Dry-Hopped Pale Ale

[SkiNuke]

I'm planning my first dry-hopped pale ale. Unfortunately, I haven't done really any hoppy ales (I've been enjoying German and British styles) so I'm a little out of my depth and was hoping to get some critiques on my recipe. I want it to have a strong hop flavor/aroma with a good malty backbone behind it (not sweet, but not thin and bitter).

My main questions revolve around the hops and yeast.
-I've read that WLP007 is decent with hoppy beers and pretty clean, does that sound about right?
-With the hops. Will that give me a good punch without being too overwhelming?
-And for the dry hop, I plan to use pellets, should i just toss in or put in a bag?
-For dry hopping, should I just pick a single hop or use both?
-I was planning on filtering, but have read that hoppy beers don't get along well with filters, should I just skip it?

Grain Bill
8 lbs (70%) American 2-row
3 lbs (26%) Wyermann Munic II (8SRM)
.5 lb (4%) Crystal 60L

Mash high (maybe around 153) I want to get a good malty base

Hop Schedule
.5oz Northdown 60min
.5oz Cascade 20min
.5oz Topaz 20min
.5oz Cascade 0min
.5oz Topaz 0min
.5oz Cascade Dry Hop 7 days
.5oz Topaz Dry Hop 7 days

Yeast
WLP007

 

[SC_Ryan]

Looks like a tasty beer. 007 should ferment nice and clean as long as you keep it under about 65*

I think that is a good hop level for a pale ale but I would move the 20 minute additions to 10 minutes to give you a little better flavor.

I had a tough time racking when dry hopping with pellets. What I do now is drop the pellets into a 3" tea ball and dry hop it in the keg.

I like the idea of dry hopping with both.

I'd skip the filter. Pale ales don't need to be crystal clear.

 

[ol-hazza]

I think those hops will provide you with a good starting point for an IPA, and shouldn't overwhelm you. It's lower than I would usually go but I find that bitterness is like chilli, you build up a tolerance over time and it's best to start lower and work your way up.
For dry hopping I chuck them straight in, figuring that they will settle into the trub and not make it to the final product.
I only dry hop with a single variety but combo's can compliment each other. I'm still experimenting with different single hops though.
Filtering affects flavour. I wouldnt filter this beer, just give it a quick cold crash to help clear and then bottle her up.

 

[Ebtide]

looks good but I find if I do not use at least 2 ounces I do not get the hop flavor I am looking for an IPA. Your recipe for a Pale Ale is good, I am just saying if you are wanting more hop flavor 2 ozs is right amount for dry hopping.

 

[SkiNuke]

Is there any reason to stagger the hops additions and say add the cascade at 15 and 5 and the topaz at 10 and 0. Or does that needlessly complicate things?

For dry hopping, is it standard to hop with only a single hop? Sounds like it's not a bad idea to use both, but what's the general rule of thumb (if there is one)?

Also, do you guys do any prep with dry hopping? I plan to just dump into the primary after fermentation is done. It sounded like some people go above and beyond to keep oxygen out, but I'm not entirely sure how it would get in as long as your careful.

 

[m00ps]

Id say it needlessly complicates things. Dry hopping I usually stick to 2-3 hops, jsut whatever I want to smell more. But I'll rarely use more than 3 different hops int eh whole recipe just cause I think things get muddled. Just add the hops into the primary and give them 1 week or so to settle before bottling or kegging

 

[ricshayne]

That seems like an awful lot of Munich to me but i like west coast style IPA's

 

[SC_Ryan]

That seems like an awful lot of Munich to me but i like west coast style IPA's

He is brewing a Pale Ale. I think that malt bill would work really nicely in a Pale Ale.

 

[SC_Ryan]

Is there any reason to stagger the hops additions and say add the cascade at 15 and 5 and the topaz at 10 and 0. Or does that needlessly complicate things?

For dry hopping, is it standard to hop with only a single hop? Sounds like it's not a bad idea to use both, but what's the general rule of thumb (if there is one)?

Also, do you guys do any prep with dry hopping? I plan to just dump into the primary after fermentation is done. It sounded like some people go above and beyond to keep oxygen out, but I'm not entirely sure how it would get in as long as your careful.

No reason to stagger the hop varieties into different additions.

You can dry hop with as many varieties as you want. Once you get over 4 or so you do start to muddle the flavors though.

I don't do anything special when dry hopping. Just try not to splash things around too much

 

[mrdail87]

WLP007 will work, but if you want a clean flavor with accentuated hop flavor ,WLP001 will work too. Used this yeast a few times and have always been happy with the results.

 

[aryoung1980]

He is brewing a Pale Ale. I think that malt bill would work really nicely in a Pale Ale.

+1

I also think moving the 20 minute additions to 10 minutes will help your overall goal of this beer.

I dump my dry hops right into primary. You will lose some volume when packaging so you may want to increase your batch size.

My general rule of thumb is to dry hop with the same hops I use as my flavor addition, which is what you have planned.

EDIT: I'd also recommend skipping the filtering.

 

[SkiNuke]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm looking forward to brewing this.

 

[SkiNuke]

I've been reading up on WLP007 and it sounds like it produces a very dry beer. Should i bump up the mash temp since I want a nice malty (not sweet though) backbone to this beer? I'd really hate for it to come out too thin, but maybe I just use this as a data point and fix it in the next brew.