Dry Hopping Cold

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I've dry hopped IPAs cold and short and was happy with the results. I didn't do a direct A/B comparison, so it's hard for me to say that it was better or how much better. But the theory seems pretty sound. Here's what first piqued my interest in the method:

http://scottjanish.com/a-case-for-short-and-cool-dry-hopping/
 
I have not dry hopped that cold but I dry hop cool (50f) all the time now. I prefer it as I dont get hop burn and my beers dont lack any flavor or aroma so its seems the best of both worlds to me. I also only dry hop for 2 or 3 days. I read the same article you did and the one posted above, debated dry hopping colder at 38 as mentioned but have yet to give that a try.
 
I do it! I'm going to do it with my current batch here in a day or so- it's sitting at 65F right now, and just about done. I'm going to get it cold and add the hops.
 
For what it’s worth, there’s a Brulosophy experiment on dry hop temperature. Testers were able to distinguish between the cold and warm dry-hopped beers and more preferred the beer that was dry-hopped warm.

https://brulosophy.com/2016/01/18/dry-hop-temperature-warm-vs-cool-exbeeriment-results/
But then another experiment of warm dry-hopping in primary vs. dry-hopping in the cold keg for the duration of serving found the opposite.

https://brulosophy.com/2016/06/27/warm-dry-hop-vs-cold-keg-hop-exbeeriment-results/

I have personally only ever dry-hopped warm (at primary fermentation temp).
 
I started dry hopping cold and short (48 hours) after reading the experiences of Scott Janish and also Denny Conn. I like the final results in my go-to pale ale.
I'm not a heavy dry hopper and what I like may be different than what you or the Brulosophy testers like.
 
I've dry hopped in serving keg for my English IPA several times. Seems to yield better long term results with leaf hops (can't get leaf EKG at this time :(). I did get the corny keg lids with the tab welded on the underside along with the 'hop balls' that will hold an ounce of pellet in them. Depending on how the batch that's fermenting right now ends up tasting, I might add hops once carbonated.

I'm looking at doing this in the new fermenters once I have them. Especially since I plan to carbonate in conical and will probably make a hop dump item to use with them (purging the hop chamber with CO2 before dropping into conical). I know Brewers Hardware has one, but I have ~90% of the parts to make one already. I can get/fabricate the rest easily and for a far lower spend than buying one. I'll be using a glycol chiller with the conical fermenters, so I can get the beer down to the desired temperatures for all of this.
 
In the keg, yeah. Takes at least 10 days to start getting good results imo... for IPA or whatever

That's interesting. Not too long ago right after I pulled the first pint of a pale ale, I decided the balance was off and added two ounces of dry hops (Simcoe) directly to the keg in one of those stainless steel canisters. I had another pint an hour later and there was clearly improved hop aroma and perceived bitterness. That would have been at about 36 degrees. It was definitely better after a few more days but I was pretty impressed at how quickly I noticed a substantive difference.
 
I feel like my NEIPAs haven’t had the proper hop aroma and taste for going on a few years now. I’m intrigued by Janish’s article but I was wondering how to implement the “cold/short” dry hop method. At first blush I would think I would add the hops directly to the keg (I have the clear draught set up one of them), add just enough co2 to seal and then let it sit in my fridge for a few days and then start the carbing process.

But the article states that letting the hops sit can actually counterbalance and even “remove” any fruity hop aroma/flavor. So I’m wondering about the following process and if this may jibe with the principles of the article:

1. Ferment until FG reached
2. Cold crash to get to 38-40 degrees
3. Dry hop for 2-3 days
4. Rack to keg

This isn’t discussed in the article but I was wondering if people who have done this “cold hopping” method might chime in. Do you only do a single “cold” dry hop? And do you do any post-boil hopping, ie flameout or whirlpool additions?

Its been incredibly frustrating not getting the results I’ve been looking for. I got better results the earlier batches I’ve made and it seems like I’m getting worse and worse the more I keep at it. I read over all my notes from more “successful” batches but can’t seem to find any reasons why.
 
