Hop Taste Testing with Dry-hopping?

[lump42]

So I snagged a hop sampler pack from YVH on black friday, and am now the proud owner of 2 oz of a bunch of hop varieties I've never tried before. I've never had much lucky distinguishing many of the different flavors in commercial beers. I had a similar issue with wine until I was in California to visit friends and did a bunch of wine tastings. I couldn't taste the difference between red and white even until then.

So, I'm hoping I can set up some small batches with the same recipe to be have these side by side. The two routes I'm considering is to brew a 2 gal batch for each variety, adjusting for approx. IBUs, or brew one large batch, with a moderate base level bittering of neutral hops (horizon) ferment it out, then split, and dry-hop.

Any suggestions on which route to take?

 

[JohnSand]

Either will work. The old theory was that dry hops added only aroma, I don't believe it.
I have successfully changed a beer by hopping it in the bottle. There was a video a while back in which a homebrewer hopped BMC in bottles to test hops. You could also "whirlpool" hop one batch by splitting it into different pots, adding different hops to each and covering. Have fun, let us know what you do.

 

[lump42]

Either will work. The old theory was that dry hops added only aroma, I don't believe it.
I have successfully changed a beer by hopping it in the bottle. There was a video a while back in which a homebrewer hopped BMC in bottles to test hops. You could also "whirlpool" hop one batch by splitting it into different pots, adding different hops to each and covering. Have fun, let us know what you do.

Interesting I hadn't thought about the whirlpool option. I had included a whirlpool addition in separate batch recipes. I guess I could set my kettle on a cork trivet in a cooler or wrap it in old blankets to keep it warm in between batches. I don't think I have enough one gallon pots for many of them at once.

 

[JohnSand]

I don't think I do either. I do have 8, 12, 16qt pots, If you put some in each and kept some in your kettle, you could go four ways. Or pick up some pots at thrift store or yard sale.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

So, I'm hoping I can set up some small batches with the same recipe to be have these side by side. The two routes I'm considering is to brew a 2 gal batch for each variety, adjusting for approx. IBUs, or brew one large batch, with a moderate base level bittering of neutral hops (horizon) ferment it out, then split, and dry-hop.

Any suggestions on which route to take?

This is a really sensible thing to do, so bravo.

Personally, I'd see value in testing hops both as copper and dryhop additions. To minimise the work I'd split a single batch and add hop teas and dry hops to aliquots of it. So brew say 5 gallons of a 1040 OG wort with 100% pilsner or pale malt with say 20 IBU of bittering hops (or if you're really paranoid, alpha extract) and ferment it as a single batch. Then when it was ready to bottle, add your priming sugar to the main batch and prepare enough bottles.

Then prepare a bain-marie, depending on how many hops you have this could be a deep roasting tin or a cast-iron casserole or whatever. Ideally you put something in the bottom to keep things off the direct heat. Then measure out a certain amount of water (50ml?) into a series of mugs, and put them in the bain-marie to warm up to near-boiling (but doesn''t need to be actually boiling). Meanwhile measure out your hops onto bits of foil - doesn't need to be much, just a constant amount, say 5 grams. When the mugs are up to temperature, add a different hop to each mug and leave it for 10 minutes. Meanwhile prepare a bath of ice and water, and put the mugs in it after the 10 minutes is up.

When the hop teas have cooled, fill bottles with the base beer, and then add the hop teas to some bottles, and 3 hop pellets to others as a dry hop. If you have enough, maybe do hop tea + dry hop as well.

Leave a week or two to carb, but don't leave them hanging around for ever, you don't want the dry hops to be in there for too long - and invite some friends round to help you compare.

Once the hop teas are cool,