Best hops for dry hopping an IPA?

What are the best hops for dry hopping an IPA? Is whole hops or pellet hops better? This is my first time dry hopping. Also should I use a sanitized hop sack or just throw them in? Thanks guys

I use only pellets myself for multiple reasons, and I throw them in loose.

For me pellets are easier to store. I can buy them in bulk from hopsdirect and store them in qt mason jars purged with CO2 in my freezer. One pound of pellets almost perfectly fits in a qt mason jar. Pellet also don't oxidize as easily and leaf, and will break up when you add them to the fermentor so that you get better oil extraction.

Others may disagree, but I exclusively use pellets now.

I use pellets because I am able to cold crash which makes them drop to the bottom of my carboy for kegging. No bags, no filters, just toss em in.

Pellets are definitely the way to go. Hop bags are not necessary, just pop them in, let them go 7-10 days, cold crash and package!

Most IPA lovers will agree that the best hops for dry hopping are the citrus tasting hops like Centennial, Citra, Cascade, Amarillo, Simcoe, Chinook and a perhaps a couple others.

Awesome thanks for the tips. My beer is in secondary now along with oak chips. I will get some pellet hops and throw them in for about a week. I don't have means to cold crash my 5gal carboy, will this be a problem when I rack to the bottling bucket? Will there be too much sediment for bottling?

BansheeRider said:

Awesome thanks for the tips. My beer is in secondary now along with oak chips. I will get some pellet hops and throw them in for about a week. I don't have means to cold crash my 5gal carboy, will this be a problem when I rack to the bottling bucket? Will there be too much sediment for bottling?

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If the hops don't settle out just rack from underneath them.

When I dry hop I always use a sanitized nylon grain bag or paint strainer bag around my racking cane end to keep hop residue from making it to the bottling bucket or keg. Works great I get no more gunk in my finished IPA's than any other style.

Another vote for pellets.

For American IPAs a few of my favs to dryhop with include some combo of:

Amarillo
Apollo
Cascade
Centennial
Chinook
Citra
Columbus (CTZ)
Falconer's Flight
Nugget
Simcoe
Summit

Without at least 75% of this list, brewing AIPA's would be extremely sad for me.

Jayhem said:

When I dry hop I always use a sanitized nylon grain bag or paint strainer bag around my racking cane end to keep hop residue from making it to the bottling bucket or keg. Works great I get no more gunk in my finished IPA's than any other style.

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Good idea! Which end of the racking can do you attach the bag?

bobbrews said:

Another vote for pellets.

For American IPAs a few of my favs to dryhop with include some combo of:

Amarillo
Apollo
Cascade
Centennial
Chinook
Citra
Columbus (CTZ)
Falconer's Flight
Nugget
Simcoe
Summit

Without at least 75% of this list, brewing AIPA's would be extremely sad for me.

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A mix of Amarillo and Cascade sounds good. How about 1oz of both?

I always dry hop with whole leaf, mostly out of habit. It is what I was taught when I started brewing. I have nothing against using pellet though I have just always used pellet in the boil only.

I love, love, love Citra as a dry hop. My favorite dry hop by far.

I used to wrap a paint strainer to the end of the racking cane. I stopped because some people said it could cause air to get into the beer and cause taste issues. I've founnd a lot of the hops stick to the side of the bottling bucket anyway. I just end up leaving a couple beers behind, I guess. I use pellets, and my fav is the old standby Cascade. I've started to add simcoe, and citra as well.

Nike_Eayrs said:

I used to wrap a paint strainer to the end of the racking cane. I stopped because some people said it could cause air to get into the beer and cause taste issues.

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False.

However, poor racking practices in general can cause the beer to be exposed to unwanted levels of oxygen.

So how much hops should I add? I was thinking 2oz or so.

Depends on the intensity you're after. I usually go with anywhere from 0.50-0.75 oz. per gallon of beer, all the way up to 1.0-1.2 oz. per gallon for the bigger, more intense IIPAs.

bobbrews said:

Depends on the intensity you're after. I usually go with anywhere from 0.50-0.75 oz. per gallon of beer, all the way up to 1.0-1.2 oz. per gallon for the bigger, more intense IIPAs.