I wonder if a "randallizer" would mimic this effect without opening the serving keg.? The beer in the water filter housing would be in contact with the dry hops until your next drinking session at kegerator temperature
 
I feel like my NEIPAs haven’t had the proper hop aroma and taste for going on a few years now. I’m intrigued by Janish’s article but I was wondering how to implement the “cold/short” dry hop method. At first blush I would think I would add the hops directly to the keg (I have the clear draught set up one of them), add just enough co2 to seal and then let it sit in my fridge for a few days and then start the carbing process.

But the article states that letting the hops sit can actually counterbalance and even “remove” any fruity hop aroma/flavor. So I’m wondering about the following process and if this may jibe with the principles of the article:

1. Ferment until FG reached
2. Cold crash to get to 38-40 degrees
3. Dry hop for 2-3 days
4. Rack to keg

This isn’t discussed in the article but I was wondering if people who have done this “cold hopping” method might chime in. Do you only do a single “cold” dry hop? And do you do any post-boil hopping, ie flameout or whirlpool additions?

Its been incredibly frustrating not getting the results I’ve been looking for. I got better results the earlier batches I’ve made and it seems like I’m getting worse and worse the more I keep at it. I read over all my notes from more “successful” batches but can’t seem to find any reasons why.
I do the 1 2 3 4 as listed above except I do closed transfer to the keg. This is an important part especially with neipa. I also do a large whirlpool addition, before I was doing those 2 things my neipas were ok and now I would put them right up there with any.
 
I've dry hopped IPAs cold and short and was happy with the results. I didn't do a direct A/B comparison, so it's hard for me to say that it was better or how much better. But the theory seems pretty sound.

This is where I am too. I have dry hopped cold maybe 5 batches so far. While I enjoy doing split batches and side by sides, it is a bit hard to do with fermentation temp control since I only have one chamber. Two of my batches were hot fermented Voss as I just don't like the idea of dry hopping at 85F. One was a Pale Ale with maybe 1 oz of dry hops. The one that stands out was an IPA with 2 oz of Chinook and 2 oz of Centennial. It had a wonderful dank and tropical fruit flavor that I did not expect from that combo. I also dry hopped cold an IPA with Mosaic, Azacca and El Dorado, but I don't recall being quite as impressed with that one.

I guess I have liked the results from dry hopping cold that I don't think I have dry hopped warm in over a year...but I have been brewing more non-hoppy beers lately.

I am curious about either triple dry hopping (during fermentation, after fermentation and cold) or dry hopping before cold crashing then after cold crashing.
 
I have been reading Scott’s book as well as executing one of his recipes on his on his website - the Winter saison. I have also taken to dry hopping cool/cold of late. My method is - purge kegs with fermentation CO2 for first 2-3 days of fermentation. Add a canister of dry hops to keg and purge another 16-24hrs. Disconnect keg and use airlock. I have ferrmzilla so when fermentation is complete I pressurize if I didn’t pressurize during fermentation and then soft crash to 10-12oC. After hitting this temp I rack to the purged keg with hops and maintain at this temp 2-3 days then drop it in the Keezer which averages 6oC. I have left kegs on hops for 2 months so far with no off flavours like astringency or grassiness.

I’ve never head to head tested this method against others but it is very simple compared to hopping in fermenter for my setup.I am relentless with keeping 02 out so previously when hopping I was grabbing my C02 and purging while hopping etc. Cold crash balloons etc. This method is very simple, eliminates oxygen well from what I can tel so far and is pretty cost effective. It may not work as well with very high amounts of dry hop as the canisters can only do 3-4oz before the hops will swell and not get great contact.

i will say that I have brewed the same recipe in a warm hop method and cool hop, although months between, and recall 1 week of tremendous hop bite hopping warm and that the cool hopping did not have this. Although I am a big believer in any beer needs at least 2 weeks to condition before it should be consumed. In the cool hopping this did not remain in the keg was in fermenter so is not my latest practice that I described.
 
