Dry Hopping Hop Options

[smellgoats]

Hey All,

New to the site and new to homebrewing, but looking to dive right in and learn all I can. I am currently working on my first batch ( Imperial IPA) which is currently nearing the 4th day of its primary, which I'm assuming will slow down in the next 2 days or so.

I'll be racking to my secondary carboy sometime this week it looks like, and I would like to dry-hop the batch.

Here is my recipe that went in:

6.6 lbs Golden Light LME
3 lbs Golden DME

Steeped grains:
1 lb Carmel 80L
8 oz. Victory
4 oz. Carapils

2 oz. Columbus @ 60m 13.9%AA
1 oz. Columbus @ 20m 13.9%AA
1 oz. Commbus @ 5m 13.9%AA

Hops were all pellet variety. OG was 1.071 with an estimated FG of 1.017-1.020

Pretty much folowed the rules on this one, but I am looking to dry hop to achieve IBU's in the 60-80 range as well as some serious hop flavor. I picked up 4 varieties today at my LHBS. Here's what I got:

1 oz. Citra AA 15.6% (whole)
1 oz. Cascade AA 7.1% (whole)
1 oz. Chinook AA 11.8% (pellet)
1 oz. Warrior AA 16.7% (pellet)

My question is, does anybody have any good results from any or a combination of these hops with dry hopping? Any advantage to using whole over pellet or vice versa? Should I add the hops to the carboy before siphoning over or float them in afterwords? I am trying to achieve the hop flavor and aroma of certain beers: Arrogant Bastard, Ranger, Imperial Gemini, Titan, etc.

Like I said, its my first batch so both sagely advise and criticism are welcome.

 

[chezteth]

Your recipe sounds good! The amount of bittering you get from the Columbus hops in the boil should get you close to your goal of 60-80 IBUs. You will not get any bittering from dry hopping. You will get mostly aroma and some flavor. I would leave out the Warrior and just go with the cascade, chinook and citra for dry hopping. Whole hops will create less of a hoppy mess in your beer than pellets. I have used pellet hops for dry hopping and it works fine but you can end up with some hop matter floating in your beer. That can be reduced or eliminated by putting the hops in a hop sock. One thing to keep in mind is if you are using a glass carboy, a hop sock with wet hop matter will be difficult to get out of the carboy. I don't think it will matter if you add the hops to the secondary fermentor first or last. I usually add them after I have transferred the beer. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Brandon

 

[TarheelBrew13]

I second using chinook, cascade and citra for dry hopping and that you won't get any bitterness from dry hopping.

Actually, I should just repeat the previous post. I agree with all that writing stuff above my post.

 

[RM-MN]

Since you are doing a higher alcohol beer with that IIPA, leave it in the primary fermenter longer. It needs it. In fact, you may just want to leave it in the primary and dry hop it right there. I'd probably leave it for 3 weeks to be sure it is completely fermented and the yeast have had a good chance to start the cleanup, then dry hop it for a week.

I made an APA using Citra at 10 minutes left in the boil and dry hopped with Cascade. The beer tastes like carbonated grapefruit juice with an alcohol kick to it. Pretty easy to drink but too much of it will put you on your butt.

 

[cox8611]

+1 to Cascade & Chinook, dont have any Citra experience but heard its good.

if you use whole hops of cascade (and i highly recommend it) do one of these things...

Whole hops and a hop sack are awesome ideas if you use sanitized aquarium marbles to weigh the hops down into the beer. However, don't try it in a carboy, the neck is too small for any significant amount of whole hops in a hop sack. Try instead to just dump them in prior to racking into the carboy, but on racking out make sure to put a sanitized muslin bag or hop sack on the end of your siphon tube, if you don't you'll just clog your siphon from the leaf getting lodged in the tubing. voice of experience, had to buy 3 siphons after trying to get all the hop matter out of an autosiphon and kept breaking the siphon seal.

 

[Yooper]

I like dryhopping with just about any US hop variety. I'd use two ounces, of whatever sounds best from the description.

I just toss my dryhops (gently) into the fermenter about a week before packaging. I don't bag or anything like that usually. I am very proficient with racking, though. If you're not, you could try using a sanitized bag. The hops don't have to sink, they just have to be in contact with the beer.

 

[Skelator]

You definately dont want to rack to secondary this week. I'd leave it in the primary for atleast 3-4 weeks, transfer to secondary for at least 2 more weeks then add your dryhop for a week. Higher alcohol beers need more time to condition.

