lagering and dry hops

[drunami]

Alright folks, last week I brewed my first CDA (or black IPA, or whatever you wanna call it). However, for a twist I decided to use Wyeast 2112. I've heard that this yeast does fantastic things with very hop-forward beers.

My question is this: I'm definitely dry hopping, but I'm also thinking about lagering. I just recently got a pair of 3gal better bottles that will fit in the fridge in my apt, so now I can finally lager stuff like an adult. Anyone have any experience with dry hopping and lagering? Here's my ideas:

1. Dry hop all at once while doing diacetyl rest, maybe rest a bit longer than normal (4-5 days). Then rack off drop hop and lager.
2. Dry hop in fridge while lagering (would temp change length of time you dry hop?).
3. Dry hop like normal (room temp), then bottle and lager in the bottle.

Option 2 sounds like it could be cool, but i've heard that you can get grassy weirdness out of dry-hopping for too long.

thoughts?

 

[Cyclman]

I would lager, then dry hop. More fresh hop flavor, lots of flavor will drop off while lagering.

 

[drunami]

Yeah. I think I'll add to secondary while lagering, but only for the last week or so.

 

[mrdauber64]

Do 2 and 3! I dryhop in the keg for the duration of the keg at serving temps and I never get any grassyness. Dryhopping does take longer at colder temps.

 

[drunami]

Just a quick update about this beer -- it was delicious!

I decided to dry hop while lagering for the full 3 weeks.

It took longer than desired to fully carbonate and smooth out in the bottle, but that's my usual experience with the 2112 strain. Hop aroma was very strong in the first few weeks, but settled to a nicely balanced but smooth presence, with reasonable head retention. Flavor was spot on, with a nice rounded back-end maltiness that complimented a strong hop bitterness/flavor. A bit thicker mouthfeel than your typical CDA.