Dry Hopping - optimal time?

[bruce311]

Hey curious what everyone thinks here. I'm a newbie to homebrewing and starting to go off recipe a bit. When it comes to dry hopping, I place a hop bag during my secondary fermenting. My q to your all, how long is optimal? How long is too long? I've heard 48 - 72h is the max as after 72h you won't get much more hop notes.

What're your thoughts here? Thanks in advance for the reply!

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

First I would skip the secondary, dont transfer. After 2 weeks or so dry hop for 2 to 3 days, then package.

 

[YaleH]

I'm currently doing a Cashmere Blonde Ale from NB and will be dry hopping as per the recipe for the first time, and it states to leave the 1oz of hops in secondary for 5-7 days before bottling.... I've gone off the script on other recipes and some have not turned out well. I'm sticking to the recipe to see what happens!!!

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

I wouldn't go over 5 days, you can get some weird flavors. But that's just me.

Edit.. and skip the secondary, that's probably where your problem lies.

 

[bruce311]

First I would skip the secondary, dont transfer. After 2 weeks or so dry hop for 2 to 3 days, then package.

Why skip the secondary? (Curious)

 

[bailey mountain brewer]

Post fermentation oxygen exposure with cause oxidation in your final product. Leading to flavor loss, off flavors, and darkening of the beer.

 

[bruce311]

Ah yeah. That'll do it for sure. Man, wish I didn't move it already. That first fermentation left that carboy nasty.

 

[YaleH]

Post fermentation oxygen exposure with cause oxidation in your final product. Leading to flavor loss, off flavors, and darkening of the beer.

I agree with your above statement and why I have never done it before..... But that was when I used to use the standard 6 gal buckets!!! I use Fermzilla All Rounders now and do closed transfers from fermenter to keg with no exposure to oxygen, and I can do the same transferring between 1st and 2nd fermenters.

 

[RM-MN]

I've seen a few people advocate for short dry hopping times to avoid "off flavors" but I haven't noticed what they claim as off flavors even leaving the beer on the hops for up to 2 weeks. YMMV

 

[Miraculix]

I tried short, I tried longer, my results are 4 days are best.

 

[Golddiggie]

IME, a factor is also the temperature of the beer being dry hopped. If it's warm, you want less contact time. If cold, you can let the hops stay longer. At this point I'm using conical fermenters, with a glycol chiller, and don't add hops either until I've already harvested the yeast (typically chill to the 40-50F range for that) or I'm a day or two away from carbonating (typically in the 36-38F range).

I've also had dry hops in serving keg, added when the beer was being transferred (kept in a nylon mesh bag) and had no issue for the time it took to kick the keg (up to over a month). I did find I had better results with leaf hops with that method than pellet hops.

 

[YaleH]

IME, a factor is also the temperature of the beer being dry hopped. If it's warm, you want less contact time. If cold, you can let the hops stay longer. At this point I'm using conical fermenters, with a glycol chiller, and don't add hops either until I've already harvested the yeast (typically chill to the 40-50F range for that) or I'm a day or two away from carbonating (typically in the 36-38F range).

I've also had dry hops in serving keg, added when the beer was being transferred (kept in a nylon mesh bag) and had no issue for the time it took to kick the keg (up to over a month). I did find I had better results with leaf hops with that method than pellet hops.

That sounds right @Golddiggie you'll get different flavor profiles with different temps.... I may drop the temps in my ferment chamber down about 20 degrees (48-50 range) when I transfer to secondary and remove it from the yeast and will basically doing a conditioning phase. Kind of a mild cold crash. thnx.

 

[Beermeister32]

Some variation between recipes…. Usually 3-4 days prior to bottling.

 

[Immocles]

I generally end up leaving my dry hop additions in for a week. I try to time it out where theres still some fermentation taking place to minimize some of the oxygen. On my normal work schedule, I tend to brew on thursday/friday, and end up dry hopping on Monday or Tuesday, but unable to package until the following week due to shift rotations. I've never come across any grassy or vegetal off flavors (which now, of course, I probably will...), but the longest I have let them sit is probably 10 days.

 

[Golddiggie]

That sounds right @Golddiggie you'll get different flavor profiles with different temps.... I may drop the temps in my ferment chamber down about 20 degrees (48-50 range) when I transfer to secondary and remove it from the yeast and will basically doing a conditioning phase. Kind of a mild cold crash. thnx.

Secondary?? If I want to remove the yeast from the batch, I simply dump it via the bottom valve in the conical. Most of the time, that's more to harvest the yeast for another batch.

With the limited amount of space I have for fermenters, I did away with the chamber and just went the conical and glycol chiller route.

 

[T Murph]

Lol, the need to employ a secondary fermenter depends primarily on the equipment you are working with. If you are fermenting in a bucket or carboy, the use of a secondary fermentation is helpful to clarify your beer and get it off the yeast cake. It is very important to prevent oxidation so closed transfers are you best option. However if you are using a conical fermenter there is virtually no need to transfer to secondary.

Time for dry hopping can range from a couple of days to a couple of weeks or even sometimes the duration of the keg when done in the serving vessel. The type beer being brewed and your available temperature control play a big part as to how long to leave your dry hops in suspension. Your recipe should advise you of the suggested duration. Otherwise search this forum to learn how others dry hop their specific brews.

 

[TLaffey]

The OP mentioned using a hop bag. I suppose the bag might work OK with only 1-2 ounces DH. I use a lot of dry hops in most of my beers and get much better results when the hops are "loose".

 

[Dr_Jeff]

Ask ten brewers that question and you will get 18 answers.

 

[thomer]

Ask ten brewers that question and you will get 18 answers.

You got that right. I was about to ask the same question as the OP but found this thread. I did some other research and this is what I found:

Dry hop using a hop bag so it's easier to remove.
Don't use a hop bag as you are adding something to the wort which may produce contamination.
Don't use a hop bag it stops the flavors from getting into the beer.
Add dry hops when the fermentation slows, but only add them for 3-4 days.
Don't add them so soon as you introduce oxygen into the fermenter when removing them.
Add dry hops a few days before bottling.
Don't add dry hops so late as there is no yeast left to push out the introduced oxygen.
Don't add dry hops for more than 3-4 days as it produces off flavors.
I dry hop for 14 days without an issue.
etc etc.....

In brewing there is certainly no 'one size fits all'.
Experimentation here we come....

 

[PCABrewing]

You got that right. I was about to ask the same question as the OP but found this thread. I did some other research and this is what I found:

Dry hop using a hop bag so it's easier to remove.
Don't use a hop bag as you are adding something to the wort which may produce contamination.
Don't use a hop bag it stops the flavors from getting into the beer.
Add dry hops when the fermentation slows, but only add them for 3-4 days.
Don't add them so soon as you introduce oxygen into the fermenter when removing them.
Add dry hops a few days before bottling.
Don't add dry hops so late as there is no yeast left to push out the introduced oxygen.
Don't add dry hops for more than 3-4 days as it produces off flavors.
I dry hop for 14 days without an issue.
etc etc.....

In brewing there is certainly no 'one size fits all'.
Experimentation here we come....

thomer, how can you question the collective experience & knowledge of "experts"
Collectively those statements should be considered as absolutes!