 

[Daydrew]

I recently added Columbus and Amarillo to an IPA batch. I havent tasted it yet, however the smell coming from the secondary is amazing. 2oz goes a long way so be careful how much you put in there.

 

[smellgoats]

Alright so I Am gonna hold off on racking to the secondary after the last few posts. Also, gonna forget about the warrior hops for this recipe My airlock is still bubbling quite steadily. If I were to open up the lid and toss the hops in, wouldn't that risk exposing the beer to too much oxygen because of the headspace in the bucket? Same thing with taking a sample to check the gravity? How do you go about minimizing exposure during the racking process bedsides keeping the siphon under the flow to minimize splashing?

 

[Yooper]

Alright so I Am gonna hold off on racking to the secondary after the last few posts. Also, gonna forget about the warrior hops for this recipe My airlock is still bubbling quite steadily. If I were to open up the lid and toss the hops in, wouldn't that risk exposing the beer to too much oxygen because of the headspace in the bucket? Same thing with taking a sample to check the gravity? How do you go about minimizing exposure during the racking process bedsides keeping the siphon under the flow to minimize splashing?

I add dryhops to the primary about a week before packaging. If you're gently, there isn't any problem with oxidation at all. Gently open the lid, add the hops without splashing, and recover. Since the hops provide some nucleation points, and co2 is still in solution, don't be surprised if you see a little airlock activity after.

You can take a sample whenever you like. Just gently open the lid, take the sample, and replace it. If the beer is only in primary 2-3 weeks, there isn't any problem with taking off the lid.

I leave my beers alone for about 10-14 days, then dryhop for the last 5 or so before packaging.

 

[terrapinj]

You definately dont want to rack to secondary this week. I'd leave it in the primary for atleast 3-4 weeks, transfer to secondary for at least 2 more weeks then add your dryhop for a week. Higher alcohol beers need more time to condition.

6 weeks is overkill for ~7% beer IMO - hops will start to fade at that point

i'm with yooper - 2-3weeks then add dry hops for 1 week - rack to bottling bucket and bottle

 

[smellgoats]

6 weeks is overkill for ~7% beer IMO - hops will start to fade at that point

i'm with yooper - 2-3weeks then add dry hops for 1 week - rack to bottling bucket and bottle

Alright cool, do you do 2-3 weeks in the primary only or is that combined for both primary and seconday? No need to get it off the trub with that short period of time?

 

[terrapinj]

i don't do secondary except for prolonged aging

my last India Red Ale which was 1.063 / 1.014 was 2 weeks in primary and 8 days on 2oz dry hops in primary bucket (got busy on day 7 so waited another day to keg) then added another 2oz to keg in a hop sock

i have a fridge i use for fermentation so my temps are controlled very well so the yeast don't have a lot to clean up after

you may want to go 3 weeks in primary then add dry hops to primary but I don't think you need to bother racking to secondary

i like to cold crash for a couple days and then rack - sometimes i will use a paint strainer bag over the end of the siphon that's inside the bucket to keep hop debris out

 

[RM-MN]

Alright cool, do you do 2-3 weeks in the primary only or is that combined for both primary and seconday? No need to get it off the trub with that short period of time?

Since a couple of brewers have mentioned leaving their beer in the primary for something like 8 months without off flavors, I don't think you need to worry too much about a 3 week primary. I've done a dark stout for 4 1/2 weeks and it came out really good.

 

[smellgoats]

Opened by brew today, took a sample and added 1oz citra and 1oz cascade. All looks well. Should I have stirred them in? I just kinda let them sit on top of the brew. Thanks for all you help.

 

[justino411]

just let em' sit.

 

[smellgoats]

just let em' sit.

alright, i am, just opened today to check specific gravity. Most of them are still chilling out on top. Didn't use a sack or any of that, because it didnt seem to matter consensus wise on here. When I rock to bottle should i just assume they will be sunk by then, or work around them? thanks

 

[terrapinj]

were they wet or dry?

if they are all wet then you are ok, if still dry i'd give them a gentle swirl

they will usually sink if you cold crash - i just use a paint strainer bag over the racking cane

 

[smellgoats]

They were dry whole leaf, the top layer still is dry. I'll try cold crashing, I'm not really not sure if pushing them in is a good idea at this point. Next time I'll bag em, and make em sink!

 

[marquette048]

Thanks All...I've learned a lot from this thread :rockin: