dry hopping pale ale

[Garrettmacklin]

Hi guys,
I have a youngs pale ale kit, and ive heard it can be a bit bland, so i wanted to dry hop it with target hops.
Can anyone give any advice on when and how much to use? I was going to ad them at the end of primary fermentation and leave them 3 days or so before bottling.
What do you think?
Thanks!
G

 

[LostHopper]

Why not?

I'm still a toddler in homebrewing experience but when I have this same question I split the batch and dry hop half just to see if the variable really had an effect. It helps that I was given two 3 gallon carboys.

 

[emcfarden]

As far as how much I would say to look up some well known recipes that are similar to that one and see how much they call to dry hop with. I just did my first dry hop and I left it in for 7 days after primary fermentation was finished. Just bottled it so we'll see how it turns out.

 

[m00ps]

0.25-0.5oz/gal is probably where Id dry hop a pale or or something not super hoppy. Id find its barely worth it for just 0.25oz/gal though
1.0oz/gal or more I do for very hop foward beers.

 

[Durso81]

So in my Pale ale recipe I dry hop with 2 ounces of citra in a 5.25 batch size. Just a personal preference I like to dry hop a little more around 7 days.

 

[Garrettmacklin]

great thanks ill try that then!

 

[MVKTR2]

Per the above comments, about 2 oz is a fairly standard dry hopping rate for an APA. I'd go with 2 and adjust from there as 4 oz is adequate for an average IPA.

 

[Garrettmacklin]

So I dry hopped with 50grams target after decanting to a fresh FV and left it 7 days then bottles. Starting gravity 1.041 end gravity 1.08. Tried it yesterday and it's fab, really fresh and floral. I bottled some before dry hopping for a comparison, and without hops it has no body, very little taste at all. This worked very well!
Thanks for the help guys

 

[Rhetorik]

So I dry hopped with 50grams target after decanting to a fresh FV and left it 7 days then bottles. Starting gravity 1.041 end gravity 1.08. Tried it yesterday and it's fab, really fresh and floral. I bottled some before dry hopping for a comparison, and without hops it has no body, very little taste at all. This worked very well!
Thanks for the help guys

Dry-hopping does not really add flavour; it is purely for aroma. There is some olfactory nonsense going on mind you, but that'd be about it.

 

[slym2none]

I disagree. There is some flavour imparted by dry-hopping. It's mostly for aroma, sure, but there is some flavour compounds being released as well.

 

[TheHopfather]

Also disagree. I do not buy the aroma only argument at all. It seems crazy people claim this, I'd done beer with and without dry hops, they are definitely adding flavor.

 

[aprichman]

Flavor and aroma are intimately tied together. Does dry hopping add sweet, sour, salty, bitter, or umami flavors? That's all our tastebuds are capable of detecting.

Try the jelly bean test - grab a jelly belly without looking at it. Pop it in your mouth while you are plugging your nose. Can you tell the flavor? Now unplug your nose and see if you can tell what flavor you are eating. This really helps you understand how aroma shapes our perception of flavor.

 

[beskone]

For anyone that thinks they ONLY impart aromas do this quick experiment.

Take a bottle of water, dry hop it with some pellets for 3 - 5 days. Cold crash it and drink it. I bet it doesn't taste like plain old water.

Then think of the magnified effect soaking those hops in alcohol would make.

Then post back how it's 100% aroma.

 

[Garrettmacklin]

Aroma does act heavily on how we perceive tastes- whatever it is it's working for me!

 

[Redlantern]

Agree with a lot of the above - At this point I do not care to evaluate if it is technically aroma or flavor, it makes a difference in taste.

Perhaps something silly like "Flaroma"? It is in there somewhere.....