1. Ferment until FG reached
2. Cold crash to get to 38-40 degrees
3. Dry hop for 2-3 days
4. Rack to keg

This isn’t discussed in the article but I was wondering if people who have done this “cold hopping” method might chime in. Do you only do a single “cold” dry hop? And do you do any post-boil hopping, ie flameout or whirlpool additions?

Disclaimer: I am no brewing expert. I don't brew NEIPAs. After many batches I've dialed in an IPA/APA recipe that my family and friends all like and I can consistently repeat which is the ultimate goal for me.

My dry hopping process is exactly as you describe (2 days) preceded by a single 45 min bittering charge in the boil and a hop addition post-flameout with 10+ min stand after the wort is chilled to 165 although passive chilling seems to usually drop to 150ish by the end of the stand. I dry hop only one time. (The 45 min bittering addition rather than 60 is a carryover from brewing a Two Hearted Kit from Bell's homebrew store.)
 
Thanks everyone for the input. Its so frustrating implementing all of these techniques (usually adding more and longer hopping, either post-boil or dry) and finding they don't really add anything substantive benefit. Its also expensive! My "solution" to subpar results would be to add even more hops for the next batch. I'm going to try this "cold hop" approach next batch.
 
Thanks everyone for the input. Its so frustrating implementing all of these techniques (usually adding more and longer hopping, either post-boil or dry) and finding they don't really add anything substantive benefit. Its also expensive! My "solution" to subpar results would be to add even more hops for the next batch. I'm going to try this "cold hop" approach next batch.
One thing to think about is Scott Janishs book. It highlights a lot of other variables around hop aroma and flavour. Things like protein content being a factor for maintaining hop aroma. A lot of deep science and details which are a lot to retain but also some good insights on factors to consider.
 
Thanks everyone for the input. Its so frustrating implementing all of these techniques (usually adding more and longer hopping, either post-boil or dry) and finding they don't really add anything substantive benefit. Its also expensive! My "solution" to subpar results would be to add even more hops for the next batch. I'm going to try this "cold hop" approach next batch.
I tried the cool+short dry hopping recently and this one time resulted in very poor dry-hopping. I did this in my conical and theorize that the hops went straight to the bottom. I'm going to try again, but next time "burp" (agitate with CO2) from the bottom to get everything back into suspension. I think the recommendation is to do this daily for a normal DH, but for shorter times I'd guess this should be more like 2-3 times per day. It seems obvious to me that getting trub and yeast out of the fermenter has to be done before the first "burp".

So the question: is anyone using this burp agitation, with either short/cool or "standard" DH? If so, any recommendations?
 
I tried the cool+short dry hopping recently and this one time resulted in very poor dry-hopping. I did this in my conical and theorize that the hops went straight to the bottom. [...]

I witnessed that same phenomenon the one time I tried it. And not only did the pellets go straight to the bottom and stay there, many within view (6.5g carboy) were largely intact(!) until I roused the fermentor via rocking. I believe the intensity of the hops was attenuated on that batch so I have not done it since...

Cheers!
 
I do like soft crashing my conical to 55-60 at end of fermentation to drop and clear the yeast. And from there I have tried dry hopping at that temp, at colder and warmer. I'm back to raising the temps a bit after the soft crash and yeast purge. Reason being that I am dry hopping at rates and in beers that will proably experience hop creep. I've been getting 2-3 gravity points say from 1.015 (when yeast activity seemed done and most of the yeast had dropped out) to 1.012 when I dry hop warm enough to get a second round of yeast activity.

When I keg I usually manage to get 1-2 kegs into my keezer but 1-2 will end up sitting out at room temp for a week or three waiting for space. If I dryhop and package cold that beer may go through that refermentation in the keg and I fear this could lead to diacetyl. I think the cold dry hopping is probably fine if beer is never going to warm back up to fermentation temperatures.

As for the pellets dropping to the bottom I am wondering if pellets themselves have changed over last few years. Maybe they are now denser than they used to be, perhaps to make the better protected from oxygen. I am now routinely burping my pellets at least once about 24 hours after dry hopping. This is helping a lot and is really easy to do with a conical. But it does require that you do a pretty good job dumping the yeast before dry hopping.
 
