Beer Forum

Need some advice here guys. I noticed I do not get a lot of hop character whenever I dry in the secondary. This last batch I dry hopped, for 5 gallons, I used 5oz of Cascade (3) and Citra (2) in the carboy just tossing the pellets in with no bag. The first dose of dry hops was left on for 13 days (2oz Citra and 1oz Cascade) and the other 2oz of Cascade was for 6 days. The temp was about 65-70 degrees.

I siphoned it off last night into a keg with decent hop aroma. However, I noticed there was a lot of aroma left behind in the carboy. I roused the carboy a few times during secondary to get the hops back in suspension. Is there something I'm missing about getting good hop character extraction during secondary?

I have found dry hopping in the primary when there is still a bit of convection (but not a whole lot) can really help get the aromas "bound" to the beer. With 5oz, I would expect it to smack you on the face if added a few days before the krausen drops.

What you've just described is something that commercial brewers have spent a lot of time and energy trying to accomplish. Aroma is fleeting, enjoy it while it lasts.

adamK wrote:I have found dry hopping in the primary when there is still a bit of convection (but not a whole lot) can really help get the aromas "bound" to the beer. With 5oz, I would expect it to smack you on the face if added a few days before the krausen drops.

I've been experimenting with a similar idea lately. I rack into a keg and suspend a weighted hop sack or two inside with dental floss. Then I seal it, bubble CO2 through the liquid-out post, and vent. I repeat that bubble and vent once or twice a day for 3-4 days. It seems to make a difference in the intensity of aroma, because there's liquid moving through and around the hops.

I try not to put more than 1-1.5 oz into a hop sack, because I don't want to have a mass of hops that is so dense the beer doesn't get to the middle of it.

Im not understanding what you are looking for? You have decent aroma, but you want more "hop character"? Dry hopping is primarily for aroma, right? I always have a lot of hop aroma left in the carboy after bottling, whether from primary or secondary, but thats not going to go away until I wash the carboy.To me, 19 days seems like a long time for dry hopping. You might be losing a lot of aroma early in the pitch if the airlock is still bubbling vigorously. You want to add dry hops while still off gassing a little to clean up any O2 you introduce, but not so soon that all the aroma leaves out the airlock. I think maybe your dry hopping to soon, or the 19 days is the problem. Either add them a little later if you need more time for your yeast to get you to TG (which you shouldnt if pitching proper amounts), or just bottle/keg sooner if you are at your FG. Now all of this info is just stuff I have learned here on the board while asking similiar questions and reading others threads, so Im not trying to sound like a know it all. Good luck, post updates!

crashlann wrote:Im not understanding what you are looking for? You have decent aroma, but you want more "hop character"? Dry hopping is primarily for aroma, right? I always have a lot of hop aroma left in the carboy after bottling, whether from primary or secondary, but thats not going to go away until I wash the carboy.To me, 19 days seems like a long time for dry hopping. You might be losing a lot of aroma early in the pitch if the airlock is still bubbling vigorously. You want to add dry hops while still off gassing a little to clean up any O2 you introduce, but not so soon that all the aroma leaves out the airlock. I think maybe your dry hopping to soon, or the 19 days is the problem. Either add them a little later if you need more time for your yeast to get you to TG (which you shouldnt if pitching proper amounts), or just bottle/keg sooner if you are at your FG. Now all of this info is just stuff I have learned here on the board while asking similiar questions and reading others threads, so Im not trying to sound like a know it all. Good luck, post updates!

No worries Jason. It was dry hopped a 13 days total with the second addition going in after the first 7 days. The gravity was with a few points from terminal when I transferred it into the carboy and added the first dose. I just wonder if I'm leaving behind the goodness in the carboy that is not getting into the beer.

hoodie wrote:Aroma is fleeting, enjoy it while it lasts.

I know what you mean. I saw her dance at the Gold Club.

I'm not understanding 100% what you're looking for either. If you're looking to get all of the aroma out of the carboy with the beer, it's not going to happen. That's just physics. Put something smelly in a container for a while, the container's going to smell when you take it out. It may sound counter-intuitive, but 13 days seems a bit long to me. Have you considered dryhopping the carboy with the first charge for 5-7 days, transferring & putting the 2nd charge in the keg?

At NHC both Mitch Steele and Stan H. presented that dry hopping in the presence of yeast creates new aroma and flavor compounds that cannot be created without the combo of the two. I took this as dry hop in the primary instead of secondary. I will typically dry hop in primary for about 5 days then cold crash for 2-3 days before kegging and I have been fairly pleased with the aroma contribution. YMMV.