DD2000GT
Well-Known Member
I just got finished reading the aging sticky on this board and a few times there was mention about dry hopping requiring longer conditioning times. I brewed a Williams American IPA kit that shows it is 80 IBUs and had a specific gravity of 1.055 and sit in the primary for three weeks. I bottled 6 flip tops so I could sample progress and decide when to refridgerate the keg, and kegged the rest. In the keg, I also dry hopped with 1 oz. of cascade pellets for additional hop aroma (just put it in a SS ball and dropped it in). I also carbinated it naturally with 1/3 cup of corn sugar to save a little CO2. After three weeks conditioning, the keg showed 19 psi of pressure, so I guess the yeast did their job.
After two weeks I tried the first bottle - EXCELLENT!!! I mean - really. It was local brew pub good. Still pretty bitter, but the hop flavor and aroma was out of this world. I tried another bottle yesterday after three weeks and a lot of the hop aroma was missing from that first sample but it wasn't as bitter. I decided to go ahead and refidgerate the keg thinking this was about as good as it gets - but after reading that thread I am wondering if I should wait since I am dry hopping and the IBUs were 80.
Thoughts?
After two weeks I tried the first bottle - EXCELLENT!!! I mean - really. It was local brew pub good. Still pretty bitter, but the hop flavor and aroma was out of this world. I tried another bottle yesterday after three weeks and a lot of the hop aroma was missing from that first sample but it wasn't as bitter. I decided to go ahead and refidgerate the keg thinking this was about as good as it gets - but after reading that thread I am wondering if I should wait since I am dry hopping and the IBUs were 80.
Thoughts?