Dry hopping ??

[Creepersale]

What is dry hopping ? And why would I do it ? And what result would it give me? Thanks .

 

[atom]

http://bit.ly/GErF1x

 

[Beer-lord]

Here's one perspective...
http://www.byo.com/stories/article/indices/37-hops/573-dry-hopping-techniques

I usually dry hop after 1 week or when the majority of fermentation has ceased. I like hoppy beers but I also like the hit on the nose at about the same time my tongue feels the hops. I'm just sick like that!

 

[BryceL]

It's when hops are added to the beer after it is done fermenting. It can be done with either hop pellets or whole hops and usually for 5-10 days. It is done to add hop aroma to the beer, not flavor or bitterness. IPA's are examples that are usually heavily dry hopped.

 

[Creepersale]

So I can just add about one oz or so in a bag after I rack to my secondary ? Do I just let bag go to bottom ? And the hops would be raw also right?

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I never use a bag when I dry hop... It will all sink to the bottom and then I just rack carefully so I don't bring the bits along. Many people use a sanitized bag as well, but it doesn't seem necessary for me so I skip the bag.

 

[Grumpybumpy]

I put a bag over my racking cane when it comes time to move to the bottling bucket. Works well

 

[Creepersale]

Ok thanks alot ! So just raw hops ? No need to boil a hop tea .???

 

[gcdowd]

Just raw hops. Dump em right in!

 

[amedelman]

No need to boil them, that would actually be bad as it would release some of the aroma. Infection from hops is generally unheard of, just toss them in!

 

[Creepersale]

Ok great thanks !!

-Cheers-

 

[Creepersale]

All this talk about dry hopping. I would like to do it on my first batch of an IPA. That is about ready to be racked to secondary. Should I just go ahead a dry hop it. Or should I try my first IPA standard first ?

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I think an IPA should be dry hopped, just my opinion though. The hop aroma that you get to go with all that hop flavor and bitterness really makes it. I love hops!!

 

[gcdowd]

Part of the birth of the style is because they were dry hopped. You should definitely go for it!

 

[Creepersale]

That's what I'm thinking !!!
Cheers---

 

[MMJfan]

I put a bag over my racking cane when it comes time to move to the bottling bucket. Works well

I tried this and my auto syphon still seemed to get clogged a LOT when I was racking my beer to my bottling bucket. Is there something I'm doing wrong?

 

[ludomonster]

So I can just add about one oz or so in a bag after I rack to my secondary ? Do I just let bag go to bottom ? And the hops would be raw also right?

I would dry hop 2 oz, and I would use high AA% hops such as Simcoe, Citra, and Amarillo. High AA% hops have more resin per unit vegetal matter and you get less grassiness that way.

Finally, I dry hopped an amber ale. I really enjoyed it, but I found that it could be better if the beer was more bitter. I'm not the kind of person who likes bitterness for bitterness' sake. So I think that dry hopping adds an additonal dimension of balance to some beers.

I plan on making a imperial amber ale based on the dry hopped amber recipe.