Dry Hop ruined beer...please help

So I think my dry hop ruined my beer. I made an IPA and dry hopped w/ 1.5oz of cascade pellets. The brew tasted good pre-dry hop, I racked it off the dry hops (were in a paint strainer bag w/ marbles), into the keg, and force carbed it. It only dry hopped for 6 days. It looks like I may have gotten some hop "dust" in my rack. Is there anyway to fix this at this stage in the game? The brew tastes AWFUL. I've made the recipe before, just tweaked it a little this time. I remember years ago trying a dry hop and getting hops in the bottles, and them having this same sort of flavor. The head on it looks dirty, and I can see some small floaties.

How/can I approach this to get it good/fixed if it is infact some hop dust? will it settle and pour out in the first few pints? I named this one after SWMBO, and now I have an awful tasting beer...sign of the times?

I guess I should add, that the flavor profile of the "ruined" beer, is very grassy, very earthy, and flat out not delicious. And after checking my notes, it was 2 oz of Cascade pellets.

I have had the same thing happen before. By the end of the first week in the keg all had settled and pulled through on the first and second pints. No worries.Cheers

Yeah, I'd give it some time to get those big particles settled and pulled out. You're probably tasting the hop particles rather than the flavor they contributed to the brew at this point.

Damn..I hope the 1/2 pound of hops I used settle out quick in my 5 gallon batch. I don't want no grass.

I've had good luck using gelatin to help settle the hop flakes. Normally only takes a day.

So it's good to know that you guys have seen this before. I brewed this thing over a month ago and have been looking forward to it. So what I"m describing, it sounds like I'm tasting the "hop dust"? I used gelatin during my dry hopping in the fridge @ 45 degree F. So I should give this a few days to settle out, then pour a couple pints, toss em, and move forward? Is it worth pulling out of the keg, back into the carboy, and adding gelatin? Or just let it sit now for a few days and toss the first few pints?

In regards to dry hopping...it's supposed to be the bees knees, but it's given me problems the 2 times I've tried it. Is it really worth the hassle?

Dry hopping is definitely worth the hassle, in my opinion. Sticking your nose over a pint of IPA and breathing in those gorgeous aromas is the best (well, close) part of any hoppy beer! I'm surprised you're getting so many flakes with your hops bagged, but just give it a bit and all should be fine and delicious!

I love hoppy beers but dry hopping can often put them over the top. I feel it is an overused method that can ruin a perfectly good beer. Back off on the quantity, use a hop bag to collect the debris, or just stick to late additions to the boil.

Try dry hopping with whole hops instead of pellets. I put 1-2 oz in a paint strainer bag, toss it in the keg & there it stays for the duration. Unbelievable aroma for IPAs, Ambers & Pales.

-d

I've only dry-hopped a couple of times, but my second attempt was more successful.

First time I racked to secondary, added pellets straight to carboy & they stayed there for a good 3 weeks or so. Then I racked to a keg. I had hop floaties but it was a decent beer.

The second attempt, which is a beer I'm drinking now, is much clearer. With that one, I added the pellets to primary, let them sit for 11 days, then racked to a keg. I then cold crashed the keg at like 35° for 4-5 days & this helped everything to settle out. I pulled all the hop floaties and sediment out with the first 1-2 pints.

Dry hopping is the primary advantage we have over the commercial brews, we get to drink our dry-hopped beers much fresher while they're still at their brightest.

When I dry hop, i only use whole cone hops, and i transfer from my primary (a bucket w/ a spigot) to another bucket w/ a spigot rather than a carboy and all the hops float up top. On bottling/kegging day I open the spigot let it all drain out until there's just a layer of hops at the bottom of a bucket, works like a charm.

I've only gotten my dry-hopped beers clear through cold storage, it takes some patience and fridge space.

Did you try straining the beer through your teeth? I've had good luck doing this in the past.

Northcalais40 said:

Did you try straining the beer through your teeth? I've had good luck doing this in the past.

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I like hop chunks, their like little juicy surprises.

Interesting. I dry hop the vast majority of my beers, particularly my IIPA's and love the results (qualifier - I am a hopeless hop head). I have gone back and forth between leaf (superior flavor but a hassle when transferring to the keg) and pellet (much easier to work with but not the same flavor profile). At this point we are using all pellet but we have a bunch of leaf in the freezer that will need be put to use but in the boil and not the dry hop.

Agreed on using whole hops for dry hopping. Pellets are too much of a hassle. Never had any issues racking with whole cones.

hillhousesawdustco said:

Dry hopping is definitely worth the hassle, in my opinion. Sticking your nose over a pint of IPA and breathing in those gorgeous aromas is the best (well, close) part of any hoppy beer! I'm surprised you're getting so many flakes with your hops bagged, but just give it a bit and all should be fine and delicious!

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Eric said:

Agreed on using whole hops for dry hopping. Pellets are too much of a hassle. Never had any issues racking with whole cones.

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To each his own. As much as I love the flavor + aroma profile provided by leaf, I find it to be more trouble than it is worth when dry hoping. Yes, I can put a paint strainer over my auto- siphon to keep the leaf from clogging it but that is a PITA. Washing yeast is much easier to say the least with pellet. I use leaf at knockout and to randalize but that is it these days.

Mikethepoolguy said:

I love hoppy beers but dry hopping can often put them over the top. I feel it is an overused method that can ruin a perfectly good beer. Back off on the quantity, use a hop bag to collect the debris, or just stick to late additions to the boil.

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Tsk tsk tsk. If anything more beers need to be dry hopped. I have used pellets and whole hops without any problems. It makes a good beer great. You sound like a bud drinker talking like that.

1brAPTbrewer said:

Tsk tsk tsk. If anything more beers need to be dry hopped. I have used pellets and whole hops without any problems. It makes a good beer great. You sound like a bud drinker talking like that.

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This is the very same reason that I have for putting an inordinate amount of hot chili peppers in every thing I cook. My wife is like," Those rice crispy treats are for the kids", and I'm all " they were good, now their great"

I've thought this in the past but a week or three of aging in the keg fixed it.

I've had this happen and it was just from adding the hops in the keg and trying to drink it within days. It needs a few weeks before the plant characteristics of the hops fade and you get the true flavor and aroma from them.