1st AG brew and need advice.

[EHCosbie]

Hi all,

1st post to go with my 1st AG brew. Found the Thread: http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51779 and decided to take the plunge and have a go.

Doubled up:
2kg Marris Otter
30g Cascade
6g yeast

It is now fermenting away quite happily and I seem to find myself staring at it waiting for the bubbles to go through the air locks.

Anyway, I doubled up the recipe and have split the brew into 2 FV. Once the fermentation has finished and SG settled, I plan on bottling up one and I would like to "Dry Hop" the second, and then bottle. I want to do this so that I can do a side by side comparison. Also, I plan to repeat the brew but use a different hop (Fuggles), and again plan to split, dry hop and do a taste session but with both brews (4 varieties in all), to really get a basic understanding of how the hops can be used to effect the beer.

So the advice I would like is: given that I want to dry hop 5ltrs of beer at a time, how much hops should I use.

I realise that this is a bit of "how long is a piece of string" sort of question, but I really could do with a starting point (1st AG brews remember).

Any advice/ opinions welcome.

Thanks

Ed

 

[wfr42]

It really is to taste and the stronger the alpha acid rating of your hops the more bittering (ibus) they bring to the party (I believe).

Brewdogs recipes suggest between 100g-400g for 5 gallons, which is about 4g-16g per litre.
So you could try between 10 and 20g in your 5litres depending on your hop taste buds.

 

[fourbob]

Firtstly, congratulations on your first AG - I'm sure it'll be delicious.

I'm impressed that you've decided to do a bit of experimentation on your first brew, I still just chuck in whatever I feel like at the time and hope for the best - so far all good - but I'm really none the wiser about the effect of the timing / quantities of hop additions. Also because I'm like a kid in a sweet shop I never do the same recipe twice.....

However, unless you like really hoppy beers I wouldn't be inclined to use much more than 10g in a 5 litre batch - I reckon that'd give you an idea of the difference it makes without risking overpowering the beer; you could always ramp it up in future brews if you don't think its added enough umph.

Alternatively if your a brewdog fan then throw the whole packet in....:-(

 

[Crystal_Ball]

I too have just started the AG brewing, but a few more days away before I dry hop. Previously when I was doing kits I would used 50g of hops for 21L in the FV. Seemed a pretty good amount and hop kick for my liking and I quite like a hoppy beer.

 

[Notlaw]

Definitely go for around 10g for a 5l batch. You can always add more next time, but you can't take them out if it's too hoppy for you. I dry hopped my recent brew with 20g in a 10l batch and the one before that was 15g in a 10l batch.