25 replies to this topic

[DaBearSox]

So I was talking to a guy at my LHBS last week and he mentioned a process that I have never herd of before for dry hopping pales and IPAs. One of the breweries out here in CO use this method for their award winning IPA. Instead of doing your normal dry hopping method in the 2ndary, after flameout add your dry hops to your mash tun or another kettle that has a false bottom. Pour your wort over the hops and let it slowly drain into your fermenter. He said this kills 2 birds with one stone because you have to aerate anyway and then you don't have to even use a 2ndary if you choose not too. Haven't tried it yet so I have no idea of the results, but he said he swears by it.

[CaptRon]

Sounds kind of like a First Wort Hop. Maybe this could be termed Last Wort Hop

[MtnBrewer]

Sounds more like he's using a grant.

[BrewerGeorge]

I'd be scared to use the mash tun, though. Grains are laco-heaven.

[MtnBrewer]

Lacto... but yeah, very good point George.

[JReigle]

I think this will give you good hop character as one step in the process, but I can't see how this would replace dry hopping. You're going to lose a lot of hop aroma during fermentation and would still need to replace it with a proper dry hop addition for an IPA.

[MakeMeHoppy]

I never seconday. I just dry hop once the krausen has fallen back and fermentation is near the end. I normally leave the beer for about 1 week which lets the yeast finish up as well. I like to hop after fermentation because I've read that the fermentation process drives a lot of the hop flavor and aroma out.

[DaBearSox]

I'd be scared to use the mash tun, though. Grains are laco-heaven.

Yea he actually said the he uses a sanitized 2nd kettle with a false bottom...so he told me to clean and sanitize my mash tun since my 2nd kettles doesnt have a drain...and the brewery that supposedly uses this process rhymes with O (do) tells

[MtnBrewer]

Yea he actually said the he uses a sanitized 2nd kettle with a false bottom...so he told me to clean and sanitize my mash tun since my 2nd kettles doesnt have a drain...and the brewery that supposedly uses this process rhymes with O (do) tells

A lot of breweries use grants, not just *cough* O'Dells.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Sounds like a poor man's hopback.

[DaBearSox]

A lot of breweries use grants, not just *cough* O'Dells.

Well this is the first time Grant is hearing about grants....my new thing for today...

[Big Nake]

I just had a beer that seemed a little light in the hop department so I suspended a muslin bag full of Sterling hops (and sanitized marbles) in the keg. It gave the beer an awesome hop aroma and even though the keg took 3-4 weeks to drain, the dry hop profile never got overly funky. 2¢.

[MtnBrewer]

I just had a beer that seemed a little light in the hop department so I suspended a muslin bag full of Sterling hops (and sanitized marbles) in the keg. It gave the beer an awesome hop aroma and even though the keg took 3-4 weeks to drain, the dry hop profile never got overly funky. 2¢.

This is the only way I dry hop anymore. I don't use the muslin bag but what I do amounts to the same thing. I use a Sure Screen over top of the dip tube to keep hop particles out. I've never tried that with pellets (I don't dry hop with pellets anyway) but it works great with whole hops. I've found that the hop aroma can be a little overbearing at first but after several days, it mellows and loses some of the grassiness. And I also agree that despite warnings to the contrary, the beer never developed any funky off-flavors even after being in the keg for a month.ETA: Note that using a grant is a little bit different than dry hopping. Since you're putting hot wort in contact with the hops, the flavor you get is not the same as true dry hopping. And also, as has been pointed out, the act of fermentation will tend to scrub some of that hop aroma out of the beer. Using a grant is more-or-less the same as adding hops at flameout.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

I just had a beer that seemed a little light in the hop department so I suspended a muslin bag full of Sterling hops (and sanitized marbles) in the keg. It gave the beer an awesome hop aroma and even though the keg took 3-4 weeks to drain, the dry hop profile never got overly funky. 2¢.

whole hops or pellets?

[Big Nake]

In my case in was pellets. I got to the point where I did not like using leaf/whole hops anymore so I only have pellets in the house... but the aroma was great and I think it absolutely made the beer. I tied a thread around the muslin bag and then threw it in (with sanitized marbles) and had the thread come out through the lid (it sealed just fine with the thread in there). I used the thread in case the hops got overly assertive, I could just pull the bag up above the level of the beer or pull it out altogether. I also happen to like the aroma of the Sterling hops so it worked well, as it would with any hop you like. I may to this again and then bottle some of that beer when the keg is half full. Cheers!

[Stout_fan]

Am I missing something here guys, or are you describing a hop-back?

[MoreAmmoPlz]

I feel like I'm missing something here as well. What would the flavor contribution for this compare to a flame-out addition? On my pale ales and IPA normally I will have a large flame-out addition because I use an IC. I could see using the hop back/grant if you had a counterflow but if you're using an IC it seems as if you could get the same effect by using a flame-out addition.

[Big Nake]

I think I would place these varying processes in 2 camps... pre-fermentation and post. I have added hops at flameout and let the hops steep in the brewpot with the lid on, I have added fresh hops to the primary and added hops to secondary and kegs. The fresh hop aroma that you get when the hops are added to secondary or the keg are much different than hops added prior to fermentation. The primary process definitely scrubs out some of the hop aroma. Even though there are these different procedures for adding hops prior to primary, I'm guessing that they are very similar once you have that glass of beer in front of you.

[CarlosM]

Am I missing something here guys, or are you describing a hop-back?

yea thats what I was thinking.