Dry Hopping

[wiredcharlie]

I've been experimenting with Dry Hopping. I've noticed that it works quite noticeably for bottled brews, but for barrelled beer, I can hardly tell the difference.

Is this normal? Or am I doing wrong?

Cheers
Tony

[chastuck]

I've been experimenting with Dry Hopping. I've noticed that it works quite noticeably for bottled brews, but for barrelled beer, I can hardly tell the difference.

Is this normal? Or am I doing wrong?

Cheers
Tony

That's my experience as well. Far more intense hop aroma in the bottle. Having said that, I have found the longer I leave the finished beer in the barrel, the greater the hop effect. What I do is put the dry hops in a conditioning vessel for 10 days. I then rack the beer into a barrel and leave for 3-4 weeks before sampling. The dry hopping seems to work better this way, but needs a lot of patience to not drink the beer earlier!

[AdyG]

I've only just started looking into dry hopping and had a few experiments with leaf hops in the secondary FV, but the best hoppy effects I've had are definitely in beer that's been in the bottle for 6+ weeks.

The advice I've had of people on here is use a rice ball or fine mesh sack to hold the hops in the middle of the FV for at least 5 days, or puree the hops first or use pellets, and you can add them straight to the FV but need to strain well before kegging or bottling.... also if you want that big hop kick use a lot... like 150g!

I need to explore these methods a bit more in detail in the next few brews but will post my results on here. It is one of the more tricky aspects as far as I'm concerned!

[wiredcharlie]

Is the ineffectiveness of dry hopping for barrel brews due to the hop flavour being carried in an oil which floats to the top or is sufficiently volatile that it evaporates into the gas space above the beer. Where as in a bottle it is better confined to the beer?

[bigdave]

You could try steeping some hops in hot water (80-90 degrees) for 10-15 min then adding this to the FV before fermentation as part of your total liquor. The short steep is long enough to release the aroma and flavour of the hop but not long enough to add any extra bitterness.

[mysterio]

It's because your bottled beers have more carbonation, when you pour the beer, the co2 bubbles carry the aroma to the surface. If you create a bit of agitation or pour from a beer engine you can create the same effect. That or compensate with extra hops, adding hops directly to the barrel etc.