dry hop, or not dry hop.

[Deebee]

gents and better brewers than i...

I have a question.

I brewed this last Saturday so its been in the fv for 10 days.

fermentables
6250,00 gm Pale Malt
312,50 gm Munich Malt -
125,00 gm Wheat Malt,

hops
16,32 gm Ahtanum [6,00 %] (60 min) Hops 8,8 ibu
16,32 gm Chinook [10,40 %] (60 min) Hops 15,3 IBU
15,07 gm Centennial [11,40 %] (60 min) Hops 15,5 IBU
37,50 gm Ahtanum [6,00 %] (30 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
20,00 gm Centennial [11,40 %] (30 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
18,83 gm Ahtanum [6,00 %] (20 min) Hops 5,6 IBU
10,04 gm Centennial [11,40 %] (20 min) Hops 6,3 IBU

yeast1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale


I go away for a week on Saturday and am in a dilema.

Do i put some hops in friday and leave til around the 25th before bottling..... or should i just bottle now.

Will it be ok in the fv for another 10 days or am i risking infection. Sample so far is great but i would like your advice.

I was thinking maybe dry hop with say 23-25 grams Ahtanum.

thoughts?

[greenxpaddy]

You've no late hops so I would dry hop it. I've left hops in the FV for the whole duration of the fermentation and its been fine.

You won't risk infection. In fact it will be in tip top condition for bottling then and fairly clear.

[Deebee]

You've no late hops so I would dry hop it. I've left hops in the FV for the whole duration of the fermentation and its been fine.

You won't risk infection. In fact it will be in tip top condition for bottling then and fairly clear.

yes i have.

37,50 gm Ahtanum [6,00 %] (30 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
20,00 gm Centennial [11,40 %] (30 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops

( sorry but beersmith does place them in a funny place)

so.... more dry hops.. if so what?

[greenxpaddy]

Sorry - 30 mins is not late hops.... Are you saying it was not at 30 mins?

[Deebee]

Sorry - 30 mins is not late hops.... Are you saying it was not at 30 mins?

Nope i am saying it was a 30 minute steep!

37,50 gm Ahtanum [6,00 %] (30 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
20,00 gm Centennial [11,40 %] (30 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops

[greenxpaddy]

In that case I would say probably not. For my mind with the Munich addition you don't want it too hoppy.

[Kev888]

The dry hops will give you more aroma than the steep (in fact a recent thread sugested there may be little point in steeping if you're going to dry hop). I can't say if aroma is a good thing or not in this recipe though, as i've never dry hopped a munich brew myself.

However, I can say that the timings seem okay to me - my usual dry hopping regime is to pitch the hops after 10days and leave them for another 10days before racking, which sounds pretty much what you're proposing. I do tend to chill before racking but thats more for clarity than to affect the dry-hopping in any way.

Cheers,
Kev

[Fido97]

I personally ferment for 7 days and then condition for 7 before bottling - for the conditioning I would sometimes dry hop. This is tried and tested and seems to work well. So my humble advise would be to transfer to another fermenter/container (assuming you dont have a conical fermenter which allows you to ditch the sludge) and condition for another few days. Would do no harn to throw in some dry hops for this phase. Good luck with it - sounds like an interesting brew.

[Capn Ahab]

Do it, but go for at least 4 g per litre.

Hop it up all nice I say.

[Spud395]

Yeah go for it.
I dont understand the objection to dry hopping and Munich malt gents, have I missed the circular?
I've brewed 50% munich brew's and dry hopped to good effect

[Deebee]

Which hop ahnatum?

[Spud395]

I've not used Ahtanum at all, it's prolly good.
I do know either of the others work well dry IMO

[Fido97]

Sorry have I missed the point here? Isn't the issue/main thrust of the post whether to leave your beer in the fermenter for such a long period, rather than whether to dry hop? In my opinion if you leave it to the 25th in the same FV thats way too long and there will be a significant risk of infection regardless of whether you dry hop. Cheers,

[orlando]

Sorry have I missed the point here? Isn't the issue/main thrust of the post whether to leave your beer in the fermenter for such a long period, rather than whether to dry hop? In my opinion if you leave it to the 25th in the same FV thats way too long and there will be a significant risk of infection regardless of whether you dry hop. Cheers,

It's both really.

The risk of infection is fairly insignificant, but I would put a lid on with an airlock just in case. In fact if the brew is dry hopped then you actually help fight infection as your now employing the antiseptic and preservative part of the hops role. On top of that with the brew now increasing in alcohol as the fermentation continues there is a reducing risk of infection. Finally, as brewers have been doing this for centuries if there was any real problem the practice would never of got going.

[Barley Water]

I leave beer in fermenters all the time and keg them whenever I get around to it, never really had a problem. As far as dry hopping goes, if you want really high hop aroma, go for it, it works great and again I have never had issues with infections. One thing though, I would not let beer sit for more than about 10 days or so on the hops, more than that and you run the risk of getting vegital flavors in the beer which trust me, you will not like. Anyhow, have fun with it and good luck.