I do like soft crashing my conical to 55-60 at end of fermentation to drop and clear the yeast. And from there I have tried dry hopping at that temp, at colder and warmer. I'm back to raising the temps a bit after the soft crash and yeast purge. Reason being that I am dry hopping at rates and in beers that will proably experience hop creep. I've been getting 2-3 gravity points say from 1.015 (when yeast activity seemed done and most of the yeast had dropped out) to 1.012 when I dry hop warm enough to get a second round of yeast activity.

When I keg I usually manage to get 1-2 kegs into my keezer but 1-2 will end up sitting out at room temp for a week or three waiting for space. If I dryhop and package cold that beer may go through that refermentation in the keg and I fear this could lead to diacetyl. I think the cold dry hopping is probably fine if beer is never going to warm back up to fermentation temperatures.

As for the pellets dropping to the bottom I am wondering if pellets themselves have changed over last few years. Maybe they are now denser than they used to be, perhaps to make the better protected from oxygen. I am now routinely burping my pellets at least once about 24 hours after dry hopping. This is helping a lot and is really easy to do with a conical. But it does require that you do a pretty good job dumping the yeast before dry hopping.

Hmm, I dry hopped in a keg at room temp for 4 days, then put the keg in the kegerator with the hops still in there. I plan to bottle a dozen or so of these beers to share - should I worry about hop creep causing bottle bombs?

Dan
 
I’ve tried it twice which was 2 too many times. Not a fan of the hop character at all. Had many of the Tree House Juice Project beers that are also dry hopped cold and don’t enjoy that hop character either.

soft crashing to 55, remove yeast and dry hop around 58. Done it hundreds of times while every now and again trying a different temp/method.

Personally I keep coming back to DH around 58-60 after removing yeast. Biggest impact, most True to Type flavor and aroma. No Hop creep.
 
Ive settled in nicely with soft crashing to 50 and holding for 36hrs to drop yeast out then bouncing it back up to 58-60 for the DH. Been working very well for me in terms of aroma and flavor with zero hop burn.
 
it seems obvious that there isn't a right or wrong way to dry hop as long as you like the result.

regarding hops sinking: I recently dry hopped with galaxy and centennial. Galaxy (Yakima Valley) sunk like a rock fairly quickly, the Centennial (BSG) floated.
I've got no explanation
 
Hop pellets can be pelletized to different densities. The largest breweries can actually specify how they want the pellets from their select lots to be pelletized. So sometimes you’ll get crumbly pellets and sometimes they’re hard as a rock. I can’t remember where I read this but I believe the harder the pellet the more heat was created during the process and potentially more damage to the hop oils. That could be totally wrong though.

I’d recommend letting your dry hops warm up to room temp before adding them to the beer vs just straight from the freezer to the beer.

I’ll ask this... is the fact that the pellets sank to the bottom worse than if they were floating on top? If they’re at the bottom they’re still fully in contact with the beer. If they’re floating on top they’re potentially not completely in contact with beer the whole time.
 
Depends on your fermentor. The bottom of mine has some plumbing and hop pellets that get into the plumbing intact can expand there and turn into a hop plug. If I don't work to move that plug back into the beer (I burp it back up there with CO2) those hops contribute very little to the beer and make dumping trub before kegging a PITA.
 
I am about to begin cold crashing my IPA in primary tomorrow. I have 3 oz of hops waiting in the freezer which I plan to add the next day with gelatin finings and let sit in primary cold for a total of 2 days. I will then bottle the beer. This is based on the OP's posted article and the Scott Janish blog post.

I am curious about the use of gelatin while dry hopping cold. My theory is that I am saving time AND limiting the time that I need to cold crash. Has anyone dry hopped while fining with gelatin in primary while cold crashing? Logically, there is potential that this dry hopping method would diminish the impact on aroma due to the hops quickly dropping in suspension leaving brewers with a decision when brewing hoppy beers: to dry hop or fine with gelatin while cold crashing. I guess I am testing that logic.
 
