Hop substitution - dry hopping

saabanana · Jun 11, 2023

I know that there are calculators for calculating different alpha-acid hops when substituting to retain the same levels of bittering.
Do you use the same calculation for the dry hop?

Jim Brewster · Jun 12, 2023

There are hop substitutions listed that give hops with similar dry hop character. I have not seen a calculation for it, I would assume a like for like weight of a suitable substitute hop.

Not a huge amount of bitterness is extracted during dry hopping... as the alpha acids are isomerised during the boil. You could do a pro-rata based on the %AA (for example 10% more hops if the %AA is 10% lower), although I don't think it would really achieve anything and may result in an over or under addition. There are a lot of other volatile molecules involved in dry hopping that are lost in the boil so Alpha Acids aren't the only factor.

There is quite a unique character to many hops when dry hopped so the exact flavours aren't a direct swap and some hops are more forgiving than others in terms of what quantity is palatable. (For example I find Simcoe can be overpowering)

The Baron · Jun 12, 2023

Brewers friend has a calculator built in for there recipe system but it shows nothing unless you switch it on in settings I believe.
Ps I always use it as I do not like beer that is too bitter and neither does SHMBO.
I am brewing at the moment and it shows approx 12.5 IBU's for a 50g (10AA)dry hop over 3 days. @5% utilisation. You can vary the utilisation lower if you want as it is not a exact science and with experience you can tune it in to your brewing and taste styles also you can change thtype of dry hop such as high Krausen etc

saabanana · Jun 12, 2023

Thanks to both of you. My instinct was to keep the dry hop similar to the original rather than follow the calculators as it probably would have ended up far too bitter. Will have a look at the Brewers Friend calculator. Cheers.