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New England IPA "Northeast" style IPA

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Interesting, it doesn't seem like there would be much biotransformation there unless the hops trigger further fermentation. What's your guys' total time in primary?
 
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Interesting, it doesn't seem like there would be much biotransformation there unless the hops trigger further fermentation. What's your guys' total time in primary?

My sample size is really low with home brewing experience....Ive brewed 4 total brews and 2 are in keg and 2 are currently in fermenters. All are NEIPAs. So to answer your question, the total time in the fermentor for me has been 13-14 days. Out of those ~2 weeks, the beer is on the hops for about the last three days only. Right now Im only dry hopping after fermentation is complete and Ive soft crashed the yeast out of suspension first. I haven't done any secondary transfers unless you consider my serving keg my secondary lol.
 
Interesting, it doesn't seem like there would be much biotransformation there unless the hops trigger further fermentation. What's your guys' total time in primary?
I don’t want any bio transformation to occur. Bio transformation does not amplify flavor or aroma (can actually show a decrease in aroma) it only changes the compounds into different ones. In my experience dry hoping during fermentation will will greatly increase your risk of hop burn due to binding more polyphenols (hop burn) with proteins and keeps them in suspension longer.

To each their own though. I know quite a few people in this thread who I genuinely respect feel their beers are better since they started active fermentation dry hoping. That being said, I will never go back to doing so. I want the absolute least amount of yeast present when I am dryhoping.
 
I don’t want any bio transformation to occur. Bio transformation does not amplify flavor or aroma (can actually show a decrease in aroma) it only changes the compounds into different ones. In my experience dry hoping during fermentation will will greatly increase your risk of hop burn due to binding more polyphenols (hop burn) with proteins and keeps them in suspension longer.

To each their own though. I know quite a few people in this thread who I genuinely respect feel their beers are better since they started active fermentation dry hoping. That being said, I will never go back to doing so. I want the absolute least amount of yeast present when I am dryhoping.
+1 to this and typically 11-12 days from grain to glass...[emoji482]
 
+1 to this and typically 11-12 days from grain to glass...[emoji482]
Im sure that Id easily be able to fit my NEIPAs in the 11-12 day window, as they really seem to be done at like day 5ish, but wait until day 7 to take the hydro sample just to be sure. Trying to be patient being a new brewer anyways.
 
I also skip the bio hop dose now and soft crash before DHing. I have been single dryhopping at 72 hrs. What do you feel is the advantage to splitting the DH at 72 and 48 hrs?
Since I’m dry hopping 6-8 oz I find that if I dump them in all at once, once they expand, a 1/3 of them are above the beer line and not in contact. By breaking it up, I feel I get more overall contact time. My first dh is usually my danker or more unique hops and the second is the cryo or fruit forward hops. This is just preference but does seem like I get a tad more pop when adding the brighter hops last
 
How long is everyone dry hopping?

Currently, I am dry hopping a small amount (2-3 ounces) near the end of fermentation, then soft crashing to 58/60, then dry hopping again 2-3 days before bottling (4-5 ounces).

I do believe that active fermentation with hops such as Citra (and the right yeast) can create citronellol, but I also agree with Dgallo that dry hopping during active can lead to greater hop burn. My question is whether I can thread the needle and get the best of both worlds, by reducing the amount during active (and adding at the end of fermentation) and then doing a larger final dry hop (cold) after a soft crash. My jury is still out, but I seem to get juicier results this way...
 
has anyone compared these processes:

soft crash and dry hop at soft crash temp vs soft crash, warm beer up again and then dry hop?

Yes. I've done a few experiments like this:

same recipe: 2-row base, flaked barley, a touch of golden promise
hops: citra, cascade, simcoe or galaxy

soft crash to 58F for 2 days

dry hop was 6oz total, one single charge into a purged keg.

dry hop method #1: 3 days at 58F with 20PSI of C02
dry hop method #2: 2 days and raise temp to 70F with 20 PSI of C02
dry hop method #3: 4 days at 58F with 20 PSI of C02
dry hop method #4: 4 days at 70F with 20 PSI of C02

notes:

method 1 was by far the least potent. Aromatics and flavors were subdued. But it tasted good, no astringency whatsoever. The dry hop added mostly aromatics over imparting any flavor.
method 2 was good, but aromatics didn't stick around as long as method #3. It had more of a "green" tone to the flavor than methods 1 and 3, but it was very slight. It was pleasant.
method 3 tasted good and had good aromatics, aromatics lasted the longest (5 weeks)
method 4 was quite astringent, potent. After astringency left, there was a little bit of a "green" hoppy taste that lingered. More than method 2.

Depending on my timeline, I shoot for a 4 day dry hop at 58F. After reading some of @Dgallo and others notes here, I'm going to dry hop at 2 days at 70F and then cold crash and do another DH at 58F for 1-2 days and see how it compares. I hope it makes the dry hop characteristics more complex and saturated.
 
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Thinking about cloning this recipe, but replacing the Mosaic with Strata. Anybody have opinions on a Citra, Strata, Galaxy? I have heard that Mosaic is a bit more piney than Mosaic and that Strata has a good fruity character. However, I am worried about how resinous and harsh the beer might be with Strata and Galaxy.
 
has anyone compared these processes:

soft crash and dry hop at soft crash temp vs soft crash, warm beer up again and then dry hop?

