First dry hop - splitting a brew ?

[gingerneil]

I've just started a Mangrove NZ Pale Ale kit. Its doing its stuff in a 23L FV in the garage.
Always one to fiddle and play with stuff, I am very very tempted to dry hop with something like Mosaic.
Is it common/sensible to split the beer after 10 days and dry hop only a portion of it for comparison? I have a 5l demijohn that I could use. Fill this from the tap on the FV, add maybe 8-10g of hops and then leave for another 5 days before bottling ?
Or does such a small amount, or splitting the brew during the initial fermentation, negatively impact the overall brew making it a silly thing to consider ?

 

[terrym]

Sounds like a good idea to me
Try not to splash your beer as you fill the demijohn.

 

[gingerneil]

Cheers @terrym
Anything else to be aware of ? Should I gently stir the FV first ? Should I avoid pulling any trub through, or would a bit be good ? If I pull through the brew as-is, will everything I need be evenly dispersed enough in the original FV to get what I need in the demijohn ?
I expect initial fermentation will have finished by the time I dry hop into the demijohn - but I'd like to leave the FV as is until I bottle both - so its 'fair' ! I presume the extra fews days for the non-dry hopped wont matter ??

 

[terrym]

Personally I would leave the trub at the bottom of the original FV, to get clearish beer going into the demijohn. And by leaving the FV to sit for a further few days whilst the dry hop is happening in the demijohn the beer in it should have benefitted from a few more days of clearing giving you less yeast going forward when you package.

 

[gingerneil]

Sounds like a very easy experiment! :)
10g of Mosaic sound like a good option ? The brew is a Pale Ale, but I like a little citrus/floral flavour to my lager - the description of mosaic seems to ft with that.
I'll wait until the AG has dropped to the recommended level on the kit instructions, and then split them.

 

[gingerneil]

Thinking about this a little more... I think I'll do it the other way round - dry hop the main FV and leave the beer in the demijohn beer as it is. Prob easier to manage the amount of hops going into the larger vessel.

 

[matt76]

Just a note on amounts you use for your dry hop - I've done my IPA twice:

First time yielded 9.5L and was dry hopped with 40g Amarillo + 20g Citra

Second time I got 12L and dry hopped with 45g Amarillo + 25g Citra

I'd have thought Mosaic is in the same class in terms of hoppiness so same rules of thumb would apply.

So depending on how hoppy you like it I think you could probably afford to go a bit more heavy handed with the hops.

(Confirmation from the grown ups is welcome though )

Best of luck with it

 

[terrym]

Dry hopping rates are a personal thing and one person's 'not enough' is the next person's 'too much' and can also vary according to the hop used and so on that basis I thought a reasonable start point was 8-10g per 5 litres. But perhaps I'm wrong. Anyway in the end the OP will find out what suits him or otherwise whatever he does

 

[matt76]

Yep, completely agree with that @terrym , it's certainly a subjective thing.

Hopefully at least @gingerneil that gives you an upper and lower bound to play with.

By the way, I like the idea of split batches like this. I've not done it yet with hops, but I did a split batch once with two different yeasts - it's a great way to experiment and the results can certainly be interesting and surprising. Enjoy

 

[gingerneil]

Good debate...
I'm new to all this, so keen to experiment but not go mad a make it undrinkable!
I've got 2x20g 'tea bags' of pellets on the way from ebay. I think I'll drop 30g into about 18l on the FV having taken 5l out into the demijohn.
When would you do this? It's been on the go since yesterday, and I'm not around 19-24th.... Seperate and add on 18th and leave for the week, or is that too long? Better off leaving until 24th then bottling a few days later?

 

[terrym]

I would leave it until the 24th or later when you know its finished fermenting, and so CO2 will not strip out any of those valuable volatile hop oils you are trying to infuse into the beer. And I usually dry hop for 5/6 days, but some do it for less, but not many do it for longer, from what I understand.

 

[gingerneil]

OK, sounds like a plan.
Leaving until the 24/25th will mean its had 13 days in the FV. I'm sure the initial fermentation will be finished by then. I'll then split 5l off and dry hop the remaining with 30g. I might just bottle up that 5l rather than putting it in the demijohn... But will check the FG first. I'll bottle the rest after 5 days with the hops.
Sorted. Thanks... I'll report back! :)