Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp  (Read 7596 times)

Offline Village Taphouse

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2327
  • Ken from Chicago
    • The new Mayfair Court Brewhouse
Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« on: August 05, 2016, 07:52:45 am »
I apologize if this has been covered.  I have had two commercial brewers (both went to Siebel) tell me to dry hop with the beer at room temp.  When the one guy told me about it, I didn't make much of it because I wasn't dry hopping at the time.  The second guy (who I know better) mentioned it on a recipe he gave me for his Amarillo-Citra pale ale.  He specifically mentioned dry hopping with the beer at room temp.  When I asked him about it, he said that dry hopping with the beer cold will bring out vegetal flavors from the hops.  I was out with some homebrewing buds last week and I mentioned it and a few of them were surprised and a couple didn't believe it.  One asked, "what about putting hops in the cold serving keg?" and I didn't have an answer.  Anyone care to chime in?
Ken from Chicago. 
A day without beer is like... just kidding, I have no idea.

Offline Iliff Ave

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4507
Re: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2016, 07:55:06 am »
I only dry hop in the keg these days. The hops stay in until the keg is kicked and I have never experienced any vegetal characters. I don't hop at as high of rate as most though...

I believe there was an exbeeriment which tested this and there were no perceptible difference between warm or cold dry hop.

EDIT - found it:
http://brulosophy.com/2016/06/27/warm-dry-hop-vs-cold-keg-hop-exbeeriment-results/
« Last Edit: August 05, 2016, 07:59:09 am by goschman »
On Tap/Bottled: IPL, Adjunct Vienna, Golden Stout, Honey Lager
Fermenting: IPA
Up Next: mexi lager, Germerican pale ale

Offline HoosierBrew

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 13031
  • Indianapolis,IN
Re: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2016, 08:01:50 am »
I keg hop these days, too - at room temp initially for a few days, but sometimes by adding extra hops to the (cold) keg after the hop aroma has faded. I don't get the elusive 'vegetal' character that gets talked about at cold temps. I think it's subjective and wonder if a beer sometimes gets critiqued for having vegetal hop character when it's just hoppier than the drinker cares for.


Edit - I'll add though that extraction is slower at cold temps vs room temp dry hopping.
« Last Edit: August 05, 2016, 08:12:16 am by HoosierBrew »
Jon H.

Offline theDarkSide

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3041
  • Derry, NH
Re: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2016, 08:02:29 am »
Dry hop at fermentation temp, so for ales around 67F.  I will do keg hopping as well when I feel the dry hop wasn't enough.
Seacoast Homebrew Club - Portsmouth, NH
AHA Member
Stephen Mayo
------------------------------------------------

Offline dmtaylor

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4723
  • Lord Idiot the Lazy
    • YEAST MASTER Perma-Living
Re: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2016, 08:07:29 am »
And in the following exbeeriment, they COULD taste the difference, although it wasn't clear at all what that difference actually was (vegetal or otherwise).  So, the jury's still out as far as I can tell.  Seems to me like there is likely some difference that has not yet been explained by science.

http://brulosophy.com/2016/01/18/dry-hop-temperature-warm-vs-cool-exbeeriment-results/

Also, in general, I would select a much higher p value of 0.15 or thereabouts.  p=0.05 is super convincing when the exbeeriment is under that, but.... p=0.10 or 0.15 is "good enough" in my opinion.  And in that case, a huge number of exBmts actually affirm whatever the p=0.05 says they do not.  How's that for silliness / wide-open to interpretation kind of stuff!
« Last Edit: August 05, 2016, 08:10:57 am by dmtaylor »
Dave

The world will become a much more pleasant place to live when each and every one of us realizes that we are all idiots.

Offline Iliff Ave

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4507
Re: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2016, 08:09:46 am »
And in the following exbeeriment, they COULD taste the difference.  So, the jury's still out as far as I can tell.  Seems to me like there is likely some difference that has not yet been explained by science.

http://brulosophy.com/2016/01/18/dry-hop-temperature-warm-vs-cool-exbeeriment-results/

Ha! Didn't know there were two and with different results. Thanks.
On Tap/Bottled: IPL, Adjunct Vienna, Golden Stout, Honey Lager
Fermenting: IPA
Up Next: mexi lager, Germerican pale ale

Offline blatz

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3513
  • Paul Blatz - Jupiter, FL
Re: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2016, 08:10:56 am »
I've been doing 4-7 days at room temp in a keg, crash under CO2 for 48hrs and then jump to fresh kegs.  My GF said she could smell my IPA from across the room last night, so its definitely working lol.

Is it better than cold dryhopping?  I have no idea.  I used to do that as well, and only switched because the way I do it now works for my process/logjam. 