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This is relatively a big beer. The OG was 1.069 and FG is 1.014. It probably already has a big hop aroma because its an IPA.

I did an aipa that was all citra, simcoe, and Amarillo, then dry hopped with 2 oz citra, 1 simcoe, 1 Amarillo. 10 days. Amazing aroma. It was about 1.065/1.015, 55 ibu.

Whole leaf and a hop bag works for me. Currently on a Amarillo, Simcoe, Cascade and Centennial bender.... added every other day x 4 days after fermentation ceases...

Yeah but isn't there hops used just for aroma? Does it matter is I mix and match hops?

BansheeRider said:

Good idea! Which end of the racking can do you attach the bag?



A mix of Amarillo and Cascade sounds good. How about 1oz of both?

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I put the bag over the suction end that goes into the fermenter. You can use a sanitized ziptie to keep the bag on, or if the bag is large enough just don't let the entire bag through the neck of the carboy and it will stay on.

For an IPA 2 oz of dry hop in 5 gallons is a minimum. I would use 3 oz!

For an IPA 2 oz of dry hop in 5 gallons is a minimum. I would use 3 oz!

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Yep. My standard is 3 oz for IPA, 6 oz for IIPA.

Oak chips huh. Im a big fan of the hops recommended so far for American and west coast ipas, but you might want to consider some other hops. I think some earthy/spicy hops might pair well with oak. Consider hops like Williamette and Fuggles for an English character. I think some American varieties like Nugget, simcoe and columbus may make a pungent combo as well...

Ended up getting 2oz of cascade and 2oz of centennial hops. Hopefully this will be a good combo. Gotta love experimenting with homebrew Thanks for all the replies.

I have a question about cold crashing after the dry hop. Spare fridge is in the garage. Brewery is in the attic. Would moving it that far of a distance completely off set the cold crashing? Would the beer need to be brought back up to temp before mixing in sugar and bottling.?

Do you need fridge temps or will 40-50 work to cold crash. Can I siphon from the fridge right to bottleing bucket?

BansheeRider said:

This is relatively a big beer. The OG was 1.069 and FG is 1.014. It probably already has a big hop aroma because its an IPA.

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I regularly brew 1.070 / 1.011-12 IIPAs with substantial hop additions at every slot, especially dryhop. What is your point? Are you saying that a dryhop is unnecessary because of the OG/FG? Doesn't make sense.

Noob question... can I modify the amount of hops added to dry hop without changing anything else and not 'ruin' a recipe? The recipe only calls for 1 oz for dry hopping and I think I would like to add more. It's an IPA with 4 oz of hops added throughout the boil. From what you guys have said in this post, I think I should at least double, maybe even triple the amount of dry hops...

Leppy said:

Noob question... can I modify the amount of hops added to dry hop without changing anything else and not 'ruin' a recipe? The recipe only calls for 1 oz for dry hopping and I think I would like to add more. It's an IPA with 4 oz of hops added throughout the boil. From what you guys have said in this post, I think I should at least double, maybe even triple the amount of dry hops...

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Dry hopping only adds aroma so you can't mess up a recipe. Just pick aroma hops that compliment each other and the recipe in general.

Yes, you can modify the dryhop by adding more. More dryhops = more aroma without the added bitterness via IBUs.

bobbrews said:

I regularly brew 1.070 / 1.011-12 IIPAs with substantial hop additions at every slot, especially dryhop. What is your point? Are you saying that a dryhop is unnecessary because of the OG/FG? Doesn't make sense.

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No. I was telling you the gravity of the beer because you said the amount of dry hops you use depends on how intense or how big the beer is. Did you already forget what you said in post #15?

I ended up adding 4oz of hops, check out my avatar

BansheeRider said:

No. I was telling you the gravity of the beer because you said the amount of dry hops depends on how intense or how big the beer is. Did you already forget what you said in your OP?

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By big or intense, I meant overall hop character.

You can have an 8% IPA with weak, moderate, high, or insanely perfumey aroma.

Example:

Pliny the Elder, Heady Topper, Kern Citra

vs.

Lagunitas Maximus, Sam Adams 3rd Voyage, Deviant Dale's

There's no comparison as to which group has the better overall hop aroma and character.