Upper limits for dry hopping time period?

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WHat should I do

Leave it in as bargain basement cornie hop rocket
6
86%
Leave it for a couple of weeks then rack to another cornie (I have empty spares)
0
No votes
Bottle from cornie in a couple of weeks (avoid 'grassiness')
0
No votes
Get them out while they're still afloat
1
14%
 
Total votes: 7

lancsSteve

Upper limits for dry hopping time period?

Post by lancsSteve » Wed May 29, 2013 7:17 pm

So I thought I'd been really clever - but there was a weakness in my cunning plan.

I got two herb infusers (like this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kuchenprofi-Her ... +herb+ball ) filled them with dry hops (El Dorado and columbus in my saison yeast IPA and pacific Jade in the NZPA) which went into the cornie kegs after primary fermentation - running wort through them and then securing with thin stainless steel wire to cornie lid so I could lift them out. Having used these at end of primary ferment before I know that initially they float but once all the hops are thoroughly soaked they sink  - so i wanted to lift them out. So far so cunning - till the wire snapped!

SO what to do:
1 - leave it: dry hop till its finished, allowing them to sink to bottom of cornie next to dip tube will be like having a cornie-internal hop rocket maybe!
http://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/public/det ... EW20265852

2 - leave it as dry hopping then avoid issue of too-long-dry-hopping and bottle from cornie

3 - Sterilise some "tools" (fondue forks maybe? and hook these out before they sink.

There's a poll for that questions but the real hope here is to get others' experience to inform this: I've heard of "recommended upper limits" for dry hopping typically 1 - 2 weeks and warning of "grassiness" if left in longer - what of actual experiences though? Is this over-stated and longer dry hopping not an issue in fact? WIll more contained hops in a tea ball help or hinder that? 1 then 2 if it starts to be grassy an obvious option!)
Last edited by lancsSteve on Wed May 29, 2013 8:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Bobba
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Re: Upper limits for dry hopping time period?

Post by Bobba » Wed May 29, 2013 8:03 pm

I happily leave hops in tea balls throughout the duration in the corny, often months at a time, with up to 40g. Never had any grassiness.

FV: -
Conditioning: AG34 Randy's Three Nipple Tripel 9.2%, AG39 APA for a mate's wedding
On bottle: AG32 Homegrown Northdown ESB, AG33 Homegrown Cascade Best
On tap: -
Garden: 2x cascade, 2x Farnham whitebine (mathon), 2x northdown, 1x first gold

grmski

Re: Upper limits for dry hopping time period?

Post by grmski » Wed May 29, 2013 8:07 pm

Alright,
I don't use cornies but with pressure barrels I have had a hop sock with a oz of cascade in the barrel for the last month and its been a revelation. A strong high hop level that is not disapating over time and no grassy flavours at all...so far at least. I'll be doing this again in a citra pale soon.

lancsSteve

Re: Upper limits for dry hopping time period?

Post by lancsSteve » Wed May 29, 2013 8:08 pm

Thanks Bobba, I kind of figured as much - have been reminded on twitter that I could always rack to another cornie keg as I have a couple empty - which is the least-ball-achy of the "if I have to" options.

guypettigrew
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Re: Upper limits for dry hopping time period?

Post by guypettigrew » Wed May 29, 2013 9:46 pm

I chuck about 20g of hops into the keg and leave them in there for as long as it takes me to drink the beer.

No problem now I've sorted out a cask hop filter.

Guy

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far9410
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Re: Upper limits for dry hopping time period?

Post by far9410 » Wed May 29, 2013 9:57 pm

I normally leave hops in fv for about 10 days, prior to kegging
no palate, no patience.


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WishboneBrewery
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Re: Upper limits for dry hopping time period?

Post by WishboneBrewery » Wed May 29, 2013 10:10 pm

My current brew will have pellet dry hops in the FV for a week-ish, I'm anticipating a little harshness at first but expect them to mellow, I'm not expecting anything grassy from my choice of Columbus, Cascade, Chinook. :)

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Befuddler
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Re: Upper limits for dry hopping time period?

Post by Befuddler » Thu May 30, 2013 1:04 am

I left a metric fucktonne (160g in 18l) of Simcoe and Galaxy in my Christmas IPA for nearly 3 months by the time it was polished off.

It got better every day. :mrgreen:

Disclaimer: I am a hop-addicted mental. Ymmv.
"There are no strong beers, only weak men"

lancsSteve

Re: Upper limits for dry hopping time period?

Post by lancsSteve » Thu May 30, 2013 12:37 pm

Thanks all - this was my original plan (leave it in) then I got all clever/worried about upper limits. HOPEFULLY this will be two truly hoppy and different beers!

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alix101
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Re: Upper limits for dry hopping time period?

Post by alix101 » Thu May 30, 2013 4:39 pm

I think you already have your answer, I'll back the other sentiments, I've often hopped in the keg and never noticed a grassy taste,I would also agree it gets better..perhaps the grassy notes that the bjcp refer to occur in beers that are dry hopped with earthy varieties like fuggles and willamette...ps go you still want my national results .
"Everybody should belive in something : and I belive I'll have another drink".

lancsSteve

Re: Upper limits for dry hopping time period?

Post by lancsSteve » Thu May 30, 2013 5:24 pm

I DO like a consensus and experience! My only slight regret now is I think put too many hops in the herb ball so they'll have expanded into a solid block... Still all seems fine.

Yeah your Kolsch judging sheets would be MOST welcome... Thanks. Hope all's well - catch you at another NCBA event sometime I hope.

alikocho

Re: Upper limits for dry hopping time period?

Post by alikocho » Thu May 30, 2013 5:31 pm

Id leave it. My experience tells me that dry hopping under pressure doesn't lead to grassiness over time.

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