How much dry hopping is too much?

[frothiehops]

I know this is merely a matter of opinion, but I have to know. Is there anybody out there that uses columbus(14% AA) to dryhop? For some reason my first trial with 1 oz produced an incredibly intense aroma and flavor. My last two batchs, however, lack that intensity.

The only factor that separates the first from the last two is when I added the hops. For the first one I added the hops after the beer was in the secondary for a week. The last two I added the dryhops directly into the primary.

My question is: Does it matter if the dryhopping is done after the beer has had a chance to clear?

 

[BierMuncher]

With all of the CO2 being produced and expelled during primary, adding hops for aroma is not a good idea.

The CO2 is basically scrubbing the beer and carrying away your precious hops aroma.

 

[k1v1116]

I think the issue with adding hops to the primary is that the co2 from fermentation scrubs a lot of the hops flavor / aroma out. I think its always recommended to dry hop in the secondary.

EDIT: damn, someone beat me to it.

 

[frothiehops]

makes enough sense.spanks!

 

[david_42]

Since hops aroma fades, the closer you dry hop to bottling or serving the better. I might delay dry hopping for months, if I don't have an open tap.

1 oz of Perle + 1 oz Cascade + 1 oz Amarillo = too much dry hopping. Took a month for the grapefruit to fade.