There are many hopping techniques for beer these days: first wort hops, whirlpool hops, dry hops, dip hops, etc. Now from the land of Down Under, the source of many innovations in homebrewing, comes a combination of dry hopping and dip hopping called drip hopping. Dip hopping is done before fermentation and dry hopping is usually done after fermentation. Drip hopping gives you the best of both worlds by continuously infusing the beer with hops before, during and after fermentation. A small amount of the fermenting beer is pumped up and allowed to drain slowly through a mesh container of hops, dripping gently back into the main volume, just like the pour-over coffee that baristas make. The increased surface area and short dwell time mean that the beer can extract just the compounds we want in our beer without getting the undesirables. A rotating tray containing multiple hop charges allows fresh hops to be introduced periodically, as the extraction is completed. By pumping beer from the bottom and dripping it back into the top you are sure to have hoppiness evenly distributed throughout your batch. Drip hopping requires a bit of extra equipment and setup, but once running it takes care of itself. The only drawback to the technique is that it only works one day a year – April Fools’ Day!
Topic: Drip hopping - new hopping technique! (Read 361 times)
