dry hopping

hey, I am making my 3rd batch of extract from a kit, it's an IPA. I was thinking about dry hopping when I go to my secondary. This is a dumb, really noob question since I have never strayed from my kit recipes, but do I just go to my local brew shop, by some hops, and toss them into my secondary? I just don't want to mess anything up on 5 gallons of good beer... And how much would I use? I love a good, hoppy IPA.

aardvark830 said:

This is a dumb, really noob question since I have never strayed from my kit recipes, but do I just go to my local brew shop, by some hops, and toss them into my secondary?

Click to expand...

Yes, that's what I do.

Actually, I like to put the hops in first and rack the beer into it. The hops tend to float at first and I like to soak them well. Some people use bags for their hops, because it makes it easier to rack off of them. I don't, because I have more trouble getting the damn bag full of hops into and out of the carboy that I do with racking off of them when I'm finished.

Hops (especially leaf hops) will "soak up" some beer, so you may find that you're bottling only 4.5 gallons at the end. To my mind, it's worth it!

I like to use about an ounce of hops for a week. That's a general guideline. In my DFH 60 clone, I use 1 ounce of amarillo and .5 ounce of simcoe.

What's your recipe? We can help you figure out a good hop variety to dryhop with, and give you an idea of how much.

You are correct. Simply add the hops to the secondary and rack onto them. OR you can put the hops in a hop bag, this helps minimize sediment. How much you use is up to you. I'd say at least a half ounce to an ounce.

If you bought a kit, it should have come with the hops you should be using for your dry hopping.

I dry hopped for the first time on my last batch and threw pellets into the secondary. However, I ended up with little hop particles floating in my secondary and bottling bucket. For the most part, they didn't make it into the final beer, although said beer is technically still conditioning.

JohnnyO said:

If you bought a kit, it should have come with the hops you should be using for your dry hopping.

Click to expand...

the kit recipe didn't call for dry hopping, it's a little addition I am doing on my own.

aardvark830 said:

the kit recipe didn't call for dry hopping, it's a little addition I am doing on my own.

Click to expand...

I love dryhopped beers, so that sounds great!

YooperBrew said:

What's your recipe? We can help you figure out a good hop variety to dryhop with, and give you an idea of how much.

Click to expand...

its a True Brew Maestro Series India Pale Ale
unhopped amber malt extract - 2 cans
crystal grain - 1 lb
pilgrim hop pellets - 1 oz
first gold hop pellets - 1 oz
heavy toast oak chips - 1/2 oz
ale yeast - 1 pack

aardvark830 said:

its a True Brew Maestro Series India Pale Ale
unhopped amber malt extract - 2 cans
crystal grain - 1 lb
pilgrim hop pellets - 1 oz
first gold hop pellets - 1 oz
heavy toast oak chips - 1/2 oz
ale yeast - 1 pack

Click to expand...

Wow- believe it or not, I've never used either of those hops varieties! I aussme that the first gold hops are the finishing hops, and the pilgrim hops are the bittering hops.

Since that's an English IPA, I'd either dryhop with East Kent Goldings, or crystal hops. Possibly fuggles. English IPAs tend to be less hoppy than their American counterparts, and I'm no expert on them. But I'd stay away from the American "C" hops, because they would overpower your malt bill and not really be appropriate for the English IPA.

YooperBrew said:

Wow- believe it or not, I've never used either of those hops varieties! I aussme that the first gold hops are the finishing hops, and the pilgrim hops are the bittering hops.

Since that's an English IPA, I'd either dryhop with East Kent Goldings, or crystal hops. Possibly fuggles. English IPAs tend to be less hoppy than their American counterparts, and I'm no expert on them. But I'd stay away from the American "C" hops, because they would overpower your malt bill and not really be appropriate for the English IPA.

Click to expand...

lol, i didn't know there was a difference between English and American IPAs. I'll need to make a real strong one next I guess. But you're right, the first gold are the finishers. Thanks for the help though!

