How long should I dry hop?

[mckee1184]

I have 2oz. Of Azacca hops to dry hop with. Will I notice much of a difference with leaving them in there for 7 days vs. something like 5? I have never dry hopped... obviously. By leaving them in there longer will I just recieve more flavor or can you also get an off flavor by leaving hops in too long?

 

[thehaze]

I recommend only 2-3 days. 2 oz is not much, especially for a 5-6 gal batch, but should add a bit of aroma nonetheless.

 

[C-Rider]

I put one oz of Apollo in 2 gallons for 3 days. It's still conditioning so I can't comment on taste yet.

 

[thehaze]

I recommended 2-3 days tops as I already have experimented with more than 3 days and up to 8 and never liked the results. Sure, it adds aroma, but compared to something that was only dry hopped for 2 days, it smells and feels stale and bland. Azacca is pretty fruity with a pine kick. You want all that in your beer, which is why leaving the hops for longer will not get you there.

 

[Leapsandbounds]

Whenever I dry hop with Azacca the beer always smells like mango juice at bottling time. I usually let the hops sit for 5 days but that’s not based on any specific reason. I usually use 2 Oz for a 5 gallon batch as well.

 

[Immocles]

Mmmm. Azaccaaaaaaa...

 

[catdaddy66]

I used to dry hop for 6-7 days as I heard the hops may turn "grassy" any longer. Lately I have been doing 4-5 days with decent results.

 

[Dgallo]

As close to packing as you can. Like @thehaze 2-3 days should be your max. I’ll post some pictures of research Scott Janish put together from various studies on hop oils and dryhoping rates. Shows all the known “aroma” oils are extracted in 24 hours

 

[HopsAreGood]

I've dry hopped for different periods of time with mixed results. You have to remember there are a lot factors that go into what your finished beer is going to taste and smell like. Quality and freshness of the hops, the specific varietal of hops used, amount, length of time, temperature at which you're dry hopping, and then the entire rest of your brewing process leading up to the dry hopping stage.

Anyway, I recently came across a study done by Peter Wolfe at Oregon State (just realized this is likely the same study referenced above) that concluded dry hopping for only 4 hours, WITH agitation, extracted nearly 100% of oils and aroma compounds. There is also a brulosophy beerexperiment in which he dry hops for only 1 hour, also WITH agitation, and the results are similar.

I recently brewed a pretty simple citra pellet/mosaic cryo NEIPA. Big whirlpool, ZERO dry hops in the fermenter..transferred into a purged keg with 4 ounces of citra pellets, and one ounce of mosaic cryo in a large hopping bag. I left it in there for only 4 hours at room temp, and agitated the keg every 30 minutes by shaking it pretty good and rolling it back and forth on the ground. I then put it in the fridge on gas for about 20 hours in which it chilled down to serving temp. I then opened the keg, pulled the bag out, purged it again and left it in the fridge for a few days.

The beer has as much aroma and flavor as any other beer I've ever made, including ones that have been dry hopped 2,3,4 times, 5 days, 7 days, 10 days, etc..

Take what you will from this little experiment but I see no reason to go back to dry hopping for any long periods of time.

 

[Dgallo]

The the only thing I dislike here are mesh bags. I’m a loose dryhop guy. Extraction and surface area have been shown to have a direct correlation with each other. As surface area contact increase, so does extraction. If you have the ability to dryhop under pressure in your fermenter and want to try something different at some point, I would suggest soft crashing to like 45-50*f for 24 hours to floc the yeast. Then doing a dryhop under pressure as it warms back up. Then cold crash under pressure for 24 hours and keg. I think you’ll be surprised by how it can even elevate the aroma and flavor you’re currently getting. This is how I do it under pressure and eliminate the vacuum created by cold crashing

 

[HopsAreGood]

I've always done loose dry hops as well. I actually much prefer it and anytime I've dry hopped in the fermenter that's how I've done it. This latest batch with zero hops in the fermenter was way different than what I usually do. The above set up dry hopping under pressure with temp control to floc the yeast is absolutely ideal. I'll prob look into rigging up something like that soon.

I understand that hopping in a bag definitely decreases utilization, but I felt a little better about it due to the fact that I'd be shaking and rolling it pretty vigorously. When I took the bag out, after 24 hours, all the hops "appeared" to be completely broken down and fully saturated with liquid. I'm sure extraction would have been better if they were loose, but it's hard to really say by how much.

I should also add that I used a large 5 gallon paint strainer bag. Tons of room for the hops to move around.

 

[Jag75]

I cant stand to have hop particles in my beer . It never fails you hear about people keg line getting plugged . I dont cold crash so I always use a paint strainer bag. I usually dry hop on day 2 of fermentation for about 3 days . Then I dry hop 4/5 days out from being kegged . Many ways to skin a cat they say