Day 4 advice

[Tony B]

This is my first batch. I started with a year old LME, IPA kit that came with my once used equipment. I bought new hops and yeast. I pitched yeast on Sunday night. The airlock was bubbling away by about 5:30am the next morning. It's day 4 and I'm planning to dry hop. From the info I've found, it sounds like the right time to dry hop to avoid oxygen and hop creep issues. If I dry hop tonight, I'm thinking I should bottle in 7 days.
What say you?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

This is my first batch. [...] What say you?

Relax. Don't Worry. Have a homebrew (with a friend who brews beer at home as it's your first batch).

 

[passedpawn]

I think you're pushing the schedule.

Wait for 10 days to dry hop. Bottle at 2 wks.

Let the bottles carb for 3 wks.

Fall in love with slow stuff. Be patient (oh I know it's hard).

 

[Tony B]

I think you're pushing the schedule.

Wait for 10 days to dry hop. Bottle at 2 wks.

Let the bottles carb for 3 wks.

Fall in love with slow stuff. Be patient (oh I know it's hard).

I'm in no hurry. Just want to end up with a decent result. That's why I posted here to get some advice.
I'll wait the 10 days to dry hop, if that's the best route.

 

[lumpher]

Yep, wait those 10 days to dry hop. If you do it during fermentation some of the aroma blows out the airlock. Patience, young grasshopper...

 

[WayFrae]

I like dry hopping before fermentation is over. I’ve even dry hopped at yeast pitch with good results.

It’s your brew, it’s not going to ruin it if you do it now or at 10 days. Part of the fun is trying different things and seeing what you like. 10 days is definitely a more traditional approach.

 

[khannon]

It also depends on what style of beer you like.. Are you going for hazy NEIPA? dry hop early for that biotransformation.. Looking for a cleaner west-coast style? dry hop later and retain some of the clarity..

 

[Tony B]

I like dry hopping before fermentation is over. I’ve even dry hopped at yeast pitch with good results.

It’s your brew, it’s not going to ruin it if you do it now or at 10 days. Part of the fun is trying different things and seeing what you like. 10 days is definitely a more traditional approach.

I am excited to try all manner of things, but for this first batch, I’m just hoping it’s drinkable. I saw a few things saying that leaving the dry hops in for too long can create a vegetal or grassy flavor.

 

[Tony B]

It also depends on what style of beer you like.. Are you going for hazy NEIPA? dry hop early for that biotransformation.. Looking for a cleaner west-coast style? dry hop later and retain some of the clarity..

I like both, but will be focusing on coming up with an old school , west coast style IPA. I always think back to about 15-20 years ago when I first got turned on to IPA’s. I remember thinking they smelled like a delicious combination of pine and weed. I want that.

 

[khannon]

I am excited to try all manner of things, but for this first batch, I’m just hoping it’s drinkable. I saw a few things saying that leaving the dry hops in for too long can create a vegetal or grassy flavor.

I'm not 100% certain, but every time I've dry hopped, it's a t- situation.. so if I do a 3 day(day 3?) dry hop, I try to dry hop 3 days before packaging.
That said, I'm really more about the belgian/german styles and don't do much dry hopping. (I live 10 mins from Treehouse, so am a little spoiled when it comes to getting my NEIPA/heavily hopped beer fix.)

 

[hotbeer]

Sometimes beer isn't ready to leave the FV two weeks after pitch. Sometimes it's not ready even at three weeks. Unless you are doing a hazy NEIPA or some other style that has to be hazy to meet the style guidelines, then wait till the beer is clear or almost clear before dry hopping.

Don't set deadlines for something that has so many things that affect when it's ready from one batch to the next or for your processes and circumstances vs another's.

 

[wdavis2003]

I've always done my first dry hop before fermentation is complete. Helps reduce O2 exposure. To each their own I suppose

 

[hotbeer]

I've always done my first dry hop before fermentation is complete. Helps reduce O2 exposure. To each their own I suppose

That always seems to make the most sense with regard to O2 getting into the FV and ultimately the beer.

But from what I read, the flavors and aromas most want from dry hopping are pretty volatile and gone if one waits too long afterward before consuming the beer. I never was good at perceiving those notes when I dry hopped. So I just went back to stuffing in a bunch of the aroma/flavor hops at or after flame out and I've been very happy with the IPA's I've done with no dry hopping at all.

 

[khannon]

Ah, tread into the waters of hop survivables..
https://tools.yakimachief.com/docs/Survivable-Compounds-Poster.pdf