Which dry hops? dry, pellets, oil, extract! when and how?

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Mikelewis

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Bit of a newbie but trying to improve my brew, I'm at uni so all of my friends are looking to make cheap beer but I'm trying to make it good!

Currently on my 5th brew which I have just transferred to the secondary after 14 days (my first time in a secondary hope its goes well) the beer is a Wilko Mexican cerveza brewed with 1kg of brew sugar.

When should I add my hops? which ones? how long? how many? HELP!

Any tips for the next batch as I might use the same kit as it was fairly good the time I brewed it.

Thanks in advance for the tips!
 
Dry hopping is typically done in the last 3-7 days, but I've seen some done as long as 14 days.

Which hops and how much would depend on what you are looking for, as well as what was in it. Being a Mexican cerveza I doubt it's hoppy as I assume it's like Corona, Dos XX, or similar.

What did you have in mind?

On a side note you may like the outcome better if you sub out the sugar for DME (spray malt). You can boil this for 15-20 mins with more hops to increase the flavor/aroma, and give it a more malty taste. I assume the Wilkos is a pre hopped can of LME much like Cooper's and Mr Beer.
 
I dry hop my ales after initial fermentation has finished. The CO2 from fermentation nobbles the hop aroma. The longer they are in, the more bitterness and less aroma they will impart, but they are all different in this respect.

I've used pellets, dry hops from vacuum pack and a combination of both.

Don't go mental initially. Try 50g max as the malt extract will already be hopped - but probably not much in a cerveza!

If you are liking the hoppyness, start trying pale ales. You can have fun with a cheap basic pale ale kit like Simply, then experiment with your hop additions.

To help with your hop experiments, try these:

http://https://www.hopunion.com/aroma-wheel/?aroma=Floral

http://http://hopschart.com/images/hopschart_render.jpg
 
Thanks for the responses, I'm trying to get a more zesty lime taste taste into it. Ill take a look at the hop union and figure out what would be best for me.

I have also read a little about making a hop tea to add to the brew at the beginning, what are the advantages of this over dry hoping towards the end?
 
Thanks for the responses, I'm trying to get a more zesty lime taste taste into it. Ill take a look at the hop union and figure out what would be best for me.

I have also read a little about making a hop tea to add to the brew at the beginning, what are the advantages of this over dry hoping towards the end?

A hop tea is a interesting one that I've yet to try. The idea is to extract the hoppy aromas from your hops without any grassy off flavours you can get from dry hopping for too long.

You'd make it just like a cup of tea funny enough, leaving the hops to brew in hot water for a few minutes. Straining off the hot water and adding that to your beer. I've read that it is very important not to strain your hops for a hop tea or you'll extract those grassy flavours your trying not too.

Its definitely on my to do list, I am hoping it'll be the difference between my hoppy IPA's and the insanely hoppy IIPA's you get in a lot of the American breweries.
 
I love jalapeños. I also love beer. I am not so keen on the sound of mixing the two though?

At the risk of getting the obvious answer, can you describe the taste rodwha?
 
I felt the same as you. I couldn't possibly consider vegetables in a beer. But then I read a thread and thought about it, and found someone who was well enough versed who helped me build a small test batch recipe (1.75 gals), which I then upgraded to 2.5 gals and ordered my ingredients. However, as I'm known to do from time to time, I upgraded it to a 4 gal batch and having spent my hobby money looked around in the kitchen and put together a frankenbeer recipe.

It turned out great! This is a revision to increase the flavor and heat of the jalapeños and to clean up the recipe to something more proper.

A cream ale was an American style created to somewhat mimic a lager but using a clean ale yeast. So it's somewhat lager-like and does indeed have a moderate jalapeño flavor with a pronounced, but not too hot, heat profile.

If you love a fresh jalapeño and don't mind a basic lager this may just be something you'll need to try out. I highly recommend it!

of course I cannot comment on just how great this one will turn out as it just may have been the other things I used as the revision isn't quite to cream ale style in that I didn't use an adjucant (spl?). Otherwise it's a mix of lager and ale malts and lightly hopped (16 IBU's - mostly bittering).
 
Not a fan of the Jalapeños so I think ill steer clear of that but it is very interesting to hear that pretty much anything can be added.

If I was to add limes to the batch how would this be done, how do I know that they are sterile before adding to my brew? When would I add them?

Back to the hop department, these sound ok https://www.hopunion.com/new-zealand-wakatu/. Would I put these in a muslin bag and chuck them in 2 or 3 days before?
 
Sorry I did not reply, in the end I went for the Citra hops and a coppers IPA, made a hop tea 25 grams and a 10min boil. Tasted great went it went in the bottles so I am very keen to get a taste of this.
 
I luuuuuuurve Citra hops!

I think you will get a beer that both ale and lager drinkers might like there - good choices of hops and kit.

Over carbonate slightly and chill well and you'll get an in between ale/lager! Just don't let all your mates drink it all for you!!!
 
I luuuuuuurve Citra hops!

I think you will get a beer that both ale and lager drinkers might like there - good choices of hops and kit.

Over carbonate slightly and chill well and you'll get an in between ale/lager! Just don't let all your mates drink it all for you!!!

I've got my (free) Wherry on just now with a different yeast,US O something???? And I'm going to use Citra hops for the first time,was going to dry hop with 50g of pellets.
Looking forward to it :hat:
 
We went for under carbonation, as I find it a lot easier to drink when it has minimal fizz. I added 95 grams to a 21 litre batch, hoping it will go down very nice.

Tasted pretty good when it was going in to the bottles, managed to drink about a pint while I was bottling. Maybe a little to much bitterness to it, unsure if I should reduce the hop amount down to around 20 grams or reduce the boil to about 7 min?

What would the difference in finished product be if I dry hopped over hop tea.
 
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