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I am about to begin cold crashing my IPA in primary tomorrow. I have 3 oz of hops waiting in the freezer which I plan to add the next day with gelatin finings and let sit in primary cold for a total of 2 days. I will then bottle the beer. This is based on the OP's posted article and the Scott Janish blog post.

I am curious about the use of gelatin while dry hopping cold. My theory is that I am saving time AND limiting the time that I need to cold crash. Has anyone dry hopped while fining with gelatin in primary while cold crashing? Logically, there is potential that this dry hopping method would diminish the impact on aroma due to the hops quickly dropping in suspension leaving brewers with a decision when brewing hoppy beers: to dry hop or fine with gelatin while cold crashing. I guess I am testing that logic.
I'm preparing to do this same sort of thing. I've got a pale ale that turned out sort of lackluster that I'm using as a test dummy; today I just bagged 2oz of hops and tossed em in the keg to get a feel for how much extraction/what kind of character to expect from it.

But regarding gelatin, I'm planning to cold crash for a day, add the gelatin and give it a day or 2, then do my dry hops for 2 days after that, and then do a closed transfer to a keg. My thought being that if you add the gelatin and dry hops at the same time you may lose some of the aroma compounds that get absorbed by the yeast still in suspension (which the gelatin will ultimately cause to drop out). No idea if my thinking is correct or not, but that's what I'm rolling with for now 😅
 
I'm preparing to do this same sort of thing. I've got a pale ale that turned out sort of lackluster that I'm using as a test dummy; today I just bagged 2oz of hops and tossed em in the keg to get a feel for how much extraction/what kind of character to expect from it.

But regarding gelatin, I'm planning to cold crash for a day, add the gelatin and give it a day or 2, then do my dry hops for 2 days after that, and then do a closed transfer to a keg. My thought being that if you add the gelatin and dry hops at the same time you may lose some of the aroma compounds that get absorbed by the yeast still in suspension (which the gelatin will ultimately cause to drop out). No idea if my thinking is correct or not, but that's what I'm rolling with for now 😅
Awesome! I considered that too—adding gelatin for a day then dry hopping. But if I don't just dry hop and fine at the same time, I am leaning towards dry hopping FIRST for a day THEN fining with gelatin. I can't get around the idea that 3-4 oz of dry hops in a 5 gallon batch would just add haze after the gelatin works most of its magic.
 
Awesome! I considered that too—adding gelatin for a day then dry hopping. But if I don't just dry hop and fine at the same time, I am leaning towards dry hopping FIRST for a day THEN fining with gelatin. I can't get around the idea that 3-4 oz of dry hops in a 5 gallon batch would just add haze after the gelatin works most of its magic.
I'm sure you're probably right. I'm content with the bit of haze from the hops if I get better extraction. I'm only planning to add probably an ounce this batch, but I'll let you know how it shakes out in the end this way lol
 
Juste another piece of advice: do it.

My IPAs always lacked the hoppy goodness I was looking for. They were hoppy, for sure, but they all tasted the same. Then I started dry hopping short and cold: bingo! I brewed the Pliny clone from this site (2019 version) and it's the first time I actually enjoyed the taste and aroma in one of my IIPAs. It almost tastes like Heady Topper (ok, maybe not as good, but seriously, I would like to do a side by side): there's actually layers of hops, and you could almost tell the hops I used.
The aroma is different from anything I've brewed, maybe less intense, yes, but you get all the sweetness and the nuances of the hops, just like a good Heady.

Also, I used to hate US-05 in anything hoppy because it tasted chalky and muddy for ever in the keg. This time, the beer is good right out of the tap, 2 weeks after kegging.

Compared to a NEIPA I brewed the old way (dry hopping 3-5 days at ferm temp with about the same amount of hops), this one is smooth, tasty; the NEIPA is hoppy for sure, but rather unidimensional and harsh -and I know it's not pH related.

