Dry Hopping

[user 18576]

Hello, I'm here again with yet another question.
I'm enjoying my beers (the wife says a little too much) although I only use malt extract kits at the moment,
I find the premium ones quite good. However, I would like more hop aroma and flavour so I'm keen on
dry hopping.
Would tying whole hops in a muslin bag and dropping into the barrel work? if so what quantity would be
needed?
Lastly, what hops are best for dry hopping a premium style English bitter?
I was under the impression that it was a straight choice between Fuggles, Golding or Bramling Cross but when
I looked into hop varieties there are bloomin' hundreds (well almost).

Nearly done but also can anyone recommend a malt extract kit which gives a particularly good dry hop flavour?

Thanks in advance,

Parched Paul.

 

[divrack]

bramling cross are a very underrated hop for aroma and pales in my humble opinion. works in a bitter well, id go with your plan, say 50g for a good dose, 25g for a bit of sparkle. i find its best to leave no longer than 48hrs in keg or it starts to taste vegetal. any floral type hop would be good, fuggles good too or anything really if the flavour profile matches your brew. generally anything considered an aroma hop would be great, but bittering hops can be fine

 

[user 18576]

Thanks for the reply,
But just to clarify, You don't recommend sealing the hops in the brew barrel during secondary fermentation and until
the beer barrel is empty, you think best to leave for only 48 hrs or so in the primary bucket. Have I understood that correctly?

Thanks for your advice's.

Paul.

P.S. It's Saturday, the sun is shining and I spy a deckchair and a table in the back garden, just needs a glass on it!

 

[peebee]

In the UK we never really went strongly into dry hops - my last brew being an example: only 40g in a 45L batch (25g in fermenter, 15g in secondary). As a result dry-hopping has a subtle effect, mainly on flavour, not so much on aroma. East Kent Goldings being the primary choice.

Some UK breweries started mucking about with some "flowery" New World varieties a bit back (like Australian Galaxy hops), but generally for their "Summery" "Golden Ales" rather than "traditional" copper-coloured Bitters.

And then of course the "craft" [sic] keg stuff kicked off 10-20 years ago messing with mountains of dry hops such that they become the prominent flavour in the beer.


The trouble with whole hops is they do tend to float - I use lots of marbles to sink them (marbles are easy to clean and sanitise). There is also some concern that they introduce air into finished beer (?). I use these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Homebrew-Stainless-Steel-Hop-Spider-Beer-Filter-Keg-Dry-Hopper-300-Mesh-7x29cm/152338121722?epid=2118344829&hash=item23780f43fa:g:tBYAAOSwo4pYPr7E&_sacat=0&_nkw=hop+spider&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR2.TRC1.A0.H0.Xhop+spider.TRS0 (lots of people sell them on eBay - cheapest if buying direct from China) rather than muslin bags (simply because they fit into Corny kegs). You can just chuck hops in (if "kegging" and some filter arrangement on the tap inlet) but leaving lots of hops in the beer for long periods can have undesirable effects on flavour ("grassy").

 

[ACBEV]

My top 5 suggestions are Fuggles, Goldings, Bramling Cross, Saaz and Hersbrucker. I don't do dry hopping, but if I did these would be on my list for English beer. Saaz and Hersbrucker work very well for late kettle additions in Golden Ale and Pale Ale.

 

[joel]

If you want to go traditional then yes EKG or Fuggles are the way to go. For something a bit different but still 'English' Challenger would also be a good choice for dry hopping an English ale, one of my favourite bitters I made was dry hopped with it. I also did a great First Gold dry hopped bitter. Pilgrim is nice too, a bit fruity but not super in-your-face like New World hops. Styrian Goldings or Willamette would also work. I generally do 2 days on dry hops too for most beers, I try not to leave it more than 4 days. I tend to do small amounts for bitters, 30g being about as high as I usually go. Unless I'm doing a mega hopped IPA I usually use a sterilised muslin bag but want to get a stainless steel dry hopper at some point.

 

[user 18576]

A big thank you for all your replies,
Lots for me to think about there.
Love generously dry hopped bitters so I'm going to reflect on those replies for the future, thank you all once again.

Paul

 

[divrack]

A big thank you for all your replies,
Lots for me to think about there.
Love generously dry hopped bitters so I'm going to reflect on those replies for the future, thank you all once again.

Paul

you can put them in the barrel, but I'd take them out after 48hrs. or put them in primary after fermentation is finished. or put them in during active fermentation for a different thing altogether. hazy juicy hop goodness...

 

[user 18576]

Following yesterday's threads I have weighed up my options and have ordered a hop spider from flea bay.
Thanks peebee & all who posted.

Paul

 

[Dutto]

There's a shedload of suggestions on the Coopers site ...

https://uk.diybeer.com/brewing-info/introduction

Try the Recipes section and you will find loads of ways in which their products (including kits) can be turned into something special.

Enjoy! :thumb:

 

[Slid]

I have done the Blushing Blonde a couple of times using Blackberries. It makes a change, from a lawnmower sort of a beer, but is quite time intensive as you need to pick them!

Worth doing once for sure.

 

[Duxuk]

I put dry hops in loose. I have a beer in an FV now which will get 50g of Simcoe for around 3 days. I then use a piece of sterilised net curtain over the end of my syphon when I bottle or keg.

 

[Druncan]

First gold for me! Use actually them in my Brown ale 6og 2-4 days dry hop. But I also grow cascade and wait, so far have only eaten the shoots,,, But, plan a USA Broon later this year,,
FYI, I do wring the fook out of the bag to get every last drop of fresh flavour in the Keg. Then spent waste makes a great mulch to keep slugs off yer salad crops!