First time I soft crashed, I threw the hops in around 55 degrees and they all sank right to the bottom of the carboy. I noticed less hop aroma on that batch for sure. Ever since then, I will soft crash to 50 or 55, then let it rise back up to 60-65 before I dry hop.

This is based on different recipes, both NEIPA and west coast, so I don't have an apples to apples comparison.
 
First time I soft crashed, I threw the hops in around 55 degrees and they all sank right to the bottom of the carboy. I noticed less hop aroma on that batch for sure. Ever since then, I will soft crash to 50 or 55, then let it rise back up to 60-65 before I dry hop.

This is based on different recipes, both NEIPA and west coast, so I don't have an apples to apples comparison.

Similar to you, i tried dryhopping a west-coast ish ipa with an ounce of simcoe cryo and 2oz simcoe pellets at 58 and it was really subdued aroma. pulled the keg to room temp, added another 3oz pellets, let it sit at 65ish (room temp in late fall) and BOOM, aroma was awesome. previously all my dry hops were done around 65, and that's what ill be doing from now on.

edit: i ferment in corny's though so i have no idea if its cause they fell or not.
 
I'm currently doing a yeast experiment with 12 other brewers and part of the recipe is to soft crash to 55-58 degrees before dry hopping for a day. I've yet to do that myself since I've always done it at 68.
 
My first and only attempt at a soft crash and short 36hr dry hop failed miserably , absolutely no aroma whatsoever from the 6oz dry hop charge. I dropped the temp to 58 for a 48hr soft crash and then raised up to around 63-65deg for the dry hop addition.

I’m too cheap to make this mistake again. I will do 6oz total dry hop spread out at day 3, day 11 and in the keg. Spread the love!
 
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I'm currently doing a yeast experiment with 12 other brewers and part of the recipe is to soft crash to 55-58 degrees before dry hopping for a day. I've yet to do that myself since I've always done it at 68.

Do report back, this sounds really interesting! What are the variables?
 
Do report back, this sounds really interesting! What are the variables?
We all brewed the same beer recipe, making adjustments for each particular system to hit the same gravity, bitterness, etc. Used distilled or RO water and built the same water profile. The only variable is using different yeasts on the same wort. My batch will begin cold crashing tonight and then dry hopped Saturday, then kegged sunday.
 
We all brewed the same beer recipe, making adjustments for each particular system to hit the same gravity, bitterness, etc. Used distilled or RO water and built the same water profile. The only variable is using different yeasts on the same wort. My batch will begin cold crashing tonight and then dry hopped Saturday, then kegged sunday.
The biggest problem I see (and have experienced) with this method is by soft crashing the yeast it becomes less active.
Then if the dry hops cause hop creep you could potentially get diacetyl problems.
The enzymes responsible for hop creep are still active even at lower temps.
If you have the ability to completely remove all yeast by dumping it, it might work but I wonder if a short softcrash would get enough yeast out of suspension.
 
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Thinking about cloning this recipe, but replacing the Mosaic with Strata. Anybody have opinions on a Citra, Strata, Galaxy? I have heard that Mosaic is a bit more piney than Mosaic and that Strata has a good fruity character. However, I am worried about how resinous and harsh the beer might be with Strata and Galaxy.
A
The biggest problem I see (and have experienced) with this method is by soft crashing the yeast it becomes less active.
Then if the dry hops cause hop creep you could potentially get diacetyl problems.
The enzymes still are active even at lower temps.
If you have the ability to completely remove all yeast by dumping it, it might work but I wonder if a short softcrash would get enough yeast out of suspension.
has this actually happened to you? I can’t dump the yeast after crashing and I haven’t experience any Diacetyl problem. Not even when force testing
 
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has this actually happened to you? I can’t dump the yeast after crashing and I haven’t experience any Diacetyl problem. Not even when force testing
Yes, happened on 4 different beers, fermented at the same time split between conan and 1318.
It was not a diacetyl bomb but definately noticable. I'm very sensitive to diacetyl I have to say.
I havent given up on this method yet though, still experimenting more.
 
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has this actually happened to you? I can’t dump the yeast after crashing and I haven’t experience any Diacetyl problem. Not even when force testing
When do you typically start soft crashing? And how long and at what temp is the softcrash before introducing hopload?
Also how high do you mash?
Perhaps you have no u fermentable sugars to be converted if u mash low enough?
 
suggestion please guys, i am fermenting a neipa i just dry hopped this morning (wednesday) at 70 and plan to keg on saturday. i have it in a spike cf15 so i can crash and drop the yeast out. my thought was to leave it at 70 for today and tomorrow then soft crash friday morning. should i drop the yeast out right before kegging? ususally i ferment for a week then drop the yeast/trub but this time my fermentation was slow and lasted longer. i used white labs london fog yeast, my starter didnt have quite as much time to grow as i was pressed for time so i think thats why it was slow, but anyway this through me off my normal process so should any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
A

has this actually happened to you? I can’t dump the yeast after crashing and I haven’t experience any Diacetyl problem. Not even when force testing
Just looked back. It might be the first dry hop 72h before soft crash releases all the sugars so you dont have this problem. Something I need to try out myself, I only do 1 charge.
 
i'd be willing to bet that every single one of my heavily dry hopped beers would fail a force test, even if i left them for days and days. i haven't tried one after a soft crash however.
 
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