NE Style IPA Hop Addition Help

[Brew_and_ride]

I am fairly new to brewing but would like to try a NE Style IPA. I've been doing some reading and understand that besides a small addition during the boil, to prevent boil overs, most of the hops are added during the "whirlpool" and dry hopping.

My question is how to add my hops during dry hopping. I plan on adding hops during fermentation and then adding them for days at a time afterwards. Most recipes I see look something like this:

City (60 min boil)
Amarillo/Columbus (1 day into fermentation)
Move to secondary
Amarillo/Columbus 3 days
Amarillo/Columbus 5 days
Amarillo/Columbus 7 days
(*note, this is just a simple example not an exact recipe)

My question is do I just continue to add more hops every few days on top of the hops already in there or do I re-rack it before every new hop addition?

Thanks!

 

[frettfreak]

With this style, IMO, i dont think a secondary is necessary. I add a good amount of hops once my fermentation starts to slow (still krausen, just after its not at peak activity), and remove them 2 to 3 days later.

I dont add anything else til about day 8 or 9. I add ALL the hops in a hop sack, because i dont like to let the hop matter sit in contact with the beer for more than 2 or 3 days MAX to avoid the green flavors that you will get withthe amount of hops you should be using.

The other reason you dont want to secondary is the risk of oxidation with these beers is real and it will dramatically effect the longevity of the brew. I take extra precautions when transferring to keg as well by flushing everything with Co2 before i transfer.

Good luck!! Since this is your first NEIPA, i would also suggest using London ale 3 (my fav) or Conan / Barbarian as they really make an EXCELLENT NEIPA!

 

[Morrey]

I'll assume you plan to bottle your beers and not keg since you didn't mention.

Each time you rack you not only expose your wort/beer to oxygen, you take the risk of contamination. In some cases secondary's are mandated, but I avoid additional racking steps if at all possible.

Biotransformation as you plan to do is addition of hops while the beer is actively fermenting. If you are bottling, you could add more hops to your primary fermenter after all is finished and the gravity has reached FG. I keg so this is where I dry hop, but if you bottle, I think I'd simply add more hops into primary at the right time. The less you move the beer, the better IMHO.

By no means am I a hops expert, and by no means am I trying to influence your recipe decisions. Columbus is a fine hop and I use it for bittering at beginning of the 60 min boil. Amarillo is another fine hop and one of my go to favorites. I would be hesitant to use Columbus from start to finish as suggested in this NEIPA. Amarillo is perfect for later hop additions. Hops for thought......Galaxy, Citra, Cascade, Mosaic, Amarillo (not all of them at once of course) make good running mates for a NEIPA. Just an opinion and you may be inclined otherwise which is what makes home brewing appealing.

 

[Omahawk]

Muslin or cheesecloth hop bags work great for getting dry hops in and out cleanly - particularly with a bucket or big mouthed fermenter ( can be tough to get in out with car boys or other narrow necked fermenters). I would add a new bag with your hops ever day so that:

Bag 1- 1 oz addition with 7 days left
Bag 2 - 1 oz addition with 5 days left
.... and so on ...

Or you could simplify your life and combine 1 or 2 of the additions - your call. My personal preference: I would tend to just do all 3 oz on day 5 in one bag. But it'd be good to try it with your hop schedule to see if there's a little extra hop magic that comes from it.

Also, I typically wouldn't dry hop until the active part of fermentation is complete. I know that is a thing with some recipes / styles though. The CO2 production during active fermentation is purported to "scrub" some of the aroma from the hops. Maybe this is a purposeful thing with the NE IPA you identified, but I typically would not do day 1 of fermentation dry hopping. My preference would be to wait until fermentation is winding down.

Also note that many brewers do not do a secondary transfer for dry hopping. They simply dryhop in the primary fermenter when the fermentation is complete or near complete, do the 3-7 hop contact you noted, then prepare for packaging.

