Benefit in late hop addition ?

[giveitago]

I have a Toucan ( Lager & Dark Ale with 500g BE1) thats been down for about 7 days. Starting gravity at 1045 now down to 1020 and stable. 

Would there be any benefit in dry hopping for the next 4 to 5 days before bottling ? I have pellets that came in a Craft Brew kit from Small Batch Brew Co and they are marked as" Pond Ripple ". 

Thanks .

[Otto Von Blotto]

That SG doesn't sound low enough for it to be finished. 

Personally I don't dry hop dark ales as they're more of a malt driven style, but it's up to you. 

[giveitago]

Thanks OTTO I will leave for a few days or even another week and recheck SG. As an aside I have searched for POND RIPPLE hops and cant find them anywhere?

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

I've never heard of them. I don't think it's a hop variety but it is the name of a pale ale recipe. I would guess that they're meant for it.

[BlackSands]

3 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Personally I don't dry hop dark ales as they're more of a malt driven style, but it's up to you. 

Unless it's a Brown IPA which this could very well be if generously dry-hopped.  As mentioned elsewhere, one of the best beers I've made (to my tastes) was a Brown IPA based on the Dark Ale tin, and primarily hopped with a generous dose of mosaic.  

[Otto Von Blotto]

Well yes obviously if you're deliberately making a hoppy dark ale it's different. But the traditional dark ale style isn't hoppy like that, and that's the one I generally make because it's a nice change from the other hoppy ales I make. 

[BlackSands]

20 hours ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Well yes obviously if you're deliberately making a hoppy dark ale it's different. But the traditional dark ale style isn't hoppy like that, and that's the one I generally make because it's a nice change from the other hoppy ales I make. 

What is the traditional dark ale style?   The BJCP style guide list a Brown (and Black) IPA but don't appear to have anything called  "Dark Ale" ?  

Edited June 2, 2019 by BlackSands

[The Captain!!]

Old ale?

[Otto Von Blotto]

The English brown ales would most likely be considered traditional ones. Probably selected styles of porter and stout as well as they are dark ales as well. These aren't hoppy at all, the malt is dominant here, hops are mainly there for bitterness and not much else. The browns aren't all that strong either, nothing like an IPA.

The revised guidelines don't have the southern and northern English brown ales anymore, they've got one called British brown which I think is the southern one. I based my recipe on the northern version as it's a little more bitter. I like the malt flavour but I don't like overly sweet beer.

As I mentioned somewhere recently, not every beer needs to be heavily hopped up, to me it's a bit boring actually, having beers that are all different colours but don't really taste much different. I enjoy the different flavours of the different styles I like

Edited June 3, 2019 by Otto Von Blotto

[BlackSands]

1 hour ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

The English brown ales would most likely be considered traditional ones. Probably selected styles of porter and stout as well as they are dark ales as well. These aren't hoppy at all, the malt is dominant here, hops are mainly there for bitterness and not much else. The browns aren't all that strong either, nothing like an IPA.

The revised guidelines don't have the southern and northern English brown ales anymore, they've got one called British brown which I think is the southern one. I based my recipe on the northern version as it's a little more bitter. I like the malt flavour but I don't like overly sweet beer.

As I mentioned somewhere recently, not every beer needs to be heavily hopped up, to me it's a bit boring actually, having beers that are all different colours but don't really taste much different. I enjoy the different flavours of the different styles I like

I've brewed a few brown's over the years - both English and American.   From what I can tell the current British Brown is based on the previous Northern Brown (up to 30IBU). The Southern version (lower bitterness and ABV) is now called "London Brown". 

The Dark Ale can though is technically too bitter to qualify for either British or American versions though only by a few IBU's so if you're not worried about that, (and there's no rational reason why you would be worried! ) then yeah, can be brewed as a Brown Ale -  USA or Brit.   

Edited June 3, 2019 by BlackSands

[Otto Von Blotto]

I knew it was one of them but didn't have Beersmith on hand to check when I posted. I usually bitter mine more than 30 IBUs so it's not strictly to style but more based on it. There are no late or dry hops in it though, it's all about the malt with balancing bitterness to keep the sweetness in check. Nice brew at this time of year.