What are you doing with homebrew today?

YaleH said:
Getting ready to keg an Oat Blonde that I'm going to cold hop some coconut/vanilla whole bean coffee for hopefully ending with a White Stout.... o_O:D
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That sounds pretty cool
 
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I just bottled Wayner’s Pale Ale. My OG on this beer was only 1.051 (projected at 1.059), but it fully attenuated to 1.011. At this point, I am still skittish about dry hopping, so on this batch I elected not to add dry hops. Even so, this tastes very nice. Looking forward to popping open a bottle next weekend for quality control check.
 
Herm_brews said:
View attachment 15459 I just bottled Wayner’s Pale Ale. My OG on this beer was only 1.051 (projected at 1.059), but it fully attenuated to 1.011. At this point, I am still skittish about dry hopping, so on this batch I elected not to add dry hops. Even so, this tastes very nice. Looking forward to popping open a bottle next weekend for quality control check.
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Mostly what you get from the dry hops is aroma, but the two are linked, and one will accentuate the other. I have no doubt however that you have made a beer that will be very, very enjoyable.
When you say skittish about dry hopping what is it that makes you nervous?
 
Since I am a bottler, I will have to open the fermenter to add the hops. The threat of oxidizing the beer concerns me. The two beers that I have dry hopped have been good, but I ended up leaving a lot of beer behind in the fermenter. I am wondering if a liberal dose of whirlpool hops might be a good substitute for a dry hop addition.
 
Herm_brews said:
Since I am a bottler, I will have to open the fermenter to add the hops. The threat of oxidizing the beer concerns me. The two beers that I have dry hopped have been good, but I ended up leaving a lot of beer behind in the fermenter. I am wondering if a liberal dose of whirlpool hops might be a good substitute for a dry hop addition.
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Herm, if I remember correctly, you usually allow your beer 2-3 weeks in primary? Do I have that right? If so, I don’t think a big whirlpool would substitute for a late dry-hop “aroma-wise”, but that is only MY opinion.

Here’s another of my (probably unpopular) opinions, the problems associated with any oxidation from a quick dry-hop is overstated. What I have experienced is that there are no noticeable issues with opening the fermenter and adding some dry hop pellets, no matter what point during fermentation you do this. This assumes you can do this rather quickly. My fermenter might be open for about 10-15 seconds at most while I add the hops. To be fair, my dry-hopped beers will lose aroma and that wonderful hop buzz after about 3 weeks or so. Whether this is because of how I dry hop or just an unavoidable consequence of my entire brewing process, I can’t say.
 
Dry hopped my Summer Daydreams NEIPA just now. Used crypto Mosaic with 21AAU to decrease veggie absorption. 4 days in the fermenter and still active, which should help offset oxidation. As soon as I closed it up, the gas was bubbling out again, so it didn’t miss a beat. Two or three days and I’ll cold crash it.
 
Herm_brews said:
@Megary you are correct- I always leave my batches in primary for ~3 weeks. Thanks for your input.
I will be brewing up an IPA tomorrow, and it calls for an addition of dry hops. It sounds like I just need to do what the recipe calls for - JUST DO IT!
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I've not had trouble with opening the fermenter to dry hop - I worried about that too - and I have done two beers that way. For one of them I fashioned a CO2 injector from one of these small CO2 bulb holders, and the connector that usually is screwed into the cap of a pressure barrel. I then added a small length of hose so I could poke it under the lid of the fermenter. Injecting a bulb full of CO2 just expels any oxygen that may get in while you add the hops. I wouldn't worry about the oxygenation at that stage - it probably gets more oxygen during the bottling process. I bottle all of my beers and have not had any problems yet...

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Megary said:
Herm, if I remember correctly, you usually allow your beer 2-3 weeks in primary? Do I have that right? If so, I don’t think a big whirlpool would substitute for a late dry-hop “aroma-wise”, but that is only MY opinion.

Here’s another of my (probably unpopular) opinions, the problems associated with any oxidation from a quick dry-hop is overstated. What I have experienced is that there are no noticeable issues with opening the fermenter and adding some dry hop pellets, no matter what point during fermentation you do this. This assumes you can do this rather quickly. My fermenter might be open for about 10-15 seconds at most while I add the hops. To be fair, my dry-hopped beers will lose aroma and that wonderful hop buzz after about 3 weeks or so. Whether this is because of how I dry hop or just an unavoidable consequence of my entire brewing process, I can’t say.
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That's good to hear @Megary. I always ferment for 3 weeks then bottle. With all the conversation surrounding dry hopping during active fermentation I was confused on when to dry-hop. I was concerned much of the aroma benefits of dry hopping would be lost if I dry hopped during active fermentation but oxidation would result if I dry hopped after that point.
 
BarbarianBrewer said:
That's good to hear @Megary. I always ferment for 3 weeks then bottle. With all the conversation surrounding dry hopping during active fermentation I was confused on when to dry-hop. I was concerned much of the aroma benefits of dry hopping would be lost if I dry hopped during active fermentation but oxidation would result if I dry hopped after that point.
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I think you just have to try it and see. The aroma punch of dry-hopping is definitely worth any risk, assuming you can do it quickly. Best case scenario is you get to kick up your IPA’s to a whole new level. Worst case, as I see it, is you will just have to drink your beer faster before the signs of oxidation creep in. Win-Win? :)
 
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