Author: Marshall Schott

Dry hopping is the primary method used by brewers to impart tantalizingly fresh hop aroma into styles ranging from Pilsner to Double IPA. Typified by adding a charge of hops to the fermented beer, dry hopping is also said to help prolong precious hop aromas brewers so strongly pine for. Almost as strong as the love for all things hoppy are the opinions regarding the best approach to dry hopping. So far, prior xBmts have shown that tasters are generally able to tell apart beers dry hopped with whole cone hops from pellet hops and, similarly, a beer dry hopped with a larger dose proved more reliably distinguishable than one hit with less dry hops. A variable yet to be tested that has received some attention lately, and the focus of this xBmt, is the impact time has on dry hopping.

When I first started experimenting with this technique, it was commonly recommended to add dry hops to the fermented beer then wait 10+ days before packaging, a suggestion echoed by John Palmer in his popular book, How To Brew:

The best way to utilize dry hopping is to put the hops in a secondary fermenter, after the beer has been racked away from the trub and can sit a couple of weeks before bottling, allowing the volatile oils to diffuse into the beer. (Ch. 5, section 1)

For years, people have relied on this advice to produce fantastic hoppy beers, I think most of us would agree that dry hopping for up to 2 weeks does indeed boost hop aroma. However, with our growing addiction to hop-centered beers has come more research focused on increasing the good qualities of the dry hop while reducing any potential undesirable elements, subtle as they may be, with a lot of talk about grass-like character purported to be caused by hops being in contact with the beer over a long period of time. According to hop-whispering Brewmaster of Firestone-Walker, Matt Brynildson, dry hopping should occur over a relatively short 3 days or less, while Russian River’s IPA aficionado, Vinnie Cilurzo, opts for a 12-14 day dry hop on for the famed Pliny the Elder (For The Love of Hops, pg. 216). A pretty drastic difference between 2 very tasty beers from world-renowned breweries. It was this that got me thinking…

I’ve made plenty of hoppy beer over the years where a long dry hop was employed, though I was quick to change my ways when I learned my favorite commercial IPA, FW Union Jack, was dry hopped for less time. It worked, my beers were at least as aromatic as before, and an added bonus was that it allowed me to reduce my grain-to-glass time for hoppy beers. But my curiosity remained and I recently found myself wondering just what impact, if any, an extended dry hop has compared to a shorter one.

| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the differences between a beer dry hopped for 11 days and the same beer dry hopped for only 2 days.

| METHODS |

My penchant for crisp, easy drinking lager beer had gotten in the way of me brewing a quaffable hoppy style for the last couple months, so I was pretty stoked to get this xBmt going and add some variety to my tap list. I adapted my Lil’ Slack IPA recipe to fit the hops and yeast I had on-hand, bumping up the dry hop additions a bit in hopes of increasing any potential differences that were a function of duration.

A Hoppy Beer

Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM OG FG ABV 11 gal 30 min 55 6.1 1.055 SG 1.010 SG 5.9%

Fermentables

Name Amount % Domestic 2-Row 22 lbs 89 Munich (10L) 1 lbs 8 oz 6 Gambrinus Honey Malt 1 lbs 4 oz 5

Hops

Name Amt/IBU Time Use Form Alpha % Simcoe ~15 IBU First Wort Addition FWH Pellet 9.9 Centennial ~12 IBU First Wort Addition FWH Pellet 12.1 Centennial 30 g/7 IBU 20 minutes Boil Pellet 9.9 Amarillo 30 g/6 IBU 20 minutes Boil Pellet 8.2 Centennial 40 g/5 IBU Flameout w/ 15 min stand Steep Pellet 9.9 Amarillo 40 g/4 IBU Flameout w/ 15 min stand Steep Pellet 8.2 Amarillo 60 g Dryhop 2/11 Days Dry Pellet 8.2 Centennial 30 g Dryhop 2/11 Days Dry Pellet 9.9 Simcoe 30 g Dryhop 2/11 Days Dry Pellet 12.1

Yeast

Name Lab Attenuation Ferm Temp US-05 American Ale Fermentis 82% 66°F

I hadn’t been planning a brew day when I suddenly got the urge one Saturday evening, it’d simply been too long (1 week), so after settling on the recipe, I proceeded to my garage for water and grain collection… ahh, the sounds of a mill at midnight. I awoke the following morning and began the 10 gallon batch sparge brew day, combining the hot strike water and grist to hit my target mash temperature of 150°F, a change I made due to my use of the less attenuative Safale US-05 instead of WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast.

I allowed the mash to rest for 45 minutes, stirring a few times throughout.

With the mash complete, I collected the first runnings, added the hot sparge water to my MLT, then collected the second runnings in my kettle and proceeded to boil for 30 minutes. After the boil, the flameout addition sat in the hot wort for 15 minutes then I chilled the wort and racked it to awaiting carboys.

