Dry Hopping a light/session beer

Well, I brewed a light beer (on purpose!) the other day. After 2 weeks in primary, one in secondary and two weeks in the bottle, it is ready. Nice and crisp, good carbonation, reasonable taste. However, it is still a little watery. According to the SWMBO, it is 'a good replacement for the big commercial lagers; Bud Light or Miller Light'.

However, even with the anti-hop person that she is, she suggested that a little extra hoppiness might help the flavor develop more. So, given that I have never dry hopped, I am look for suggestions/help. Who knows, maybe this can be the first step in getting her to love highly hopped beers ('Honey, pass the Hopslam please.').

The recipe is as follows:

3# Extra Light DME
1# Cara-Pils/Detrine
8oz American Munich
6oz Dextrose
--
1oz Cascade @30
1/2 tab Whirlfloc @15
.5oz Cascade @5
--
Nottingham Yeast
--

I am thinking of adding another .5oz of Cascade in secondary for 5-7 days. Do you think this will help the nose and give a little more flavor? Another change I am thinking of is changing the 30 minute hop addition to 45. I also plan to split the next batch and rack on top of orange zest for 7 days in secondary to give a bit of a citrus flavor.

I want this beer to be easily enjoyed after a day working outside (it has been dubbed a 'lawnmower' beer). I also hope to nail the formulation early enough to have a big batch ready for the family reunion in August. :rockin:

Thanks!

You could try a little dry hopping. This looks like a cream ale or a blonde ale, and they often aren't dry hopped. I think your plan to use a 1/2 ounce of Cascade makes sense, if you decide to dry hop.

I think its hard to taste our beers, especially more delicate beers, when they are warm and flat and predict what they will taste like after bottle conditioning.

Changing the 30 min addition to 45 mins will increase the bitterness (a bit) and reduce the hop flavor (a bit). I'd say, if you want more FLAVOR w/out additional BITTERNESS, change the .5 @ 5 min to 1.0 @ 5 mins. If you want a good, strong AROMA, I'd dry hop. Cascade has a nice, clean, fruity smell. I love it. Another one that has a much stronger aroma is Centennial. It is a much stronger, citrusy smell. If you have a LHBS close by, then go ask to smell the different hops. The Centernnial might get you the scent you want w/out adding zest (but I love adding zest too).

As for the dry hop quantity, I like a good strong aroma, so I use 1oz of Cascade for ~7 days. I like 1 oz of Centennial too, but it might be too strong if you're looking for a bit less. Go with .5oz in that case.

Caveat...These are MY personal preferences. Go experiment... --AND-- Pappers is right on with the "This looks like a cream ale or a blonde ale, and they often aren't dry hopped" statement, but it sounds like you're more concerned w/ flavor than specific BJCP style.

Thanks to both of you. I modeled it after the Blonde, and Hopville keeps complaining that it doesn't have enough IBUs. But yes, more importantly, I am looking for a specific flavor profile: a light, quaffable and BMC crowd enjoyable beer.

I think I might adjust the 30 minute to a 40 minute and then dryhop with a 1/2 ounce to start. I like the idea of playing with the recipe that is pretty good to begin with to understand effects. I will then probably split after a primary and see what affect the orange peel has. I like the idea of a fairly citrusy beer. I will probably keep to Cascade to keep the changes simple, but may switch up to Centennial later (used that in another beer and it smelled pretty good).

Unfortunately, my LHBS doesn't have loose hops, so I can't go smell 'em (wish they would).

T

doesn't have loose hops??? really??? do they just sell them in pre-determined packet sizes?

Yep, that I have seen. I can ask if they have sniff-o-samples, but not sure. They come in 1oz sealed packages.

that blows...

I'm lucky. My LHBS has a freezer with sealed containers. They just pour out the required amount by weight, dump it in a sleeve of plastic and seal it off.

ThePearsonFam said:

that blows...

I'm lucky. My LHBS has a freezer with sealed containers. They just pour out the required amount by weight, dump it in a sleeve of plastic and seal it off.

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Sounds like what my dealer does..:fro:
just joking, hah. You're very lucky to have that option though. Wish my Local Store would get on it and do this. BOTH of them! *shakes head*

Honestly, it's great. I have changed my recipe on the fly based on the smell of a hop.

Pappers_ said:

You could try a little dry hopping. This looks like a cream ale or a blonde ale, and they often aren't dry hopped. I think your plan to use a 1/2 ounce of Cascade makes sense, if you decide to dry hop.

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+1 to that. Brother you need some hops. Also, consider dropping that dextrose; it doesn't do anything for the flavor profile. Swap it out for some pils malt so you match your original recipe's gravity.

I would also try your beer in another 4+ wks to see if it has changed much. Also adding a little honeymalt,oatmalt or lots of others really, depending what flavor you are going for. I think judging a beer at 2 weeks and deciding this is as good as it gets? Isnt always the case.