cascade.

It seems the common theme is chinook and some combination of other hops based on your hop bill and mine.

Anyway, let us know how it turned out after bottling . . .

It turned out awesome! Since I didnt use any darker malts (just a 2-row brewers malt), it turned out very grapefruity with little malt taste. I've discovered i'm not a fan of IPA's that are extremely malty, the hops should do all the work!
 
I dryhopped my recent pale ale for 3 weeks when I wasn't able to bottle with school going on and it had grassy flavors/ leftover funkiness to it. wasn't bad or anything, but didn't compare to my last batch of pale ale.

If it were me, I would rack to secondary within two weeks and add more hops then bottle within two weeks.
 
it will be all good dude. I did the same thing to lol but I had mine in a bag and pulled it out after 4 days ( I have the new cooper's kit ) and my OG were all good to . my aroma and flavour were good to bottle it yesterday this was my first brew too . did my 2nd brew yesterday and did a hop tea this time.
 
As a beginner if the only thing you have to worry about is when to dry hop, your doing pretty good!!
 
Thanks for the post. I plan to make my first AG batch this weekend. I'm all about hoppy beers so this post was very informational. I see your grill cover so.. GO PENN STATE! :rockin:
 
I accidentally dry hopped for about 4 months this summer, as I was in a motorcycle accident and unable to keg. I kegged one carboy, and re dry hopped the other for ten days. Both were excellent.
 
I wouldn't worry about it. You really have to make some huge mistakes to make a beer that is undrinkable. I've dry hopped in the primary and secondary and both came out good.
 
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