Dry Hop Diminishing Returns?

[Saulski]

I just put a Pale Ale down for secondary fermentation on 1 oz of whole Cascade 7.5% AA hops to add some aroma and flavor. My question: Is it detrimental in any way for the beer to sit too long on the dry hops? I've heard that ideal dry hopping should last anywhere from 4-14 days. If for whatever reason I can't bottle the beer before the end of the second week on the whole hops, would it in any way contribute any undesirable flavor characteristics to the finished beer?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Yes. Leaving it on the hops too long will give your beer a vegy-like, grass flavor. Not ideal in my opinion.

 

[david_42]

Ditto, but I haven't noticed a problem in less than a month or two.

 

[Retrofit]

The idea is that once it extracts all the good stuff, hop aroma/flavor, then it starts extracting whatever is left- veggy flavors.

I've never dried hop with pellets, just leaf. After two weeks, in my experience, that veggy flavor starts to develop. I've heard others say up to a month, but again- my experience is two weeks tops.

 

[pjj2ba]

There are polyphenols in hops (beyond the alpha and beta acids) that can boost the perceived bitterness if left too long as a dry hop. This is only an issue if you are already flirting with a high level of bitterness in the beer (or a lighter style). If I plan to do a long dry hop, I'll drop my 60 min. or FWH addition a tiny bit to compensate for what I will pick up while dry hopping.

 

[Brew-boy]

1oz in my opinion is not worth it for dry hopping. Get the amount up to a min 2oz but I prefer 3oz when I dry hop my beers.

 

[EricCSU]

1oz in my opinion is not worth it for dry hopping. Get the amount up to a min 2oz but I prefer 3oz when I dry hop my beers.

Agreed. Even my 1044 APA gets 2oz of Amarillo.

Eric

 

[mullenite]

1oz of Citra sitting in a keg of blonde ale right now and it is pretty noticeable.

 

[Shepherd5]

My last IPA was dry hopped for 10 days, just just slightly grassy green tasting, but I liked it!

 

[ArizonaDB]

I inadvertently dry hopped an amber ale for 54 days once (a long story involving the birth of my son and him being in the ICU for 3 week) and it turned out pretty good. No veggie taste like others described, just lots of hop aroma. I don't know if I would do it again on purpose, but at least it didn't ruin the beer. In fact the extra time in the fermentor made it really clear and I have gotten lots of comments about how good it is.

Just one of my experiences.

 

[cclloyd]

Everyone has their own parameters and preferences - I usually dry hop with 1 ounce of leaf hops for one week (the third week after two in primary) and it lends the aroma and flavors I like. I also then strain those hops out and use them for bittering in the next batch.

 

[Saulski]

I've gotten some great responses from the community, thanks guys. I think next time I will most definitely go with at least two oz of Cascade, although its too early to tell how 1 oz will affect flavor and aroma for this APA. This time around, I only had 1 oz of dry hops in the freezer, so I will definitely keep some more on hand for next time.
This leads me to a couple other questions about dry hopping...Do pellet hops work as well for dry hopping as whole hops do? It seems to me that the finished beer might have a cloudy-hoppy thing going on. Second question would be, have you guys experimented with dry-hopping in 'stages', say where you dry hop for a week, strain and then toss in another ounce or two of a different variety? Thanks for the great feedback so far!

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

There are polyphenols in hops (beyond the alpha and beta acids) that can boost the perceived bitterness if left too long as a dry hop. This is only an issue if you are already flirting with a high level of bitterness in the beer (or a lighter style).

I have this problem in a IPA that I recently brewed. I really didn't leave too long though. DH with 1 oz amarillo 1 oz columbus for about 10 days. Has been in the keg for a couple weeks now and has become really harsh and hazy. Boil IBU was 55. I did pull some hop material over while racking to the keg so this could be making it worse. I have heard somewhere that polyclar might help with this. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[samc]

Could it be that your beer was harsh without the dry hops and the aroma has faded leaving you back with harsh? Happened to me and I added more dry hops for the cure!
Seems like Gelatin could help clear the haze. Never done it so can't give specifics.

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

The beer wasn't harsh before the dry hop. Actually it has become harsher over the last week. I am thinking that some of the junk has been falling to the bottom and I am pulling off more. I have a super aroma, I think I have too much polyphenol in the beer and it is making it harsh. This was an all extract batch that I did for quick drinking beer. 6 lbs gold LME 3.3 lbs Amber LME (midwest supplies) 1.061 55 IBU.