I've made a mistake - Should I still dry hop?

[JonBrew]

Ok so I've screwed up my brew a little bit. Basically, I used a recipe for an Oktoberfest Ale - I thought it was for a 23 litre batch but I only wanted to brew 15 litres so I scaled it down. Turns out I mis-read the recipe and it wasnt for a 23 litre batch; 23 litres was the starting volume of water required. So, essentially, I have a diluted Oktoberfest Ale.

I've run my numbers through BeerEngine and, assuming I hit my target gravity, I'm going to have a lighter beer that's about 4% ABV (the recipe would have produced a stonger beer: + 5.7%. I had intended to dry hop but, in view of my error, I'm wondering if I still should? I'm worried that the lighter ale wont be able to stand up to any further hop additions.

 

[bhanson]

Interesting question. Assuming you did a full wort boil and your hop addition was added for a lesser volume, you can expect to have a higher utilization of those original hops, contributing more overall bitterness. BUT since it's more diluted than the original recipe, the dilution will make it less bitter. So although I don't have any details, I'd say you should relax, don't worry, and have a homebrew.

Dry hopping really doesn't add any bitterness to the finished beer, just hop flavor. So the real question at this point is probably not whether the beer can handle the hops, but whether you now want to shoot for a beer with more hop aroma (add dry hops) or want to see how the recipe changed with your dilution strategy (no dry hops). Since you originally intended to add them, I'd say - go for it!

 

[Hello]

bhanson's advice is great. I have a question though. You said assuming you hit your target gravity but then said you didn't because your assumed ABV will be lower. What's your target OG and what was the target OG of the original recipe?

I don't think you'll have a "lighter" beer because I describe that as a beer that is thinner in taste. Is that what you mean? I would proceed with dry hopping so that you can get the aroma from the hops you were originally looking for. You may want to scale down the amounts though.

 

[JonBrew]

thanks to both bhanson and hello

to answer your question (hello): yes, "thinner" is a better term to describe what I'm expecting to end up with now.

the original recipe had a OG of 1.062 and a target FG of 1.015 (5.7% ABV)

from BeerEngine, based on my grain bill and water volume, it's telling me my OG should be 1.041 (which it was - bang on) and target FG should be 1.010.

i think i'll go ahead and dry hop. any ideas how much to use?

my original hop additions were 20g of Tettnanger (at 60 mins) and 20g of Saaz (at 30 mins).

 

[Hello]

Well then you did good. Once you scale a recipe, the OG changes obviously and you hit it. I think you will be surprised to know that you will have a good beer that won't taste as though it is too thin or thinner than the original would have been.

What did you want to dry hop with? The same? Do the instructions give you a starting amount? If so, if it were me not knowing what to do, I'd dry hop with 75% of what was originally called for. Others may and probably will have better advice there.

 

[TopherJohn]

I made a Fat Tire clone where I goofed my calculations and ended up with an OG of .029 and FG of .008. ABV of 2.75%.

And yet: totally drinkable. It is not exactly sweet, but the fact that the ABV is so low changes the viscosity and perception of sweetness somewhat. My wife and I call it "Beer Soda" and I named it Flat Tire.

All I'm saying is, dry hop your brew and mark the experience in your beer log.

 

[rmyurick]

You could always taste a sample and then decide. All you have to lose is time, up to a dollar or two in materials and a little bit of beer.

 

[JonBrew]

Well then you did good. Once you scale a recipe, the OG changes obviously and you hit it. I think you will be surprised to know that you will have a good beer that won't taste as though it is too thin or thinner than the original would have been.

What did you want to dry hop with? The same? Do the instructions give you a starting amount? If so, if it were me not knowing what to do, I'd dry hop with 75% of what was originally called for. Others may and probably will have better advice there.

Yeah I was thinking of dry hopping with the same. Maybe slightly more tett as the aroma is outstanding. As the above post suggested I may taste first.

Thanks to all!

 

[jbaysurfer]

All beers can stand up to dry hop additions, at least in this hophead's opinion!

It doesn't change bitterness, just adds that aroma and bit of hoppy flavor! I might consider dry hopping with less so as not to completely overpower the flavor of the beer itself, but I'd still dry hop it if that was what I initially intended. GL!