Dry hop my English IPA?

I'm currently fermenting an English IPA in which I used EKG, UK Fuggle, and willamette for the flavor/aroma additions. (.5oz each @ 15min and .33oz each @ 5 min). I used target and challenger to bitter @ 60 & 30 min. BrewPal calculates my ibu's at 52.
Now, I love good hop aroma in my IPAs, but i also know an English style is much more balanced that the American IPAs I've made before. So I'm on the fence about whether or not to dry hop.
Just thought I'd throw that out there to see what others had to say about their experience brewing English IPAs.

I've used EKG, Fuggle, Willamette for dryhopping English IPAs with good results. You'll never get the hop nose of a PNW IPA, however, with those hops.

I just kegged my East India Pale Ale (recipe from AHA Big Brew Day) I used 3.5 oz of EKG in the boil and 3.5 oz of EKG to dry hop for 7 days. Tasted pretty good going into the keg.

I'd say taste it after fementation, if you think it could use some more hop flavor/aroma do some dry hopping. If it tastes good, leave it alone.

Do it. Some English ales do and some don't; if it's your preference to add a little more hop character then give it a try. I have a book of English ale recipes and many of those call for a few cones,generally of EKG for dry hopping.
Like david_42 said though, you won't get as much out of English hops as you would US ones.

-Andy

swfc68 said:

Like david_42 said though, you won't get as much out of English hops as you would US ones.

-Andy

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Oh, I wouldn't be expecting the big waft of hop aroma like ya get from american IPAs or APAs. Just maybe some subtle earthy and floral aromas from EKG and fuggles.

I've had English IPA's in the UK that were as equally hoppy as those found in the PNW - though those examples were dry-hopped in the cask. Actually, Fuller's ESB is often dry hopped in the cask and it is as hoppy as many APA's. Throw enough EKG hops in a dry hop and you'll get a very strong citrus (orange marmalade) and flowery hop aroma.

bierhaus15 said:

I've had English IPA's in the UK that were as equally hoppy as those found in the PNW - though those examples were dry-hopped in the cask. Actually, Fuller's ESB is often dry hopped in the cask and it is as hoppy as many APA's. Throw enough EKG hops in a dry hop and you'll get a very strong citrus (orange marmalade) and flowery hop aroma.

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Oh man, I can't wait to get a shot at fullers ESB on cask. Gotta be one of my all time faves, and I've only had the bottled version. I've heard it's decadent on cask.
back on point, my IPA will be 2 weeks in primary on Friday. I'm gonna take a gravity reading and a taste and see what I think of some EKG and maybe fuggles for a dry hop. I do love what those two can do in a dry hop.
:rockin:
I love beer!

Definitely dry hop. I brought a sample of my English IPA to some experienced beer judges and they all said my IPA wasn't floral enough. I told them I dry hopped with 1oz of EKG and they suggested I bump that up to 2 or even 3oz to get better aroma. English IPAs are usually a bit less bitter and a bit maltier than their American counterpart, but the aroma should be prevalent.

So after 3+ weeks in primary and a scare when we hit 100* in the twin cities last week, the beer is at FG and beautifully clear. Tastes as good as I expected for a warm, flat ale. Crisp, fruity and dry with some nice mellow hop flavor. But after tireless research , I've come to the conclusion that the 'floral' aroma is lacking in my IPA, so I'm going to rack the beer into secondary and dry hop it with willamette and/or Fuggle pellets for about a week. I can't wait to taste the finished product!
:rockin:

So I ended up dry hopping with one oz each of EKG and uk fuggle for 8 1/2-9 days, it's been in bottles for two and a half weeks and I caved in and tried one.... Still a bit green, of course, but man am I glad I dry hopped it!! I got the earthy/spicy/dry floral aroma I expected, but to my surprise I got a nice apple-y hop aroma too! It was there in the hop flavors as well. Very pleasant! Similar to the apple-y flavor and aroma of something like Sam'l Smith's India Ale!! I'm anxiously waiting for the rest of the batch to finish bottle conditioning.
:rockin::rockin:<--- my wife and I after sampling a bottle last night

I think that apple flavour is probably from the yeast. (and likely related to the high temps.)

soundsandsuds said:

I think that apple flavour is probably from the yeast. (and likely related to the high temps.)

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It had already been in primary for two weeks when it warmed up. And the fermentor was in the high 70s for only hours before I got it cooled off. And it sat another two weeks at 67* before dry hopping in secondary @ 70*. I s'pose the flavor could be from the yeast, but it seems to be more of a hop flavor than an off flavor.

Edit: it's definitely not a cider-y taste. I've been drinking on this now that it's carbed up and in it's prime. It's a slight hint of crisp apple aroma, not so much of a flavor.