IndyPABrewGuy
Well-Known Member
I'm planning on brewing an IIPA this weekend. The hop bill as of now is friggin' crazy, and definately needs cut back (176 IBUs, even for me, that's a bit ridiculous), but that's not the issue. Here's the plan so far
2 oz Chinook 60 min
1 oz Simcoe 40 min
1 oz Amarillo 40 minutes
1 oz Chinook 20 min
1 oz Cascade 20 min
1oz Chinook 10 min
1 oz Cascade 10 min
1 oz Chinook 0 min
1 oz Cascade 0 min
Above all pellet
Then I"m planning on dry hopping with 1 oz each (whole) of Amarillo, Cascade, and Chinook for probably 4 to 6 days. This is where I'm unsure of a few things.
1) Since this is a big beer (OG ~ 1.080), it will do it justice to let it in secondary for 4 to 6 weeks, potentially even longer (any thoughts appreciated). So when do I dry hop? Do I A) Dry hop at the beginning, then remove the hop bag and THEN let it sit, B) Dry hop for the last 6 days, or C) Stagger my additions (Amarillo for the first week, add Chinook in the 3rd week, add Cascade in the 5th week, bottle when it hits 6 weeks)?
2) As for "technique" in dry hopping, is it better to use a hop bag, or not? Intuition tells me that if the leaf hops are put into the vessel free then there will be more contact with the beer, therefore allowing more oils to be taken up by the brew. I know that the hop bag will probably be easier to remove (tied to a string as I saw in an earlier post) if I were to dry hop early, but is it worth it to sacrafice flavor?
I thank you all for your advice in advance. This is my first venture into dry hopping, and its been a long time coming. I"ve been pumped to do this for a while.
Oh, and has anyone used a hopback while transferring? I'm thinking about making one and was looking for some thoughts on whether or not its worth it if I'm planning on dry hopping.
Cheers,
2 oz Chinook 60 min
1 oz Simcoe 40 min
1 oz Amarillo 40 minutes
1 oz Chinook 20 min
1 oz Cascade 20 min
1oz Chinook 10 min
1 oz Cascade 10 min
1 oz Chinook 0 min
1 oz Cascade 0 min
Above all pellet
Then I"m planning on dry hopping with 1 oz each (whole) of Amarillo, Cascade, and Chinook for probably 4 to 6 days. This is where I'm unsure of a few things.
1) Since this is a big beer (OG ~ 1.080), it will do it justice to let it in secondary for 4 to 6 weeks, potentially even longer (any thoughts appreciated). So when do I dry hop? Do I A) Dry hop at the beginning, then remove the hop bag and THEN let it sit, B) Dry hop for the last 6 days, or C) Stagger my additions (Amarillo for the first week, add Chinook in the 3rd week, add Cascade in the 5th week, bottle when it hits 6 weeks)?
2) As for "technique" in dry hopping, is it better to use a hop bag, or not? Intuition tells me that if the leaf hops are put into the vessel free then there will be more contact with the beer, therefore allowing more oils to be taken up by the brew. I know that the hop bag will probably be easier to remove (tied to a string as I saw in an earlier post) if I were to dry hop early, but is it worth it to sacrafice flavor?
I thank you all for your advice in advance. This is my first venture into dry hopping, and its been a long time coming. I"ve been pumped to do this for a while.
Oh, and has anyone used a hopback while transferring? I'm thinking about making one and was looking for some thoughts on whether or not its worth it if I'm planning on dry hopping.
Cheers,