Well, there isn't any requirement to stick strictly to guidelines- after all, it's your beer! But I find that sometimes mixing styles can make a "muddy" flavored beer, or be kinda weird.

If you want to learn more about beer styles, and what makes a beer that style, check out the BJCP style guidelines: BJCP Style Guidelines

I like to read over the guidelines to see what it is that I like about certain beer styles. Some styles are "cleaner", some are "citrusy", some are "malty", etc. They give some commercial examples, so you can taste the beer and see if you can pick up those flavors. It'll help you learn more about different beer styles. I mean, drink beer and consider it "research". That's a win/win to me!

Wow!! Three batches in, and you're already tinkering with recipes. I'm pretty impressed. I'm such a "stick by the rules" guy that it's going to take me a little longer before I venture off the beaten path (I'm going on my 5th batch now).

Good for you!!

JohnnyO said:

Wow!! Three batches in, and you're already tinkering with recipes. I'm pretty impressed. I'm such a "stick by the rules" guy that it's going to take me a little longer before I venture off the beaten path (I'm going on my 5th batch now).

Good for you!!

Click to expand...

lol, i usually am, too. i'm going out of my comfort zone a little, which is why I am coming on here with questions first. I can't just dive right in.

Kits are great, but you can research recipes and make what you want. And tweak the recipe! or blend!

IPA's too hoppy, and Pale Ales not hoppy enough? split the difference.

I recently ran up on a "Black Pale Ale" - commercially brewed! - not in style, but awesome beer!

Shed that comfort zone skin and join the dark side....make up something from scratch!
what an awesome hobby!

Hang Glider said:

Kits are great, but you can research recipes and make what you want. And tweak the recipe! or blend!

IPA's too hoppy, and Pale Ales not hoppy enough? split the difference.

I recently ran up on a "Black Pale Ale" - commercially brewed! - not in style, but awesome beer!

Shed that comfort zone skin and join the dark side....make up something from scratch!
what an awesome hobby!

Click to expand...

yeah, that's my goal for sure. I can't wait to make my own recipes, I just have no idea where to start. I think when I get more experience, and maybe after i switch to all grain, I'll try recipes from scratch.

Hang Glider said:

Kits are great, but you can research recipes and make what you want. And tweak the recipe! or blend!

IPA's too hoppy, and Pale Ales not hoppy enough? split the difference.

I recently ran up on a "Black Pale Ale" - commercially brewed! - not in style, but awesome beer!

Shed that comfort zone skin and join the dark side....make up something from scratch!
what an awesome hobby!

Click to expand...

+1 to that, download Beersmith's free trial and then purchase it if you like it, it will make putting recipes together a cinch.

I made two "kits" before researching recipes, and formulating my own concoctions, experimenting is fun, and as long as you are researching tried and true recipes, and begin to have a decent understanding of which grains add what flavors and characteristics, it becomes much more fun.

I am also making an English style IPA, this is my first batch and I wasted no time tweaking the recipe to my liking. Were lucky to have this forum and some quick searches will give you the knowledge to undertake anything. I wasn't happy with a basic IPA and decided to add some extra Hops, as well as increase the ABV and overall bitterness. You should try out Beer Calculus . homebrew recipe calculator. it is a great way to mess with your recipes. And although kits may be great at first I found it cheaper to go to Morebeer.com and shop their sales. They always have Hops on sale as well as different exracts, just buy them and figure out what to brew later. just my $.02!!! anyways good luck with the Brew.

TheDrunkChef said:

I am also making an English style IPA, this is my first batch and I wasted no time tweaking the recipe to my liking. Were lucky to have this forum and some quick searches will give you the knowledge to undertake anything. I wasn't happy with a basic IPA and decided to add some extra Hops, as well as increase the ABV and overall bitterness. You should try out Beer Calculus . homebrew recipe calculator. it is a great way to mess with your recipes. And although kits may be great at first I found it cheaper to go to Morebeer.com and shop their sales. They always have Hops on sale as well as different exracts, just buy them and figure out what to brew later. just my $.02!!! anyways good luck with the Brew.

