Dry hopping: hop varieties and ratios

[Clyde McCoy]

When dry hopping with more than one variety of hop, what approach do you take to determine the ratio of each variety?

This study examined various lots of Cascade hops and found "no correlation between total oil content and overall hop aroma intensity."

This study examined Cascade and Centennial hops and found that "the dry-hop aroma potential of different hop varieties is predicted by different hop volatiles and that total oil content is not the best indicator of a hop’s dry-hop aroma intensity or quality."

And don't forget, harvest maturity has a significant impact on the aroma of Cascade hops. So when your hops were harvested will affect the intensity of their aroma.

Is trial and error the only way forward here, or does anyone have a more scientific approach?

 

[thehaze]

First of all, it depends which hops you can get your hands on. Breweries will always go directly to the farms and pick the best batches, meaning what is left is found on the open market and homebrew shops. I believe I've never seen information on harvest time on hop packaging or any homebrewing shops, so any approach related to this specific factor, will not be possible.

 

[Clyde McCoy]

First of all, it depends which hops you can get your hands on. Breweries will always go directly to the farms and pick the best batches, meaning what is left is found on the open market and homebrew shops. I believe I've never seen information on harvest time on hop packaging or any homebrewing shops, so any approach related to this specific factor, will not be possible.

Do you have any evidence that the hops available "on the open market and [in] homebrew shops" are in anyway inferior to those used by professional breweries? Honest question.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Do you have any evidence that the hops available "on the open market and [in] homebrew shops" are in anyway inferior to those used by professional breweries?

I'm contributing to this drifting off topic a little too early in the topic, but ...

It's possible to run a triangle test involving a single hop beer with hops sourced from 1) a professional brewery's home brew store and 2) the "open market".

 

[thehaze]

Do you have any evidence that the hops available "on the open market and [in] homebrew shops" are in anyway inferior to those used by professional breweries? Honest question.

I don't. I can only base this on the results I've got with my beers and of course, what others have been saying in this forum. Brewers do have contracts and they have the possibility to choose the desired crop, based on sensorial testing, and probably small batches. But I would like to know if the hops I can get from homebrewing shops are equally good as the ones bigger/more famous breweries get. I didn't mean to say the hops we get are bad, just that they could be inferior in quality.

 

[couchsending]

Do you have any evidence that the hops available "on the open market and [in] homebrew shops" are in anyway inferior to those used by professional breweries? Honest question.

Yes..

you might find some great lots in the stuff available for homebrewers but for the most part it’s what’s left over after selection by the guys with the contracts. A lot of professional brewers will tell you the hops they get on the spot market are often less than ideal.