Dry-Hopping with Fruit? Am I doing it wrong?

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Jablestein

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Just a pretty simple/quick question. I've got an IPA that I'm about to brew next weekend. I just purchased a glass carboy so I can start experimenting with secondary fermentation techniques. My current plan is to do a Dry Hop (whole leaves) along with a fruit addition. I'm curious if I'm "trying to hard" by attempting both at the same time, or more-so if there is a legitimate scientific reason that I shouldn't do so.

Also, if you have any tips or suggestions for how to appropriately Dry Hop/Add Fruit i'd love to hear them.

So far my plan is to put the whole hop leaves in along with the sliced fruit (which has been boiled and frozen to deteriorate the skin cell walls) and then rack the beer on top for another 7 days.

Thanks in advance!!

-Justin
aka Jablestein
 
Your best bet is to not add fruit during dry hopping as the fermentation caused by the sugar in the fruit will drive off the hop aromas you want to get out of dry hopping.

You can simply add the fruit, then once fermentation has completed you can dry hop
 
Thanks a lot! That's exactly what I was worried about so it's good to know that it's probably not the best way to go. Any opinions on whether or not I might be going a little overboard? I guess I'm a little afraid that doing three different stages (2 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary fruit, 1 week tertiary dry hop) and several transfers may expose my beer to the elements a bit more than I'd like. I just want to make sure I'm not messing up the batch by trying too hard.
 
Just be extra careful that your racking tube curls around the bottom of your secondary so it swirls gently rather than splashing. That's where oxidation starts.
 
Not sure what you are trying to make but strong hop flavor/aroma will probably cover any fruit that you add to secondary. usually fruit beers are very lightly hopped if at all besides bittering hops early in the boil
 
Just be extra careful that your racking tube curls around the bottom of your secondary so it swirls gently rather than splashing. That's where oxidation starts.

Gotcha. I think that's actually something I need to fix in my pre-bottling process anyways. I actually wonder if that might be attributing to some "flat" flavor issues I'm having.

Not sure what you are trying to make but strong hop flavor/aroma will probably cover any fruit that you add to secondary. usually fruit beers are very lightly hopped if at all besides bittering hops early in the boil

Haha, to be perfectly honest...I'm not really sure myself. I'm not familiar enough with the all the flavors and how they compliment one another. This is sort of a crazy experiment in hopes of learning something about fruits and dry hopping (though it might be better to just flip one of those switches first before I get too crazy). In my head it seems like the fruit I'm adding would be a decent compliment to the beer itself. I guess I'll just have to find out via trial and error, but I do greatly appreciate the insight in how fruit flavors and bitter hops combat each other.
 
Gotcha. I think that's actually something I need to fix in my pre-bottling process anyways. I actually wonder if that might be attributing to some "flat" flavor issues I'm having.



Haha, to be perfectly honest...I'm not really sure myself. I'm not familiar enough with the all the flavors and how they compliment one another. This is sort of a crazy experiment in hopes of learning something about fruits and dry hopping (though it might be better to just flip one of those switches first before I get too crazy). In my head it seems like the fruit I'm adding would be a decent compliment to the beer itself. I guess I'll just have to find out via trial and error, but I do greatly appreciate the insight in how fruit flavors and bitter hops combat each other.


Most fruit ferments out so you just have the essence of the flavor, not a real strong flavor. If you have had something that had a lot of fruit flavor, it was more than likely something where fermentation was stopped and it was forced carbonated, which you can't do if your bottling at home.

The hops will probably cover up any fruit flavor from actual fruit, but you may get some flavor from using extract, though you have to be careful with those because a little goes a long way.

Not trying to discourage you if you want to give it a shot, but IMHO I would do seperate experments first so you can see what they both do before trying to combine dry hops and fruit.
 
You also don't want to boil your fruit, only steep if at all. Boiling makes jelly. I just freeze fresh, washed fruit and dip it starsan for a minute before adding to secondary. Then rack onto that.
 
Most fruit ferments out so you just have the essence of the flavor, not a real strong flavor. If you have had something that had a lot of fruit flavor, it was more than likely something where fermentation was stopped and it was forced carbonated, which you can't do if your bottling at home.

The hops will probably cover up any fruit flavor from actual fruit, but you may get some flavor from using extract, though you have to be careful with those because a little goes a long way.

Not trying to discourage you if you want to give it a shot, but IMHO I would do seperate experments first so you can see what they both do before trying to combine dry hops and fruit.

Ya, I think you've talked me into it. It's probably best to try one solo and then the other to see what I think.

As for prepping the fruit, I was told that the best way to do it was to boil (to break down the cell wall on the skin so juices release easier) and then rack on top of the fruit in secondary. That being said, I'm certainly open to suggestions. Do you slice your fruit to allow the juices to interact with the beer during fermentation?
 
Ya, I think you've talked me into it. It's probably best to try one solo and then the other to see what I think.

As for prepping the fruit, I was told that the best way to do it was to boil (to break down the cell wall on the skin so juices release easier) and then rack on top of the fruit in secondary. That being said, I'm certainly open to suggestions. Do you slice your fruit to allow the juices to interact with the beer during fermentation?

you don't want to boil the fruit, as was mentioned above that will set the pectin and create a really hazy beer. I usually freeze what ever fruit I am using then thaw and put it in secondary and rack the beer on top. There is some risk with this due to the fruit not being sanitized, but I haven't had any issues with it so far (knock on wood).

you can slice the fruit, but if you are doing something small like berries, grapes, etc I would just put them in whole. The freezing will cause the cells to burst. If you are doing peaches, or such you can slice, or puree them.

Also another good option is the fruit puree that a lot of home brew stores sale.

This is just what I do, there are probably as many ways to do it as their are brewers.
 
Sweet deal. Well I think I'm just going to go with the Dry Hop with this one, since it's an IPA and a good majority of the advice I've received from folks mentions that the bitterness of the hops seems to override most fruit flavors. Maybe I'll save that for a lighter beer batch. Regardless, I'm interested to see how the dry hop comes out in the end when compared to the basic kit IPA I've used most recently.
 
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