Due to my warmer groundwater, the full fermentors had to be placed in a temperature regulated chamber for about 2 hours in order to drop to my target fermentation temperature, after which I sprinkled the dry yeast directly onto each wort. Signs of activity were evident the following morning.

Fermentation continued similarly for both with activity seemingly peaking around the 36 hour mark. Going along with another one of Brynildson’s recommendations to dry hop prior to fermentation being fully complete, I added the long dry hop charge after 3 days of fermentation, observable activity had slowed quite a bit. I vacuum sealed the combined short dry hop charge and stored them in the freezer.

After 9 days, it was time to dry hop the second batch. The scent emanating from my chamber at this point was rather sublime, if any indicator of what was to come, I was in store for a tasty beer.

About 24 hours after dry hopping the short dry hop batch, I began cold crashing, returning 12 hours later to add gelatin, which I allowed to do its thing for an additional 12 hours before packaging. An interesting observation I made at this point was that the trub from the short dry hop batch appeared noticeably more green than that from the long dry hop batch. We all learned in jr. high science that chlorophyl gives plants their green color, but that’s not all, many believe it is also partially responsible for the grassy flavors found in some beer.

I’ll be honest, witnessing this did little to ease my concerns about creating a beer that smelled and tasted like my compost bin. I kegged the beers, placed them in my keezer, then let them sit on 45 psi of CO2 for 12 hours before purging and setting to serving pressure. I began serving them to participants 3 days later, at which point they were perfectly carbonated and mostly clear.

| RESULTS |

A total of 19 people participated in this xBmt including multiple BJCP judges, experienced homebrewers, and craft beer cognoscenti. Each person was blindly served 2 samples of the long dry hop beer and 1 sample of the short dry hop beer in different colored cups then instructed to select the one they perceived as being unique. To achieve statistical significance given the sample size, 10 participants (p<0.05) would have had to accurately identify the short dry hop beer as being different. In this case, a statistically significant 12 tasters (p=0.003) were capable of making the correct selection, nearly all of whom reported feeling confident in their decision based solely on aroma. These results suggest the length at which a beer is dry hopped does seem to make a difference, that folks can reliably distinguish a beer dry hopped longer from one that sat on dry hops for a shorter time period.

Following the triangle test, those who correctly selected the short dry hop beer as being different proceeded to a brief evaluation comparing only the 2 different beers, still blind to the variable being tested. In terms of aroma, 5 of the 12 reported preferring the short dry hop sample, 6 perceived the samples as having no difference, and only 1 preferred the long dry hop beer. Flavor preference was a different story with 7 preferring the short dry hop beer, 4 saying they liked the long dry hop beer better, and only 1 endorsing no difference. Mouthfeel preferences were more evenly distributed, 5 saying like the short dry hop beer better, 4 preferring the long dry hop beer, and 3 noting no difference.

Overall preference, surprisingly, was split almost down the middle with 5 endorsing the short dry hop beer while 4 preferred the long dry hop beer. The last 3 reported having no particular preference for either beer, despite noticing differences between them.

My Impressions: For the first time in awhile, I was able to distinguish between these beers on a fairly consistent basis, both side-by-side and in quasi-blind triangles served to me by others. Aromatically, I perceived the short dry hop beer as possessing more dank, resinous character that was layered with citrus and tropical fruit notes, while the long dry hop beer came across as having little dank character at all. In terms of flavor, the long dry hop beer was certainly hop-forward, which to me was reminiscent of a clean juice blend, with a pleasant maltiness in the finish. The short dry hop beer had the same juice-like flavor combined with a pungent kick of resinous, danky deliciousness. While I thought both beers were fantastic, I’ll definitely be sticking to shorter dry hop lengths due to my preference for punch-you-in-the-teeth hop character as well as shorter turnaround times.

| DISCUSSION |

I find the results of this xBmt encouraging. The data supports the notion that dry hop length does indeed have an impact on beer, but there is no indication one way is better than the other, neither method produced a bad beer. I found it interesting only one person noted perceiving a “grassiness” in the long dry hop sample, a comment that came following completion of the survey and revelation of the nature of the xBmt. I couldn’t detect this in the slightest. I’m not all comfortable recommending people use my subjective impressions to make decisions, partially because I could have a shitty palate, but it’s also highly likely dry hop character as a function of time is different for every hop, thus results from the hop bill I used may not translate to other beers. I guess what I’m saying is, try it out for yourself, determine your own preference, and don’t fret if you end up changing things up at some point.

Lastly, these results really make me want to revisit a technique a prior xBmt suggested may not have all that significant of an impact– double dry hopping. When I initially tested it, the separation between the first and second dry hop additions was only 2 days, now I’m curious if perhaps a longer span between the additions might not produce a more distinguishable result. Best of both worlds? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

If you have any thoughts about this xBmt, please share them in the comments section below!

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