Dry hopping for the first time

[Slurtis Staggersalot]

I should have on hand a small selection of different hops tomorrow, and I also have two 23l batches of real ale fermenting that I put down 2 evenings ago. I'll have Cascade,Fuggles, Amarillo and Goldings. The Amarillo and Cascade will be in whole leaf (flower form) and pellet form. The Fuggles and Goldings were only available in pellet form.

 

I put both batches of real ale down with 1Kg of Dex and 500g of LDME. I wanted to use the opposite proportions but the grocery store was out of LDME after I was done with them.

 

So the question is what two should I try first and how much should I toss in? [happy]

[MatR1]

I'd go for Cascade (pellets) & Fuggles. 15 - 20grms each. More if you like.

 

Check this link out it gives a bit of info about hop characters which can help you decide.

 

http://www.brewsupplies.com/hops_reference_chart.htm

[Slurtis Staggersalot]

I'm thinking that I should use up the whole leaf stuff first, my understanding is that you need to use a little more to get the same effect as the pellets, but I'm not sure. I know that the shelf life is shorter for the leafy stuff than the pellets, hence why I figure I should use them first...

[MatR1]

I've never used the flowers but I would assume the pellets would be better for dry hopping. (Please correct me if I'm wrong becuase I'm about to plant 2 hops rhizomes)

 

Make sure you keep them all in the freezer and you shouldn't have to worry about shelf life.

[AnnM]

someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd wouldn't mix English hops (Fuggles, Goldings) with American hops (Cascade & Amarillo).

It's usually Fuggles and Goldings with English Ales and the Yankee ones for American Pale Ales. But, Mat, if you've tried Fuggles with Cascade and it's good, let us know - I'm willing to try a change! [happy]

[MatR1]

I meant Cascade in 1 and Fuggles in the other. Not a mixture. Sorry if I misled anyone.

 

But on that note Cascade & Amarillo are similar so I would not mix them either. I prefer NS & Cascade.

[Trusty1]

I went a bit crazy and threw in a secret amount (read: not weighed, don't know/care) of East Kent Golding pellets into the recipe PB2 supplied to the Extra Stong Vintage Ale thread. It started as a 50gm bag, of which i had already used around 30gms and there was still at least half left after my dry hop virginty losing ceremony, so it wasn;t a great amount that went in, but its the 1st time I've just thrown hops in, and well, I've gotta tell ya, it felt pretty damn good. Liberating almost. As if I was saying to this, what will be great beer, "and take that for a bit of aroma, will ya", but not quite "IN YOUR FACE!"[ninja]

 

Anyway, the beer's been in the tub a week, might check SG over the weekend, and get it in the bottle some time in the next week or so.

[Muddy Waters]

someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd wouldn't mix English hops (Fuggles, Goldings) with American hops (Cascade & Amarillo).

It's usually Fuggles and Goldings with English Ales and the Yankee ones for American Pale Ales [happy]

 

Ann, I recently used Fuggles and Cascade together in an Amber Ale. It is still young but they work nicely together. [cool]

 

I meant Cascade in 1 and Fuggles in the other. Not a mixture. Sorry if I misled anyone.

 

But on that note Cascade & Amarillo are similar so I would not mix them either. I prefer NS & Cascade.

 

Cascade and Amarillo also go very well together \u2013 I first used them together to do an old PB2 recipe for a Fruit Salad Pale Ale \u2013 Delicious! [love]

 

 

[EvanS1]

I've had my first attempt at dry hopping in a real Ale kit for 2 weeks now. 20g of cascade flowers. There's still some floating about in there, do i need to wait till they all settle out or should i encourage them with a bit of a shake up?

 

Also having never left a beer so long after fermentation do i need to do anything special before priming or will it all kick off again on it's own?

[MatR1]

Never used flowers before but I suspect they are better off floating as they will block the tap if they are down the bottom.

 

You won't have to do anything before priming. If the yeast has flocced out heaps then it may just take a bit longer to carb up. If you are just using glass bottles fill a couple of PET's so you can easily check the carbonation.

[PB2]

Here is a method when dry hopping with flowers - Motueka Slam IPA

 

[Slurtis Staggersalot]

I forgot about that thread, I've read through it before[cool] so considering that my real ale is now probably pretty close to being finished with the fermenting I should just bottle it and throw my hops in dry when I mix up my next couple of batches of beer. Or will a few days in the brew be enough time for the hops to do their thing? I'm thinking probably another five days or so.

[Borris]

I've not tried dry hopping that late in a brew before so all I can offer as guidance are the words of respected brew master PB2 "Aroma Hops - tossed in at the end of boil or made up as a hop tea and added to the FV or simply thrown into the FV (dry hopping). The more they are exposed to heat the more bitterness and flavour they impart."

The latter part of the quote being of particular relevance I would think.

 

 

 

[Slurtis Staggersalot]

Well, I bottled off the real ale without dry hopping it. Next up is a couple of cans of IPA. This one has a fair amount of hops already, but I think it could use a little more aroma so dry hopping should work out nicely. I think I'll chuck in some Cascade in one and some amarillo in the other. I'm not sure how much though, maybe 30g of the flowers in each?