The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

BJCP National: F0281

Offline Village Taphouse

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2327
  • Ken from Chicago
    • The new Mayfair Court Brewhouse
Re: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2016, 08:12:59 am »
Hops and their character can be very unusual sometimes.  I admit that I have tasted some not-so-great hop character when dry hopping (at whatever temp) and my guess is that the hops just weren't in very good condition when I used them.  When I dry hop (just did it a couple of minutes ago... 2 ounces of Saphir in a blonde ale), I try to use hops that have not been opened and preferably from a vacuum-sealed, O2-purged foil pack.  It's interesting that the jury is out on this because for some amount of time I assumed this was another homebrew myth... especially with so many people I know who have hops in the keg until the keg is gone.  I have encountered "grassy" flavors where the keg has been on tap for too long and the hop character just turned but that's a different story.
Ken from Chicago. 
A day without beer is like... just kidding, I have no idea.

Offline Village Taphouse

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2327
  • Ken from Chicago
    • The new Mayfair Court Brewhouse
Re: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« Reply #8 on: August 05, 2016, 08:15:17 am »
I've been doing 4-7 days at room temp in a keg, crash under CO2 for 48hrs and then jump to fresh kegs.  My GF said she could smell my IPA from across the room last night, so its definitely working lol.

Is it better than cold dryhopping?  I have no idea.  I used to do that as well, and only switched because the way I do it now works for my process/logjam.
This is what I do now too... rack beer to keg, dry hop it in the keg at room temp for 5 days or so, remove the hops and then crash cool and carb (I do not jump to a new keg however).
Ken from Chicago. 
A day without beer is like... just kidding, I have no idea.

Offline zwiller

  • Brewmaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 570
Re: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« Reply #9 on: August 05, 2016, 08:19:18 am »
There is no substitute for trying things like this for yourself.  IMO the results are not the same but not hugely different at same time.  I prefer warm and longer and nowadays post cold crash/racking off yeast and regular swirling to resuspend.  In the end, everyone has their own preference and there is no right or wrong IMO. 

As Village said, hops variety and also QUALITY(centennial fans out there?)/quantity are also factors. 

How the heck do you guys keg hop?  My experience with whole and tea balls was good but messy/lots of loss.
Sam
Sandusky, OH

Offline blatz

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3513
  • Paul Blatz - Jupiter, FL
Re: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« Reply #10 on: August 05, 2016, 08:20:28 am »
How the heck do you guys keg hop?  My experience with whole and tea balls was good but messy/lots of loss.

Surescreen on the diptube.
The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

BJCP National: F0281

Offline Village Taphouse

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2327
  • Ken from Chicago
    • The new Mayfair Court Brewhouse
Re: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« Reply #11 on: August 05, 2016, 08:23:32 am »
How the heck do you guys keg hop?  My experience with whole and tea balls was good but messy/lots of loss.

Surescreen on the diptube.
A muslin bag with pellets, tied up with a piece of thread that I let hang out of the main hatch so I can pull it out when the dry hop is done.

I do wonder if the dry hop temp has some parameters... like under 40° is a no-no.  I also wonder if certain hop varieties are more likely to create vegetal flavors.  I didn't read the exbeeriments but I will... they're great.
Ken from Chicago. 
A day without beer is like... just kidding, I have no idea.

Offline HoosierBrew

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 13031
  • Indianapolis,IN
Re: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« Reply #12 on: August 05, 2016, 08:23:44 am »
How the heck do you guys keg hop?


Double layered 5 gallon paint stainer bags currently.
Jon H.

Offline Iliff Ave

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4507
Re: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« Reply #13 on: August 05, 2016, 08:25:04 am »
I did have my first issue with keg hopping recently. I bag the hops in small muslin sacks and just knot it off to keep the hops in. I don't worry about cutting off the extra material above the knot and that happened to get caught in the dip tube after a couple of weeks. It took me a while to figure out that this was the problem.
On Tap/Bottled: IPL, Adjunct Vienna, Golden Stout, Honey Lager
Fermenting: IPA
Up Next: mexi lager, Germerican pale ale

Offline HoosierBrew

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 13031
  • Indianapolis,IN
Re: Can I get a show of hands... dry hop temp
« Reply #14 on: August 05, 2016, 08:29:37 am »
I'd add that I think that vegetal character largely comes from letting fine hop debris into the bottle/keg. Crashing and jumping to another keg helps, as does double layering the paint strainer bags. I found that using one bag was letting some fine hop debris into some pints. Those pints were more harsh (some might say vegetal), where the ones that showed no hop debris (double layered bags) were great.
Jon H.