Brewing Vermont IPA - Big Dry Hop...

[gedburg101]

Hi Guys,

I've brewing a hazy, low bitterness, hopefully juicy IPA tomorrow but there are a few concerns I have before I set out.

The recipe calls for the following hops volumes;

40g at 60min
110g at 0 min
170g dry hop

The dry hops are split into 85g part way through fermentation and 85g "keg hops". I don't plan on kegging but bottling. When would you add the second charge of dry hops? Part way through fermentation? In a secondary fermenter? I typically only do primary and then bottle...

Any advice appreciated.

 

[DoctorMick]

Two stage dry hopping seems to be getting a lot more popular. A few of the examples I've seen add the first dry hops after fermentation is complete for 4 days then add the next lot for another 4 days (you'd be fine doing it all in the FV)...what I'm unsure of is if you're meant to remove the first dry hop when you add the second?

 

[Sadfield]

Isn't two stage dry hopping one of those Commercial brewing things, that homebrewers unnecessarily follow? It's my understanding that it was adopted by US Craft brewers as the geometry of tall, thin conical fermenters were limiting the contract area between wort and hops, so they split dryhopping allowing the first batch to drop through the wort. Homebrewers tend to have shorter, wider FVs giving greater surface area for hop contact.

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[gedburg101]

In that case should I put the full 170g in one go?

Also, I normally dry hop around day 5-6 and week them in the fermenter until 14 day at which point I bottle. I'm after a hazy beer but I'm desperate to avoid a muddy one. How long should the dry hops be in there before bottling? Is secondary fermentation a worth while step in this instance prior to bottling?

 

[Sadfield]

You could, or you could always stick to your plan and post the results. Would be interesting to see if it makes a difference. Does your current method yield good results?

I think the point is that with dryhopping every setup is different, so may require a different approach and following Commercial techniques may not guarantee a better outcome.

http://www.port66.co.uk/dry-hopping/



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[Simonh82]

One of the techniques used with New England/North East/Vermont IPAs is to do some of the dry hopping whilst there is still active fermentation. The idea being that the yeast bio-transform the flavour compounds and produce new and interesting flavours and aromas that you wouldn't get with a normal dry hop.

I would add the dry hops as early as day 3, assuming there is still some active fermentation going on. Leave those for a few days until fermentation has subsided then add the second charge.

I think you can do all of this in the FV but you could transfer to a secondary vessel for the the second dry hopping if you want.

 

[Leon103]

You could do a hop tea with the second hops

 

[Sadfield]

Good point simonh82.

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[gedburg101]

One of the techniques used with New England/North East/Vermont IPAs is to do some of the dry hopping whilst there is still active fermentation. The idea being that the yeast bio-transform the flavour compounds and produce new and interesting flavours and aromas that you wouldn't get with a normal dry hop.

I would add the dry hops as early as day 3, assuming there is still some active fermentation going on. Leave those for a few days until fermentation has subsided then add the second charge.

I think you can do all of this in the FV but you could transfer to a secondary vessel for the the second dry hopping if you want.

Sounds like a good idea to me. Might just bottle after 10 or so days...