Help me out here. Grassy taste from dry hops?

Ok I am probably going to kick myself in the balls for mentioning this online, but I have to say either, I am all fk’ed up or I am just not a big fan of dry hopping (or maybe both).

I have brewed 2 separate batches of 2 different beers. I dry hopped 6 gallons of each and in both cases they tasted almost grassy. I am talking like YUK!!!
I know more info, more info….

Batch #1 a Honey Amarillo IPA a single hop Amarillo brew that I dry hopped 5 gallons for 6 days @ 36-37 deg F in the keg w/ 1 oz of Amarillo pellets

Batch #2 Lake Walk Pale Ale that I dry hopped 6 gallons for 14 days w/ ½ oz Cent and ½ oz Amarillo whole hops in the secondary @ 66 deg F

They both had a very similar taste, both very grassy
Batch 1 is several months old; batch 2 is 1 month old.
In both cases the “non” dry hopped portion of the batch was KILLER! So I ask WTF am I doing something wrong here? I have just jumped on the I and IIPA bandwagon I am liking what I have been doing except the dry hops.

Ya Ya Ya I know, Duh….. “Dumb a$$ don’t dry hop” I am just curious WTF are you all so gung ho over? I cant seem to get the grassy taste to subside.


Some advise please…..

Cheers
JJ

I had this same experience on the only beer I dry hopped.... I hope someone here has some good answers.

I am not a big fan of Amarillo hops for dry hopping. I know this will sound like blasphemy to some . I have dry hopped 10 of my 16 batches using Chinook, Amarillo, Simcoe, Cascade, Centennial, and blends. Favorite beer so far has been all Centenial 2HA clone. Your tastes may differ. Lots of people like Amarillo for Dry hop.

Try something like Cascade or Centennial before you give up on Dry hopping. The latest BYO has an article from someone at Stone who says hop flavor and aroma peak at 5 - 7 days of dry hopping IIRC. I think Stone IPA recipe calls for Centennial dry hops. Try a commercial version before you do another 5 gallons.

Amarillo will give you a grassy flavor. There is a local micro here that has an IPA they make that is dry-hopped with Amarillo. It can be a bit off-putting if you do not like that grassy, hop flavor. I like it. I am not sure how extreme yours may have gone but, I think it is a matter of preference.

s3n8 is right. Cascade and Centennial are better hops for dry-hopping. Cascade will give you a pineapple like aroma, and centennial will be citric but also with more of a bite than the cascade.

I just brewed an all Centennial IIPA that I dry-hopped for 2 weeks with 1 ounce pellets in the secondary. It is crash-cooling right now and I am debating whether or not I want to dry-hop the keg too.

I know the taste you mean and for me, it's mellowed out about 2 weeks afterwards. I dry hop in the keg right before I put it on the gas and leave it in until it kicks. The worst day is the second day and it gets better from there.

If you want the aroma effects without the grassiness, a large flameout addition is the next best thing to running a hopback.

I recommend that you try exclusively whole hops for dry hopping. Also try getting Cascade. Dry hop for NO MORE than two weeks.

Right now I'm drinking an amber beer made with 8oz of cascade. 2 of which were done at 0 minutes and 4oz dry. The other 2oz were at 60 & 30 min. (all home grown)

The flavor and aroma is fabulous. The hoppy aroma and flavor soften with age.

ive dry hopped with cascade and the flavor mellows after a bit. AFter the first month sitting in bottle it blended flawlessly (i dryhopped edworts haus Pale ale) and ended up being an incredible beer

This taste isn't going to mellow at this point, at least in the IPA, heck I brewed that 3 months ago or so.
I do have a hop back that I built directly into my system, which I have yet to put into action.
I am not going to give up! I can master this (with your help). If you all were going to say this hop would be the best for dry hopping without adding ANY grassiness, what would that hop be? I am hearing Cent. But what about others? We all know what Cascade does. (SNPA)
I am thinking of a "hop water" test to see what these hops taste like after a dry hop addition. Would that work? Or do we need all the components that are in the beer to bring out the aroma and flavor in the hops?
Thanks for all the replies at this point
Cheers
JJ

You might check out this podcast. They mention grassy flavors but I was listening at work so I didn't give it my full attention:

The Brewing Network.com - Brew Strong: Brew Strong: 12-08-08 Dry Hopping

I had the same experience when I dry hopped with Amarillo. Not so with Cascade or Centennial.

A brew buddy suggested taking the hops out of the keg when the flavor gets right. Now I put the hops in a bag with a shot glass for weight. Tie some fishing line to the bag and use a hose clamp to secure the line to the relief valve post on the underside of the keg lid. Just take off the lid and pull the bag when your taste tests tell you the dry hop flavor is right.

Jay, my suggestion to you would be to send me your hopback and all of your Amarillo hops..... problem solved.
I could even send you a few ounces of cascade to make up for the amarillo....
Just trying to help.

bull8042 said:

Jay, my suggestion to you would be to send me your hopback and all of your Amarillo hops..... problem solved.
I could even send you a few ounces of cascade to make up for the amarillo....
Just trying to help.

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Bull
Way to step up to the plate to help a fellow homebrewer out! You da man. I just knew there was a solution to my problem.
Cheers
JJ

Jaybird said:

Bull
Way to step up to the plate to help a fellow homebrewer out! You da man. I just knew there was a solution to my problem.
Cheers
JJ

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I'm just glad I could be there for you brother!

Try dry hopping at a higher temperature. Russian River and Stone dry hop at the ambient temp of the brewery which is anywhere from 55-70 degrees.

I also use 2 varieties per dry hop, usually a half ounce each. I also only keep the hops in the beer for 5-7 days.