How many ounces of dry hop for an APA?

[tiredofbuyingbeer]

I've got an Simcoe/Amarillo APA fermenting now, and I'm going to dry hop it next week for about 5 days. My plan was to go 1 oz. each Simcoe and Amarillo, but why not go more?

Is there any downside, other than cost, of bumping it up to 3 or 4 ounces?

Is there any advantage to doing a two-staged dry hop? For instance, I could go 2 ounces 10 days before racking and 2 ounces 5 days before racking.

Also, there's the question of proportion. If I went with 4 ounces, I'd probably use equal amounts Simcoe and Amarillo. But if I went with 3 ounces, what should the ratio be? 2 oz. Amarillo and 1 oz. Simcoe?

 

[Weezy]

None. Traditionally no dry hops. You'll definitely lose the malt-hop balance with a bunch of hops on the nose.

 

[plazola86]

My formula for Pales and IPA dry hops:

Pales = 1/2 oz per gallon.
5.5 gallons in the fermenter I use 3 oz to dry hop

IPA's = 1 oz per gallon.
5.5 gallons in the fermenter I use 6 oz to dry hop

Hop bomb = 1.5 oz per gallon.
5.5 gallons in the fermenter I use 9 oz to dry hop

Personally I break them into 2 stages. 1st right before fermentation is complete (airlock has slowed), 2nd 5 days before kegging.

 

[Barley_Bob]

You're asking for a lot of wildly different opinions with this one.

I would say an oz of each is good (2oz total). I usually dry hop my IPAs with 2oz. There definitely are diminishing returns the higher you go. I don't notice much difference between 2 and 3 oz, and I notice even less of a difference between 3 and 4oz. Other than diminished returns and cost, I don't see any reason you can't do more. It might get grassy at some point, but maybe you like that.

I have tried 2 stage dry hopping, and I didn't think it was worth the trouble. There's probably someone on here who will swear by it, but I say keep it simple. I usually dry hop 5 days before bottling.

As for how to divide up the hops you use - it's totally up to you! I generally use 3 different hops in an IPA, and they don't all make it into the dry hop. To an extent, I think it's just fine to rely on one or two hops just to be there for flavor. There's no wrong way to do this. In general, I think folks will tell you it's better to be more focused and keep each addition simpler.

Good luck!

 

[Barley_Bob]

None. Traditionally no dry hops. You'll definitely lose the malt-hop balance with a bunch of hops on the nose.

I don't agree that you shouldn't dry hop an APA. The style is really variable. It just depends on what you want. I might normally do an oz or two.

I do agree there are trade-offs and that you may lose track of some other characteristic. But again, it depends on what you're going for.

 

[aimlessbum]

For a standard APA, I like to go for 3-4oz. However- if you want something special and/or especially aromatic like an IPA but at APA flavor levels (if that makes sense), I have thrown up to 8oz of dry hop (average 6, though). That's probably what many would say if past the point of saturation/diminishing returns, but if it works for places like Trillium, then why not try it myself?

 

[tiredofbuyingbeer]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.

I take the suggestion not to dry hop seriously, but I don't think that I want to do that with this beer. I want this particular beer to punch a little above its weight with citrusy aroma, given the combination of hops it uses. Maybe I'll try a non-dry-hopped pale ale with a large victory addition or something else in the future.

Maybe I'll dry two ounces now and go crazy whenever I try making a NE-style IPA.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

None. Traditionally no dry hops. You'll definitely lose the malt-hop balance with a bunch of hops on the nose.

I have a tendency to throw tradition out the window. That said, I'm not even sure I agree that tradition says no dry hops. Surely beers like SNPA are dry hopped?

One of the reasons I got into home brewing was to brew what I like/want, not what a style guide says, so I don't really care what's "right". There are a ton of beers that are, for all practical purposes, IPA's that are called Pale Ales. Zombie Dust and Pseudo Sue spring immediately to mind, both of which are absolutely dry hopped. I don't care much about the label, just that the beer tastes good.

 

[Weezy]

If you pour one and all you get on the nose is floral or fruit or whatever is the aroma of your dry hop, and you get no malt character, it's out of style.

Does that mean you have to stick to style? Of course not. But I'm not got to apologize for my reply to a post about a style. If the op had said I brewed X beer (followed by recipe) and asked what we all recommend for dry hop, I'd have given him a dry hop recommendation. But he asked about dry hopping a specific style that is not traditionally dry hoped. And, no, SNPA is not traditionally dry hopped.