Biotransformation? Hops? Schedule?

What is your preferred Biotransformation Hops?


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Dirty Dingo Brewing CO.

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Alright, so I'd like to take the communities opinion on this. I biotransform all the time, and have learned some hops that are great at it and some that aren't. What is your guys' experience, and what hops do you like to use in biotransformation?
 
I...don't?
Biotransformation is dry hopping during rigorous fermentation, allowing the yeast to break down hop compounds that normally don't taste well, and turning them into the fruity, tropical compounds that we enjoy.

Some are great for it, others aren't. Just wondering what people's techniques are
 
Biotransformation is dry hopping during rigorous fermentation, allowing the yeast to break down hop compounds that normally don't taste well, and turning them into the fruity, tropical compounds that we enjoy.

Some are great for it, others aren't. Just wondering what people's techniques are
Familiar with the concept just not a practitioner :D
 
Am very interested, but not very experienced, yet.
Have a batch going now where I added sugar water (wort) while dry hopping (a circuitous path with this brew). (Was going to spund with a blow tie, but the setup isn’t working, so closed it up - removed the blowoff after bubbles died down, with hopes it won’t get too aggressive.)
Mosaic, Cascade and Citra in the dry hop, with Cluster, in the boil and Cashmere, Cascade and Mosaic in the whirlpool.
 
You are probably also interested in dip-hopping I imagine. Pretty much sums me up when I stub my toe.
 
There's a fair bit of evidence coming out that the original biotransformation that people targeted, i.e. hop oils transformed from one type to another during active fermentation (e.g. geraniol to citranellol), may not make much of a sensory difference. So while it happens, it may not be worth the effort depending on your process. I still do it, but I've really scaled it down and for me it's more about oxidation control than biotransformation.

There's still a few other biotransformations that are being chased by people looking for bigger and different hop flavours. Some of them are hardly even related to fermentation. Thiol release is probably the trendiest at the moment and people are examining process changes focused on mash hopping (with Saaz would you believe?), reducing whirlpool additions and using later and shorter dry hops to maximise the chances of releasing the thiols with the tropical fruit flavours.

Everything is changing every few months in this space, so who knows where the process changes to encourage/discourage different types of biotransformation will settle down? Actually, with the complexity of organic chemistry it's sure to take ages, if it ever does.

On the idea of which hops to use and when and not really related to biotransformation, Yakima Chief have released a great PDF showing the typical compounds in their hops. It then shows how likely these compounds are to survive the various stages in a brew day. So if one compound has got zero chance of surviving the boil, they suggest using hops with a lot of that compound in the dry hop. But if a hop has a fair bit of a compound that survives the boil, think of adding that at ten minutes or flameout. So Azacca should only be used in late dry hop, but Citra is good late in the boil or the active fermentation dry hop.

It also talks about matching hops with different compound profiles. So don't blend two hops with high concentrations of the same compound, look to find two hops with different concentrations. So for their hops, don't blend Loral and Talus, they're too similar. Try Loral and Crystal instead.

To me it's a really helpful document. Just wish we had the profiles for a few of the other hop companies - https://cryopopblend.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Survivable-Compounds-Handbook.pdf

Some resources if you want to dig into these things more:
 
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I prefer to dry hop during fermentation but more because of oxidation than anything else.
Yeah, thats why I do it as well. As @Mark Farrall said though, everything is constantly changing. 5 years ago dry hopping during fermentation was the standard, now it's seen as old school.

I've been using ascorbic acid as well and have been having fantastic results!
 
Curious why only 2 hops in your poll? Plenty of hops, probably any hops, could benefit from the biotransformation process. I've used Amarillo and Simcoe together for an incredibly good pale. I also noted much, much better attenuation but I'm not sure if that's related to biotransformation. :)
 
I've heard lots of sciency words about biotransformation. Not sure whether it happens or not but I'm a great fan of Occam's Razor: The CO2 from the fermenting beer drives out any oxygen that may come in with the hops. Less oxidation = more hop flavor. It's simple, it ain't flashy and it works, so I add dry hops during fermentation, generally around day 3, when half the extract is gone.
 
Am very interested, but not very experienced, yet.
Have a batch going now where I added sugar water (wort) while dry hopping (a circuitous path with this brew). (Was going to spund with a blow tie, but the setup isn’t working, so closed it up - removed the blowoff after bubbles died down, with hopes it won’t get too aggressive.)
Mosaic, Cascade and Citra in the dry hop, with Cluster, in the boil and Cashmere, Cascade and Mosaic in the whirlpool.

Very similar hops to what I use. I do add hops in a bag when pitching yeast and had some very good results with Cascade, Mosaic, and Citra. I like to add Cashmere to those heavy on the Mosaic. Next batch is going to be 100% Cashmere just for the hell of it. One oz. bittering, one oz. at yeast pitch, and one oz. dry hop 3 days before bottling.
 
Very similar hops to what I use. I do add hops in a bag when pitching yeast and had some very good results with Cascade, Mosaic, and Citra. I like to add Cashmere to those heavy on the Mosaic. Next batch is going to be 100% Cashmere just for the hell of it. One oz. bittering, one oz. at yeast pitch, and one oz. dry hop 3 days before bottling.
Interesting, I've never added hops right at pitching. ?
 
I'm now dry hopping as I go into cold crash.
I purge with CO2 when adding and then for a couple of minutes after through the nose cone.
This will mix the hops into solution as well.
Then 3 or 4 days cold before I keg.
Obviously this won't help unless you have a conical Fermentor
 
I'm now dry hopping as I go into cold crash.
I purge with CO2 when adding and then for a couple of minutes after through the nose cone.
This will mix the hops into solution as well.
Then 3 or 4 days cold before I keg.
Obviously this won't help unless you have a conical Fermentor
I will very soon. Out of all techniques, this seems to be the most popular right now amongst the brewers, and I'm definitely going to try it
 

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