Dry hopping

[ReaperOnefour]

Hello all. I want to dry hop a two gallon batch of a nut brown ale that I'll be Brewing in a week or two. I want to use hop pellets, & add them towards the end of fermentation. I usually ferment for two weeks, so I'll add them on day 9. The thing is I don't know what type of hop pellet, or how much to use. Any thoughts on that? I just brewed a Pilsner yesterday that I'm thinking of dry hopping as well. I was thinking of using sterling hops for that.

 

[treebeerd]

I would think Sterling would be pretty good in a pilsner. What types of hops will you use for flavor/aroma in the the nut brown, if any?

 

[PurpleJeepXJ]

Cascade

 

[slym2none]

Williamette would probably work in a brown.

Sterling or Liberty in a Pils would be interesting.

 

[NSMikeD]

If you are dry hopping a nut brown ale, then I presume you are going for an American style so any aromatic hop will do as the style is wide open with regard to aroma (british don't dry hop nut brown ales)

Cascade, Mt Hood, Liberty, Willamette, or Goldings would be good choices.

for the pilsner, Saaz comes to mind first, so Sterling would be a great choice

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Thanks guys for all the tips. Its my first time dry hopping, so I really have no idea what I'm doing. Lol. I'm looking for aroma & flavors, so these are all good ideas. I can use a muslin bag right? Would I pull out the bag before I bottle, or just leave it in? Then remove the bag after bottling.

 

[AaronTheBrewer]

Perfect timing, I am doing my first dry hop Wednesday and curious on the responses.

 

[treebeerd]

You can use a bag, but make sure it is sanitized, and try to find something to weigh it down. You can dry hop with just about any hop you want, some are going to give better aroma than others. If you stick with American hops that are categorized as aroma, especially "C" hops, you'll most likely be fine.

 

[mfink519]

I vote cascade!!!!!

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Thanks guys for all the great tips. I'll do a little research, & see which hop I like the best. Do you think 1/2 an ounce of hops is good enough for two gallons, or should I go with 1 ounce?

 

[A2HB]

The more the better when it comes to dry hopping...to a certain point obviously. Add the whole oz you can't have too much aroma or flavor

 

[ReaperOnefour]

O, OK. I'll try that. I'm thinking of using the willimette , or the MT hood for the nut brown ale.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

What hop would you recommend for dry hopping an Irish red ale? I have a recipe for that one too, so I'm just curious.

 

[mfink519]

whole oz

 

[Decimotox]

What hop would you recommend for dry hopping an Irish red ale? I have a recipe for that one too, so I'm just curious.

Fuggle hops would be good for an Irish red. Also, Cascade would be nice.

 

[AaronTheBrewer]

Me, I am going with Citra for three days.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

I saw the fugle hops on northern Brewer's website. I like that one. The casade sounds good too though.

 

[Singletrack]

1. Consider calling this "cold hopping" now. All the cool brewers are saying that (as far as you know).
2. You don't cold hop brown ales, but you should anyway, if you want to. But if you want to, then you should want to achieve a certain flavor/aroma, and you should choose your hops accordingly. If you just want to experiment, but want hops that MIGHT be good, then we have all the answers, and you came to the right place. I think Cascade was a terrific suggestion.
3. Cold hop an Irish Red? Now you've gone too far! No, not far enough. Start by bittering to at least 50 IBU, then cold hop with Amarillo and Simcoe. Okay, I admit I don't care for Irish Red, but really like red IPAs.
4. Have fun with it!

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Thanks singletrack. I know this is totally off subject but I gotta ask. I want to use us 05 on the brown ale. It's a 11.5 gram package. My recipe instructions say use half of a pack. For my two gallon batch.) Half of 11.5 is 5.75. Now if I did my math right 5.75 is a little over two teaspoons right?

 

[alweisenberger]

For a 5 gallon batch of APA/IPA i use 2 oz pellet hops in sanitized muslin bag. I tried adding marbles as weights once, too hard to put in the top (i use glass carboys with narrow neck). I rack with the hop bag in the carboy. When I clean the carboy, I invert it, make a little snip in the bag with a scissors, let the hops fall into the carboy (gets a little messy, but whatever, it's in the bathtub), then get the bag out when the hops are out. If you use weights, you can tie sanitized fishing line around the neck of the knotted muslin bag and leave the end of the fishing line out of the carboy to suspend the hop bag in the carboy. Hope that helps! I also dry hop for only 3-5 days, I have found longer doesn't make my beer taste any different.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

I ferment for 14 days, so I'm gonna add the hops on day 9.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Once I figure out how much US-05 to pitch for a two gallon batch. If my math is correct, it's a little over two teaspoons.

 

[sleepymonkey]

I boil the bag and a stainless steel bolt that I put inside of it with the hop pellets to buoy it before adding it to the fermenter. That way it is not just sanitary but sterile, and you won't be adding a bag soaked with sanitizer to your beer. Just boil the bag and your weight for 10 minutes. If you are talking about a 5 gallon batch, I'd use about an ounce of hop pellets, but that depends on your taste. Anywhere from a half ounce up to 2 ounces would be ok, but I've never used more than 2 oz. and that was in a big IPA. Leaving them for 7 to 10 days is the norm. Don't go out too far past that though because the dry hops can start to give your beer a grassy taste. Cheers!

 

[Singletrack]

Thanks singletrack. I know this is totally off subject but I gotta ask. I want to use us 05 on the brown ale. It's a 11.5 gram package. My recipe instructions say use half of a pack. For my two gallon batch.) Half of 11.5 is 5.75. Now if I did my math right 5.75 is a little over two teaspoons right?

Whoa there! I'm just a cold hopper. I doesn't know nothin' 'bout yeast and such. I just use a magic wooden stirring stick from batch to batch and just hope the wort turns to beer.

Sorry, I don't use dry yeast, so I've never tried to determine grams per tsp. I would just use half a pack by eye instead of weighing. Trust your feelings Reaper, and may the force be with you.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

Thanks everyone for all the great tips. I really appreciate all your help.