Dry hopping

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
This article makes interesting reading. Among his conclusions are:

• A large portion of hop oils are removed or altered during the boil and during during fermentation.
• If you’re looking to get an “out of the bag” aroma with your dry hops, it might be best to add these after the yeast is removed or at least after the bulk of fermentation.
• It looks like long dry hop times aren’t necessary and may actually reduce the amount of oil extraction in your beers! Even without agitating your beer during dry hopping, most of the oil extraction is done in just a day.
• Don’t contain your hops, let them free! With 50% more extraction found in certain oils when not contained in a hop bag it makes sense to come up with ways to deal with hop material (like a stainless steel filter in your keg).
• Pellets are able to extract at a higher rate than whole cones.
• Dry hopping doesn’t appear to increase the actual bitterness of beers, at least to the human palate. This is not to say it won’t influence the bittereing perception in a dry hopped beer. [Update: Further research showed it is actually possible to increase bitterness by dry hopping]

 

[terrym]

Colin
That's a good summary, so good I won't bother to read the article!!
Looks like it confirms most of what people find out through experience, and by applying a bit of nowse.
The only contentious point is length of dry hopping. I have seen papers which state that whereas hop oil extraction is fastest initially (as might be expected) it does continue for several days. The only way of finding out I suppose is to do a side by side trial. Volunteers anyone??

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
Thanks - they're his conclusions, almost verbatim. (Thank you Copy and Paste!)
Interestingly, he cites research suggesting that the average concentration of hop oils in the beer decreases after 4 days dry hopping.

 

[Braufather]

Cheers good find. I seem to be going circles with dry hopping. That book “Hops” has a whole chapter on it without coming to a single conclusion as far as I can tell. It seemed there are a hundred methods and they all work for different people. Although it did concur with diminishing benefit after 3 days and also there is a threshold where adding more hop volume won’t make a difference.


Because of so much divergence I am still keeping it simple and just chucking them in loose after about a week. Then racking a week later.

I’ve got a couple of those stainless steel jobbies so will try them soon, maybe keep an eye on gravity and put them in for 3 days when it’s aproaching final gravity. Or use them in the keg.

 

[Bigcol49]

I am still keeping it simple and just chucking them in loose after about a week. Then racking a week later.

Hi!
That's how I do it.
My Cali Common has been in the FV for one week. Today I plan to dry hop, but I still haven't decided whether to just chuck them in (pellet hops) or use my hop spider. Following the conclusions in the article, perhaps the spider would be best and I could remove it after 4 days.
I also plan to make a hop tea and add it just before cold crashing

 

[Clint]

If you bag a dry hop...to squeeze or not to squeeze. ..?

 

[Braufather]

Hi!
That's how I do it.
My Cali Common has been in the FV for one week. Today I plan to dry hop, but I still haven't decided whether to just chuck them in (pellet hops) or use my hop spider. Following the conclusions in the article, perhaps the spider would be best and I could remove it after 4 days.
I also plan to make a hop tea and add it just before cold crashing

Give the spider a go, I’d be interested to see if you think there is a difference, especially if it goes in for the final stages of fermentation. It seems many say the reaction with yeast actually gives a smoother effect. Although others say the yeast pulls aroma away?


Also Clint- never squeeze, I think that’s pretty much agreed!

 

[Metacomet]

If you bag a dry hop...to squeeze or not to squeeze. ..?

I'm a squeezer!
I can only do 12-15L batches so want as much beer out of it as possible.

 

[Thumper]

the average concentration of hop oils in the beer decreases after 4 days dry hopping.

I wonder why that is? Do the hops reabsorb them? Or are the oils so volatile they just evaporate off?

 

[terrym]

I wonder why that is? Do the hops reabsorb them? Or are the oils so volatile they just evaporate off?

I thought that. The oils have to go somewhere. If there is negligible CO2 leaving the beer then the oil won't be stripped out that way. And unless there is a large headspace to fill with oil vapour the oils will quickly reach some sort of dissolved:gas equilibrium. Or do the oils break down, and if so to what, but if this is happening the effect of a dry hop would diminish in days rather than weeks as happens at present. Anyway none of this is likely to change what I do. Which is a six day dry hop before packaging with the last two days in a cold place.

 

[BeerCat]

I have always thrown the pellets in and let them sink. I don't have a problem with them getting in the bottle even if I don't crash. I am testing out hop aroma oils and large doses definitely affect the taste. Worst dry hop ever was Punk IPA with leaf. Ended up with a massive raft on top which imparted little flavour and soaked up litres of beer.