Dry hop and carb - pls help me troubleshoot

[jwalker1140]

Recently I brewed my first dry hopped beer - Nebraska Brewing's Cardinal Ale from the CYBI podcast. I followed the brewers schedule and have ended up with more sediment and a lot more carbination than I expected. Otherwise, the beer tastes fantastic and the head retention is great. I'm just trying to fine tune my process for the next time I brew this or some other dry hopped beer. Here's my schedule:

Day 1 - OG 1.057, pitched washed 1056 at mrmalty.com rate, ferment at 68
Day 7 - FG 1.011, dropped temp to 58
Day 9 - dry hopped 2.2 oz Cascade in hop sack
Day 14 - removed hop sack, dropped temp to 40
Day 17 - bottled w/ 4.09 oz table sugar (2.7 vols)

Normally I keep my beers at fermentation temp longer (2-3 weeks) before cold crashing, so I suspect my carbonation issue stems from dropping to 58 and then 40 after only 7 days 68. (I want to think CO2 stays in solution longer at colder temps, but I could be wrong about that.) I also think that maybe I should have waited longer between the time I removed the hop sack and bottled. Fwiw, this was a 5-gal batch brewed in a 6-gal carboy w/o secondary. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Jason

 

[brewhappy]

Sedimentation isn't a recipe issues, except for the fact that certain beers will naturally have more sedimentation, but more of a process issue. It's important to separate the hot break and not transfer it into the fermenter. Be sure to have a way or doing so by either whirlpooling or resting after the boil or some other method. On the carbonation issue, did you carbonate at 40 degrees? Or let it warm back up or what. You want to have a fairly consistent temperature when you carbonate so if it was cold at first and then warmed up to room temperature that could be a factor. I don't think dropping the temp to 58 and then 40 would have any negative effects. If the yeast was at 1.011 at that point it's done.

Did you transfer the beer off the yeast before adding the dry hops? Yeast will absorb those yummy hop resins and aromas you are trying to extract so it's best to transfer to secondary when dry hopping. Also dry hopping at room temperature will extract more hop deliciousness. Otherwise I don't see any issues. BTW great beer, I'm from Nebraska and love the simplicity and taste of this beer.

 

[jwalker1140]

I didn't whirlpool or anything, just dumped the cooled wort into my carboy as I always do. Normally I jget just a light dusting in the bottle when I prime at the same volume. On day 16 I removed my carboy from my ferm chamber and bottled the next day, when it was pretty much at room temp. I let the bottles condition at room temp for 3 weeks. The steps from cold crash forward were the same as normally do. The main difference in my process is where I dropped the temp to 58 at day 7 for two days before I dry hopped for another five days. The brewer said he drops to 58 in order to get rid much of the yeast before dry hopping. Normally I would just hold it at 68 for two to three weeks, crash for a couple days and bottle.

Agreed on the beer. Simple recipe that tastes great, my own process issues notwithstanding.

 

[brewhappy]

I see. I don't bottle much so I'm probably not the best person to figure out the carb issue. The brewer drops the temp just to try and clear the beer a bit. He doesn't have the luxury you have in being able to crash the temp down to 37 degrees and holding it for a length of time. It would take him much longer to get that volume down to temp and then back up, if he can even drop the temp as low as we can. So I'd cold crash as usual after it's done fermenting. I usually let it ferment out and when it's done I wait another 3 days for it to clean itself up a bit. Then cold crash for as many days as it takes to clear up good, up to a week. At that point I would transfer to the secondary and dry hop at room temp per the recipe.

 

[jwalker1140]

Got it. That makes sense. Thanks for the suggestions!