Short dry hop the new norm?

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JONNYROTTEN

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It used to be over 10 days under 14.Then 5 to 7. Now theres lots of chatter about 2 to 4 days with 3 being the sweet spot. Ive been going 3 to 4 lately with my IPAS and have been happy with the results. I've never gone 2 days out of fear but honestly I don't think Id notice a difference. How long is everyone dry hopping these days?? I guess you could call it a poll
 
I go 5-7 days. It usually ends up around 7 and sometimes a couple of days longer. I put off packaging out of procrastination.

P.S. This is the first I have heard of any chatter about 2-4 days.
 
I've always dryhopped for 5-7 days, but sometimes I go as short as three days. I really like the "in your face" hops nose at three days, but sometimes life gets in the way and it's 5, 7, or even 10 days. My preference has always been no more than 5, though.
 
i have done it all ways, but lately i have been dry hopping in the keg, and leave em in there until it kicks. I like it this way the best. and its the easiest
 
I have noticed the shorter time frame in dry (cold? lol) hopping. My technique is 5-7 days and I like the results a lot.

I have also read about staggered or stepped hopping, which is one addition for 3-5 days overlapped with a second near the end of the first. So it would be a total of 6-10 days. I want to try this out for my own curiosity.
 
Here's a couple of interesting reads on the short hopping topic.
Incidentally, after reading these articles and others, I have moved to the 5 days max (usually 3), with agitation every couple days, with very satisfying results.

A scholarly read, see specifically section 2.3.3:
http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/34093/Wolfe_thesis.pdf

An interview with Mitch Steele (Stone):
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=13549.45

And a Brulosophy experiment done more based on taste and mouthfeel (less conclusive, but interesting nonetheless):
http://brulosophy.com/2015/10/26/dry-hop-length-long-vs-short-exbeeriment-results/

There's a lot of reading to do about the topic out there.

Enjoy!
 
I do at least two additions. First is 2-3 days depending on my work schedule (I work 24 hour shifts...) And then I leave those in and hit it with the other half for 3-4 days. Including primary and cold crash I'm about 14 days in the fermenter before kegging.

I started doing the short sessions after reading the Hops book.
 
I used to do 5 days at ambient. Then I went down to 3 days at ambient. Didn't notice much of a difference except that the three day was closer to when I added the hop so they tasted stronger than the 5 day.

My impression of what happens with dry hop: Every day since I dry hopped is a day that the aroma/flavor of the dry hop has faded more. So I reasoned the closer I can drink to when I dry hop the better it will be, so long as the flavor has been extracted.

In addition to that I keg hop. I leave it in until it taps
 
Ultimately, it depends on the effect you want from a particular hop as per the style you are creating. Generally, if you like a lot of nose, dry hop longer; not as much, less. Most hops are going to give you all they have by around 7 days. Some hops have more aroma strength than others for the time they're in the beer, including (more or less) their particular citrus, pine, floral, etc. attributes. I follow the recommended dry hop amounts and times from those who have the most experience with brewing a particular style and not just pick an arbitrary set number of days by which to dry hop all my brews regardless of style.
 
I don't know the science behind it, but I have found better hop flavor with a ~4 dry hop (depending on the style either at the end of fermentation or shortly after). If the beer is supposed to be really hop forward I also do a 3 day keg hop at room temp, and leave them in the keg until it kicks.
 
I see someone has already brought up the Wolfe Thesis from OSU which is what convinced me to try and then adopt much shorter dry hops.

For clean beers I go for 2 days.

For sour beers I go for 5 days due to the lower pH.

In both cases I follow that with a 2 day cold crash at 34F prior to packaging.

Utilization maxes out at about 2 oz/gallon, so anything more than that is overkill.

I've done my last 4 hoppy beers using this method, with anywhere from 180 to 250 grams of hops for 6 gallons, and they have turned out amazing.
 
I've dry hopped everywhere from 2 days to 6 weeks. I can say that with the 6 week one, the veggie flavor actually fades away, and the hop flavor does too. I couldn't even tell I dry hopped it. I like 3 days, I just can't stand them when they start to get the veg flavor, but I think 5-7 is fine, not required though.
 
Don't know where I came across it but someone who should know stated you get ~80% of the "bang" from dry hops in the first 24 hours.

fwiw, I plan on 4 days but because Life sometimes it's 5. I don't like leaving hopped beers laying about longer than that before cold-crashing under CO2 then kegging...

Cheers! :mug:
 
does cold crashing affect how many days you dryhop?

I usually shoot for 3 days then set the chamber for 34 degrees allowing 4 days to let the beer clear keg on day 7.

seems to work great.
 
I dry hop, in the keg, for 48 hours prior to cold crashing (95-98% attenuated) and leave it there for another 48 hours during the cold crash. By far the easiest and most efficient way to impregnate hop flavor into the beer. I've made beers this way that taste like they have more hops than beers I traditionally dry hopped twice as much in. My rationale is that the active yeast (and CO2 purge) prevents staling reactions from occurring due to incidental oxidation, and by cold crashing soon thereafter, aroma loss is inhibited.

Also, I never exceed 1 oz/gal. Anything more is just wasteful.
 
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