Dry hopping & wild yeast

If you have a hop related question about International Bittering Units or alpha acid, post it here!
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greenxpaddy

Dry hopping & wild yeast

Post by greenxpaddy » Thu Jun 23, 2011 9:34 am

Can't seem to find an answer why dry hopping doesn't risk adding wild yeast into the brew. Is the hop too acidic for wild yeast to live on on the vine?

greenxpaddy

Re: Dry hopping & wild yeast

Post by greenxpaddy » Thu Jun 23, 2011 12:55 pm

Come to think of it I think it must be something to do with bees carrying yeast spores from flower to flower.... Maybe bees are not attracted to hop flowers?

On another hop slant can I ask is it possible to grow hops on a pergola in a pot ( I'd prefer this as they are known to be invasive plants - rhizomes shooting off all over.)

If i did grow my own how can i cheaply test for alpha acidity levels?

Wolfy

Re: Dry hopping & wild yeast

Post by Wolfy » Thu Jun 23, 2011 1:15 pm

How about it not being related to the hops, or bees or anything like that ... but instead because pitching a by large quantity of yeast compared to a very small amount of 'wild' yeast that may or may not be on the hops, anything accidental (wild yeast or bacteria) that is introduced is easily out-competed by the yeast you pitch.

Hops have a huge-root mass, you can grow them in tubs and the like, but not in normal sized pots.

There is no 'cheap' test for home-grown AA levels (that I know of) however, its not that hard to base an estimate on the variety and then adjusting the amount to get a result that you like - or simply use them for flavour/aroma/dry hop additions when knowing the exact AA levels are not so important.

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Bobba
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Re: Dry hopping & wild yeast

Post by Bobba » Fri Jun 24, 2011 5:27 pm

There's some test you can do where you make a hop tea, and then incrementally add increasing amounts of sugar until the bitterness is balanced out (you'll have to google it). Never tried it, or imagine it's particularly accurate!

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greenxpaddy

Re: Dry hopping & wild yeast

Post by greenxpaddy » Fri Jun 24, 2011 5:30 pm

Yes that would make sense - if you have a hop you know the bitterness off it will give you a guide where it sits on the scale....

greenxpaddy

Re: Dry hopping & wild yeast

Post by greenxpaddy » Sun Mar 16, 2014 9:17 am

Wolfy wrote:How about it not being related to the hops, or bees or anything like that ... but instead because pitching a by large quantity of yeast compared to a very small amount of 'wild' yeast that may or may not be on the hops, anything accidental (wild yeast or bacteria) that is introduced is easily out-competed by the yeast you pitch.
That may be true at standard dry hopping levels. At 10-40g/L however there is a bigger risk of wild yeast ingress. Over time in conditioning a small amount of wild yeast may gradually over carbonate your highly dry hopped beer. Another reason for drinking very highly dry hopped beer fresh or using a hop rocket in serving instead.

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scuppeteer
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Re: Dry hopping & wild yeast

Post by scuppeteer » Sun Mar 16, 2014 12:11 pm

I have a recipe in an ancient cookery book somewhere on how to make a yeast from Hops. So I would say your question is more than valid.
Dave Berry


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barney

Re: Dry hopping & wild yeast

Post by barney » Sun Mar 16, 2014 1:13 pm

Nearly three years later with that replay. LOL

greenxpaddy

Re: Dry hopping & wild yeast

Post by greenxpaddy » Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:24 am

The best questions need to be asked again!

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