Click to expand...

Neat little recipe calculator. Not as detailed as some, but VERY simple to use. Thanks for the post.

I dry hopped my first batch last week, I used about 1/2 oz of cascade into the secondary carboy. They are still floating on top of the beer, will they eventually settle to the bottom? Does that tell me it is time to bottle?

cwlodyka said:

I dry hopped my first batch last week, I used about 1/2 oz of cascade into the secondary carboy. They are still floating on top of the beer, will they eventually settle to the bottom? Does that tell me it is time to bottle?

Click to expand...

No- you can tell when to bottle only by hydrometer readings.

I like to dryhop about 7-10 days. I find that longer isn't necessarily better. They might not sink, but usually most of them do. I usually use my racking cane and start siphoning from the middle of the carboy, to avoid the trub on the bottom and the hops floating on the top. Sometimes it helps to use a sanitized mesh bag over the racking cane, to avoid sucking up too much of the hops debris.

I would buy an ounce of kent goldings and throw them straight into the fermenter 5 days from bottling and after your fermentation is finished

aardvark830 said:

its a True Brew Maestro Series India Pale Ale
unhopped amber malt extract - 2 cans
crystal grain - 1 lb
pilgrim hop pellets - 1 oz
first gold hop pellets - 1 oz
heavy toast oak chips - 1/2 oz
ale yeast - 1 pack

Click to expand...

hey, for this recipe, my wife asked the home brew store guy for some hops that would be good for dry hopping an English IPA. He gave her an ounce of Cascade hops, but said to only use half of them. I was thinking about just tossing the whole package into my secondary and racking the beer on top of them, then bottle in 2 weeks. Does that sound about right? Or should I stick with half?

aardvark830 said:

hey, for this recipe, my wife asked the home brew store guy for some hops that would be good for dry hopping an English IPA. He gave her an ounce of Cascade hops, but said to only use half of them. I was thinking about just tossing the whole package into my secondary and racking the beer on top of them, then bottle in 2 weeks. Does that sound about right? Or should I stick with half?

Click to expand...

just a bump here, I was hoping to do this today... thanks

2 weeks sounds a bit much. Im dry hopping for the first time today and after all the research found that 7 days is about right. I'm doing an American Pale Ale with about 44IBU's (Mirror Pond Clone) and am using a full ounce of dry Cascade at 7.8AAu's (although I don't think the AAU's matter for dry hopping since all you're adding is aroma and perhaps taste). I'd do a full ounce for 7 days seeming as though it is an IPA

aardvark830 said:

hey, for this recipe, my wife asked the home brew store guy for some hops that would be good for dry hopping an English IPA. He gave her an ounce of Cascade hops, but said to only use half of them. I was thinking about just tossing the whole package into my secondary and racking the beer on top of them, then bottle in 2 weeks. Does that sound about right? Or should I stick with half?

Click to expand...

If I am not mistaken, Cascade is out of style for an English IPA. Too citrusy. So I wouldn't add too much. EKG might have been better.

Ingredients: Pale ale malt (well-modified and suitable for single-temperature infusion mashing); English hops; English yeast that can give a fruity or sulfury/minerally profile. Refined sugar may be used in some versions. High sulfate and low carbonate water is essential to achieving a pleasant hop bitterness in authentic Burton versions, although not all examples will exhibit the strong sulfate character.

Click to expand...

BioBeing said:

If I am not mistaken, Cascade is out of style for an English IPA. Too citrusy. So I wouldn't add too much. EKG might have been better.

Click to expand...

yeah, I know, but I just moved, and I don't think there is a home brew store here. she picked these up when she went back home 4 hours ago...

ha! found a home brew store! ok, I'll swing by there before I do this. Thanks for the help guys!