Dry hopping an Amber Ale

[Odin66]

So I recently brewed up an all grain American Amber ale. I threw in some specialty grains into the grain bill to give it that nice malty flavor in an amber that everyone knows and loves. My question is if anybody has experience with dry hopping this type of ale and how it turned out. After a ton of research there's not much on this topic from what I have found. The hop additions in the boil include centennial for bittering/aroma, and cascade at flame out (1oz each). The dry hopping will be done with 1oz cascade, 1oz citra, and 1oz Columbus when I transfer to secondary. I intend to leave it in there for about 3-4 days depending on the aroma achieved at that point. Any opinions would be great.

 

[atom]

go for it.

 

[Trox]

If you have the containers for it I would just split the batch in half; dry hop one and leave the other as is. That way you can then try them side by side and taste for yourself how well it went. Also if it turns out horrid you didn't waste a whole batch on the experiment.

If you don't have the containers or don't feel like going through the trouble to split the batch I would also so go for it.

 

[EJay]

I have an amber that I bitter with centennial and use cascade for later additions. I dry hop, and I am pleased with the results. Go for it.

 

[kpr121]

Yeah! Do it! I have a hoppy amber/red ale in primary that I plan on crushing with dry hops, probably 3-4 oz per 5 gallons.

 

[eko]

I have an imperial amber/red ale in the primary right now that I hopped the heck out of. IIRA? Imperial India Red Ale? IIAA? Anyway, after another week or so I'm going to transfer it and plan on dry hopping with some centennial and cascade.

Here's a recipe for a craft brew that does well around here, called 'Happy Amber' by mistake when this Hoppy Amber was first created:
http://www.madtreebrewing.com/recipes/happyAmberRecipe.pdf

 

[Odin66]

I appreciate all of the positive feedback on this. The beer is going into secondary today, and based off this thread the plan will stay the same. It sounds like everyone pretty much agrees that dry hopping an Amber is a good idea. I'll keep this updated as it progresses on how it turns out. Just a recommendation if anyone hasn't tried it yet (I know I know) but Tröegs Hopback Amber is phenomenal. Closest thing I could find to what I'm trying to make since I'm impatient. Ha. PRÖST!

 

[Odin66]

Just a little update on the process and where I am at. I transferred to secondary and threw the hops in (muslin bag with pellets without any weights). The hops bags are floating and doing their job. I have been occassionally swirling the carboy a little to ensure the beer flows over the tops of the bags (not enough to cause any harm to the beer though!). I will be bottling today (four days of dry hopping). A taste test is in order and I am sure it will be great!

 

[eko]

How'd it taste? I took a sample of my IIAA the other night after just over 3 weeks in the primary. It was down to about 1.012 or around 8.3% ABV and it was delicious. So I decided to skip the secondary. I threw in 1.5 oz of hops (1oz Cascade and 0.5 oz Centennial). I'm going to let it sit for four or five days then bottle.

Here's my recipe: https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/rojo-rogue-imperial-india-red-ale

 

[Odin66]

I bottled it all up a couple days ago and it was absolutely amazing! My best beer yet. The only downside was that it wasn't carbonated yet. Ha. The process was quick and accurate (at least so far). The aroma is on point and the taste is very smooth with just enough maltiness to balance the hop aroma/flavor. I will def be brewing this bad boy again. Depending on how it conditions, it's going into a home brew competition this summer. As far as the alcohol content in this one, it finished at ~5.5%. The OG was a little lower than I had anticipated (prob due to a higher mash temp) but the FG finished lower than anticipated since the yeast had an AA of 80%. All in all, a fantastic beer all around. As it conditions I will keep updating this thread. Cheers!