Dry-hopping question x3

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DavidSteel

DavidSteel

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Okay, so I've been dry-hopping with an oz each of cascade, centennial, and chinook for a Sierra Nevada (AG) Celebration Ale. They've only been in there 4 days and I took them out already because I will be gone for a week and I don't know what the effects will be if I left them in for 11 days instead of the recommended 5-7.

Question 1: Is this a good/safe move?

Question 2: I gently squeezed my hop-bag in hope to get some extra oils out of the hops. I think I've read that squeezing the hops is not a good thing to do, is that true and why is that?

Question 3: Since I removed the hop bag (paint strainer bag) and the hops had only been dry-hopping for 4 days, I decided to put the hops sludge/clumps into a plastic freezer bag and placed them in the freezer. My questions is: can these be used as a 60/90/FWH addition since they have barely been utilized? (sub question: if so, how much would you use? Stick to the same measurements (i.e. 1oz)?).

Thanks in advance
 
Bumping in hope to get some answers, even if only an expert can answer them.
 
I usually just dry hop for 7-10 days, but in other discussions on HBT and other message boards, people don't seem to have any negative effects from dry hopping for two weeks, sometimes a bit longer. Personally, I wouldn't go longer than 14 days just to be on the safe side. Take than information and decide on your own what you want to do from here. I would have just left the hops in, but since you have taken them out and frozen them, I don't know what the best course of action would be at this point.
 
Generally, I dry-hop for 7-10 days at most and discard the spent hops. I'm sure they might be fine to re-use but they are not going to add as much to the next batch as this one. Just buy new and go with something that you know works
 
DavidSteel said:
Okay, so I've been dry-hopping with an oz each of cascade, centennial, and chinook for a Sierra Nevada (AG) Celebration Ale. They've only been in there 4 days and I took them out already because I will be gone for a week and I don't know what the effects will be if I left them in for 11 days instead of the recommended 5-7.

Question 1: Is this a good/safe move?

Question 2: I gently squeezed my hop-bag in hope to get some extra oils out of the hops. I think I've read that squeezing the hops is not a good thing to do, is that true and why is that?

Question 3: Since I removed the hop bag (paint strainer bag) and the hops had only been dry-hopping for 4 days, I decided to put the hops sludge/clumps into a plastic freezer bag and placed them in the freezer. My questions is: can these be used as a 60/90/FWH addition since they have barely been utilized? (sub question: if so, how much would you use? Stick to the same measurements (i.e. 1oz)?).

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

1. It won't hurt anything....might not give as much aroma but definatly not going to hurt anything. I dry hopped a lager for 30 days without any issues, and I regularly dry hop my ales for a min. of 14 days.

2. I am not sure about this one. I know whenever I dry hop, the hops turn into a mush and I don't see the harm in squeezing them....maybe some of the hop particles got into the wort, but still I don't see anyharm.

3. Absolutly no clue. Personally I wouldn't resuse them. Hops aren't that expensive and I would bet that the majority of the oils were already leeched out of them.
 
1) You might not get the full aroma benefits from only 4 days of dry hopping, but pulling them out early certainly won't hurt anything. I typically put my dry hops in after the first week of fermentation, and leave them in for 2-3 weeks until I bottle.

2) Sqeezing the juice out of the bag of hops is fine AFAIK. You might be thinking about squeezing a bag of steeping grains in a partial mash, which is not reccomended.

3) Never thought to re-use dry-hops, so I have no idea. Try it out and let us know how it works.
 
I think I've decided that when I get home in 6 days, I'll toss in a good .25oz of each hop and let it sit for an additional 5-7 days. I may save the frozen hop-sludge for a future brewing experiment with leftover grains when I run out of my bulk grains. Should be interesting.
 

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