Good luck. Sounds like fun!

 

[ProblemChild]

With this style, IMO, i dont think a secondary is necessary. I add a good amount of hops once my fermentation starts to slow (still krausen, just after its not at peak activity), and remove them 2 to 3 days later.

I dont add anything else til about day 8 or 9. I add ALL the hops in a hop sack, because i dont like to let the hop matter sit in contact with the beer for more than 2 or 3 days MAX to avoid the green flavors that you will get withthe amount of hops you should be using.

The other reason you dont want to secondary is the risk of oxidation with these beers is real and it will dramatically effect the longevity of the brew. I take extra precautions when transferring to keg as well by flushing everything with Co2 before i transfer.

Good luck!! Since this is your first NEIPA, i would also suggest using London ale 3 (my fav) or Conan / Barbarian as they really make an EXCELLENT NEIPA!

GIANT +1

Especially if new to brewing - limit your steps with new beer styles. Learn to get it right before adding steps or you will never truly untangle little slips as there are are too many variables. Constantly cracking open the fermenter always risks oxidation and critters. minimize whenever possible.

My best NEIPA's have been
1) decent hop-bursting at end of boil. (about 3 oz.)
2) Hop stand with about 4 to 5 oz. hops at below 170°F for 20 min
3) A single dry hop session less than 5 days from crash and package. (equal to or greater than the hop stand)

 

[Omahawk]

Biotransformation as you plan to do is addition hops while the beer is actively fermenting.

Thank you. This was the term I couldn't think of. This is what is supposed to make the NE IPAs so "juicy", correct?

 

[Morrey]

Thank you. This was the term I couldn't think of. This is what is supposed to make the NE IPAs so "juicy", correct?

Absolutely. The activity of the yeast seems to carry the hop flavors into the beer and makes the hop essence sort of "emulsify" into the beer for the lack of a correct term. Plus when you dump 13 ounces of hops (mostly spread out later in the process) nice things happen. I use some flaked adjuncts too which gives it a creamy mouthfeel, so the appearance combined with citrusy hops flavors is described as "juicy". Awesome!

Note: As you mention, this biotransformation hop addition is best done with maybe 25% of the fermentation remaining. If I start at 1.050 and anticipate FG to be around 1.013, I'd do that bio hop addition around 1.022...or there about. I use 1318 London Ale III, Conan, so this puts me on day 3 typically.

 

[Omahawk]

GIANT +1

Especially if new to brewing - limit your steps with new beer styles. Learn to get it right before adding steps or you will never truly untangle little slips as there are are too many variables. Constantly cracking open the fermenter always risks oxidation and critters. minimize whenever possible.

Agreed. I used to dry hop a lot of IPAs, and can't recall ever transferring to a secondary just to dry hop. I only secondary for wood aging and the occasional fruit addition.

 

[Brew_and_ride]

This was my first thread post here and I must say I am pleasantly surprised at the amount of good information and guidance I received. This was extremely helpful! Thank you all for the recommendations and I will certainly implement them in this next batch. Ill post an update on how I go about this thing and the result. Thanks again and cheers.

 

[Morrey]

This was my first thread post here and I must say I am pleasantly surprised at the amount of good information and guidance I received. This was extremely helpful! Thank you all for the recommendations and I will certainly implement them in this next batch. Ill post an update on how I go about this thing and the result. Thanks again and cheers.

You'll find HBT members are very helpful and easy going....I have seen other forums where members belittle each other for the benefit of making themselves look self important. HBT is much more novice friendly and will lend a helping hand.