If you're afraid to loose some of the hop aroma you know and like, then try dry hopping 2 oz in primary at ferm temp and the rest (2 to 4+ oz) cold after a proper cold crash (for 5 to 6.5 gallons batch). This may well be the new definition of double dry hopping!
 
A little too early to make a definitive conclusion but I have had a split batch in the keg for about 1.5 weeks. This was a batch very similar to a prior batch of an American IPA. The last time I dry hopped the batch cold and thought it was wonderful.

This latest batch was a 5 gallon batch split into two fermenters. What I did was:
  • Fermentation was a little slow, fermented at 64F, bumped to 66F on day 5, 68F on day 8, 70F on day 9
  • Day 13 - 8 PM - Dry hopped the "warm" batch with 1 oz each of Centennial and Chinook pellets (still at 70F)
  • Day 15 - 5 PM - Cold crashed both to 45F
  • Day 15 - 8 PM- Dry hopped the "cold" batch with 1 oz each of Centennial and Chinook pellets (added at 45F, set controller to 40F)
  • Day 17 - 10 PM - Cold crashed both to 32F (there was still a bit of hops floating in both)
  • Day 18 - Kegged (closed keg transfer).
So the Warm batch was dry hopped at 70F for 2 days, crashed to 40F for 2 days and crashed to 32F for 1 day (5 days total hop contact time). The Cold batch was dry hopped at 40F for 2 days, crashed to 32F for 1 day (3 days total hop contact time).

The Warm batch just has more hop flavors. Both batches had a rather harsh bitterness that leaned toward astringent when I took samples during the first week. This astringent bitterness was more pronounced on the Cold batch. While the batch is a bit more bitter than I recall/enjoy, the astringent part has faded. The beers now have more of a clean bitterness, though still a bit too bitter.

I evaluated them yesterday to see which one I plan to submit for a competition and I plan on entering the Warm batch.

Maybe I should have dry hopped the Cold batch a bit warmer, maybe left it at 45F or 50F. I am pretty sure the last time I dry hopped around 40F (though I cannot find my sheet with actuals and notes for that batch).

Edit: Maybe next time I will try @couchsending's process "soft crashing to 55, remove yeast and dry hop around 58".
 
Glad somebody's had success with dry hopping cold lol I did not enjoy the results I got and will not be attempting it again anytime soon lol

Has anyone dry hopped when adding gelatin?

If you want the brilliant clarity you get with gelatin, dry hop first and the add finings. I've done it the other way too and thought it was fine, but you will get a touch of haze from the hops if you add the gelatin first.
 
I don’t have split batch comparisons here but I continue to have success with batches that are dry hopped at 3-4oC in keg and keeping the hops in the kegs until the keg kicks. I keep my Keezer at an average of 4oC to get into the glass at 7oC. No off flavours and great hop aroma and flavours throughout. This might not be available to everyone but it is my go to method now for dry hopping when possible.

the most recent batch I did when dry hopped in fermenter, which was done at 15oC, was the famous Julius clone recipe was also great without keg hops. Next time I do it am going to hop in keg and see if there is a difference but won’t be a head to head tasting. Just by memory.
 
I have been a proponent of keg hopping cold on this thread. Recently I brewed an IPL and keg hopped. After about a month on tap the keg was down to the last 4-5 pints. The beer at that point became very grassy and lost the nice hop flavours. So, I think this would say that there are styles of beer which keg hopping can cause some issues for.

hazys, amber ales and a saison I have Not had issues with any off flavours from keg hopping but this one the last few pints were not good due to off flavours from the hops.
 
I’ve tried it twice which was 2 too many times. Not a fan of the hop character at all. Had many of the Tree House Juice Project beers that are also dry hopped cold and don’t enjoy that hop character either.

soft crashing to 55, remove yeast and dry hop around 58. Done it hundreds of times while every now and again trying a different temp/method.

Personally I keep coming back to DH around 58-60 after removing yeast. Biggest impact, most True to Type flavor and aroma. No Hop creep.
How many hours are you dry hopping for at those temps?
 
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