Diminishing flavor/aroma from dry hoping

[mvolz]

Can anyone shed any light on why I cant get any flavor or aroma to stick around by dry hoping? I usually only do ales and dont do a secondary. So I leave in the primary for 3-4 weeks,and rack straight to the keg,and use a hop ball for my hops. Then I put the lid on,hook up the co2,purge out the oxygen,set the co2 gauge at 12,and put in fridge to cool so it absorbes co2 better.

For several days I get great hop flavor and aroma. But eventually it fades away and I cant really tell that its dry hopped.Am I wrong for adding the co2.Is the flavor being carried away by co2 bubbles? Should I let it set without co2 for a while? What are some of your techniques? Thanks

 

[SD-SLIM]

Have you tried dry hopping to the primary versus the keg?

 

[mvolz]

No I have never tried it in the primary. I try to avoid exposure to open air as much as I can,and dont really want to open the primary until I rack to the keg. But Im willing to give it a whirl since Im not having much luck this way.

 

[bja]

Have you tried dry hopping to the primary versus the keg?

I've done both and much prefer dry hopping in the keg.

OP, how much hops are you putting in the hop ball?

I have 3" tea balls and have found that any more than 1/2 oz. will pack too tightly and become useless. I use 2-3 tea balls per keg and it seems to work much better.

 

[MadRok]

They say the hop balls hold an oz, but as the previous guy stated they become so packed that the oils inside can barely get out. I'd try the 1/2 oz technique and use 2 hop balls. Temp might also have something to do with it. The lower temperatures normally make it take longer for the hops to permeate, but your situation seems opposite.

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

I've dry hopped in primary and gotten tons of lasting aroma (upwards of 6-8 weeks before it fades noticably). I've never dry hopped in the keg but think it would be awesome. Possibly to even do both.

Also, I've not gotten oxidation from dry hopping in the primary. One brew a couple years ago had some oxidation from "rocking the carboy" I think. newb mistake, the floating hops freaked me out. Little did I know that they would sink just fine on their own ........

 

[ArcaneXor]

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you just leave the dry hops in the keg indefinitely (weeks), you'll increase your extraction of grassy-tasting tannic compounds from the hop vegetable matter, which can dominate the flavor profile of the beer and mask the more subtle dry hop notes.

I dry hop in the keg with hop bags, which I usually only leave in there for a week or so. The character doesn't begin fading for a couple of weeks. I agree with previous posters that using a tightly packed hop ball might minimize oil extraction compared to a loosely filled hop bag.

 

[bja]

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you just leave the dry hops in the keg indefinitely (weeks), you'll increase your extraction of grassy-tasting tannic compounds from the hop vegetable matter, which can dominate the flavor profile of the beer and mask the more subtle dry hop notes.

This doesn't happen when the keg is kept cold. I always leave the hops in until the keg is empty.

 

[ArcaneXor]

This doesn't happen when the keg is kept cold. I always leave the hops in until the keg is empty.

It can. I've had too many beers that had this problem (all kept near 32 degrees). It does depend on the amount of hops and the variety though - some are more susceptible to this than others. And, of course, it also depends on what form you are using the hops in. T-45 pellets won't produce these types of off-flavors. T-90s, plugs and whole hops can, fresh/wet hops are most likely to do this.

 

[bja]

It can. I've had too many beers that had this problem (all kept near 32 degrees). It does depend on the amount of hops and the variety though - some are more susceptible to this than others. And, of course, it also depends on what form you are using the hops in. T-90 pellets won't produce these types of off-flavors. T-45, plugs and whole hops can, fresh/wet hops are most likely to do this.

Well, I only use pellets, but why would there be a difference between them and plug or whole?

 

[Bjornbrewer]

I dry hop in the keg as well, but I keg it from the primary, throw in the hop ball with 1oz pellets, close, purge, let it sit two weeks, and then cool it and continue to force carb. Works perfect. I always leave the hops in to and have had zero effect on flavor (other than the wonderful aroma!).

 

[ArcaneXor]

T-45s have only a portion of the plant matter than T-90s and the other types have.

 

[mvolz]

I've done both and much prefer dry hopping in the keg.

OP, how much hops are you putting in the hop ball?

I have 3" tea balls and have found that any more than 1/2 oz. will pack too tightly and become useless. I use 2-3 tea balls per keg and it seems to work much better.

I use a 3" tea ball also,and normally only use .5 oz. to dry hop with. This last batch I used centennials,which at first was great,then eventually faded.Now I cant even hardly tell I dry hopped.I dont know,but the beer is still drinkable,so I will just try again next time. Maybe in the primary.

 

[mvolz]

I dry hop in the keg as well, but I keg it from the primary, throw in the hop ball with 1oz pellets, close, purge, let it sit two weeks, and then cool it and continue to force carb. Works perfect. I always leave the hops in to and have had zero effect on flavor (other than the wonderful aroma!).

Maybe I will try your method as opposed to leaving the co2 on and putting in the fridge.I might be losing hop character from the co2 bubbles as the beer cools down in the fridge.Hmm?

 

[SD-SLIM]

Here is John Palmers hop section..this might help as well:
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter5-1.html

 

[samc]

I've had zero off flavors from dry hopping in the keg and leaving them in (mostly leaf). If the hop flavors fade, pull the bag and put some fresh ones in. Or dry hop with Citra and nothing you do will kill that flavor. I've had one keg which my wife likes that has been going for 5 months and it is as hoppy as the first day I tasted it. Smell the hops before putting them in, if they smell grassy that is what you will get.

 

[deathtomacro]

I open up my bucket after 1 to 1 1/2 weeks and throw in two ounces of pellets(I am about to UP that amount to 4 ounces). Let it go for two weeks and when I rack to my keg, I put a long, fine-mesh nylon sack over the end of my auto-siphon (boiled before hand). Always comes out wonderfully aromatic. In fact, the hops that get stuck to the end just act as a natural filter and help my beer come out clearer.

I don't see any problem with opening your bucket because you're always going to have a buffer of CO2 sitting on top of the beer. Just don't let any junk fall in.

I am, however, going get a couple of hop balls to hang in the keg. A little more money for the hops, but the taste will be worth it. Right?

 

[MadRok]

I think its best to use hops all the time lol

 

[Priemus]

I have dry hopped everything for the last 5 or 6 brews. I had alot of time away from home and after 6 months getting back to the first beer Ive done it had lost I would say 50-75% of the hop aroma it had when I first tried it.

I was dry hopping with 2oz straight into the primary fermenter, but after 2 weeks. So nothing to be "driven off" by co2.

The solution to this is of course, drink your batch within 3 months. Other than travelling half way round the world for a long time like I did that really shouldnt be a problem.

But yes, dimished hop aroma over time for sure. Ive never tried dry hopping in a keg, I only have tap a draft available for that purpose as well, so Im not keen to try.