One other thing that makes a NE IPA "juicy" is the water chemistry used in the beer. Just like salt and spices makes or breaks a culinary dish, same can be said about the brewing salts and minerals in a beer. If you can get your thoughts together on this topic before you brew, the amount of Sulfates (SO4) in a ratio with Chlorides (Cl) is important making the beer seem "juicy". I like my SO4:Cl ratio to be 1:2 in this particular beer. More simply stated, I prefer mine to be 75 SO4 to 150 Cl expressed in ppm. This is an advanced topic for sure, and if you are interested, there are lots of threads here discussing water chemistry.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I brew mostly NEIPAs. Don't secondary. Dry hop during active fermentation. Shoot for a quick turnaround on these as freshness is paramount.

If you plan to bottle, be aware that you may be disappointed. There's a very long thread about people having issues with bottling this style. Most suspect oxidation. I think that's the root cause, but exasperated by having to store warm for 1-2 weeks to carb the beer. Plan to store in the fridge as early as possible when you reach full carb.

Also, do you have a water plan? Most have really good luck with a reverse ratio on sulfate/chloride. Most IPAs have more sulfate than chloride to emphasize the hop bite. NEIPAs, to contrary, are about a smooth, juicy hop experience. Shoot for 150 ppm chloride to 75 ppm sulfate as a nice starting point. I start with RO water and add gypsum and calcium choride to reach these levels. I usually need a couple ounces of acidulated malt to get my pH in the right area.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[frettfreak]

Agreed. I used to dry hop a lot of IPAs, and can't recall ever transferring to a secondary just to dry hop. I only secondary for wood aging and the occasional fruit addition.

I only used to secondary for aging and if i wanted a cleaner sample of harvested yeast. However, i now take my yeast from an over sized starter and rarely do a secondary anymore. similar to you, only for certain things.

One other thing that makes a NE IPA "juicy" is the water chemistry used in the beer. Just like salt and spices makes or breaks a culinary dish, same can be said about the brewing salts and minerals in a beer. If you can get your thoughts together on this topic before you brew, the amount of Sulfates (SO4) in a ratio with Chlorides (Cl) is important making the beer seem "juicy". I like my SO4:Cl ratio to be 1:2 in this particular beer. More simply stated, I prefer mine to be 75 SO4 to 150 Cl expressed in ppm. This is an advanced topic for sure, and if you are interested, there are lots of threads here discussing water chemistry.

I was going to mention this but figured it might be a little advanced at this point since he said he was fairly new. lol Couldnt agree more though. Water profile makes a 100% difference IMO. My ratios are the same but usually higher PPM (100/200)

 

[Morrey]

I only used to secondary for aging and if i wanted a cleaner sample of harvested yeast. However, i now take my yeast from an over sized starter and rarely do a secondary anymore. similar to you, only for certain things.



I was going to mention this but figured it might be a little advanced at this point since he said he was fairly new. lol Couldnt agree more though. Water profile makes a 100% difference IMO. My ratios are the same but usually higher PPM (100/200)

Absolutely, this is deep water for sure. One school of thought is to get the brewing process down and discover water management at a later date. I pretty much did this myself and found it amazing how my beers improved once I started managing chemistry. Even if the OP is not inclined to tackle this subject quite yet....he/she will know the steps to take once ready.

 

[Brew_and_ride]

Ok, so I got through the boil, added some hops during the whirlpool and then some more during active fermentation. I used London Ale III yeast and had a very aggressive and quick fermentation. There was defiiitlwy cause for a blow off tube. Anyhow, I am ready for dry hopping (I think) but was quaestion is do I wait until all the krausen is gone before adding my hops for dry hopping or could I just add them while there is still that layer of krausen? Thanks!

 

[thehaze]

When I used 1318, I added hops at day 2-3 and then again ( a much bigger charge ) after 3 days and left all of them for 3-4 days more.

 

[Morrey]

With 1318 in a NE IPA, I add dry hop addition #1 on day 3 when there is still some remaining active fermentation going on. I leave it be until I rack to keg on day 14 typically, then add dry hop addition #2 for a few days.

Don't see it being an issue the way you are proposing as there are certainly lots of ways to accomplish the same goals.

 

[Brew_and_ride]

thanks!