Many lagers seem to be lacking in aroma. Hard to describe, maybe very faint sulfur? I’m curious if anyone has tried a very light dry hopping, maybe a half ounce, just enough to bring the aroma to life. Thoughts?
Sacrilege! I don’t like to late hop or dry hop my lagers. I’m snooty like that. I figure if you’re going to make a hop bomb, it might as well be an ale or it kind of defeats the purpose of lagering to bring out the malt character. Of course there are other people who love dry hopping their lagers and do it all the time. It’s totally up to you. But I wouldn’t do it.
My current lager is an ounce of northern brewer at FWH, two ounces Mt hood at FO. I was thinkin about a half ounce after the D rest while I’m stepping it down to 35 deg
I might wait till next batch though. This is my first shot at FWH and ought to see what that’s like on its own before another change
I dry hopped a BoPils with an Ounce of Saaz and it was wonderful. I wouldn’t say it was a hop bomb, just had a very pleasant aroma. All depends on the style and your tastes. Sam Adams just introduced their IPL which I’d like to try as I was thinking about experimenting with this myself. I say go for it and see if you like it or not.
Dave
I have a friend that made a Nelson Sauvin Pilsner. Holy hell it was amazing! Really hop forward.
I think I will try it on my next batches. Probably a half ounce of Mt hood or Willamette
Totally forgot about my super hopped pils I made earlier this year as I wanted to clear out some hops. I didn’t dry hop it but I used 5oz of Hallertauer at 1 minute. There was already 3oz at 10 minutes and 3oz at 5 minutes for a total of 13oz in 5G (2oz at 90) and it was crazy good!
Try it, you may like it!
Dave
I’ve also brewed something close to the BCS CAP. SO MUCH SAAZ!! Quite hoppy and quite tasty.
I’ve dry hopped BoPils, and also made what were basically IPLs back in the day. I’m sure the Germans wouldn’t approve, but I liked them pretty well.
When someone gives ya 5 lbs of Nelson Sauvin ya find a lot of places to use it ;D (although she hasn’t shared any with me!)
back on topic, I’ve dry-hopped lagers before, absolutely. Post lagering, some additional Mittelfrue in the keg of German Pils - awesome.
I will be dry hopping a Bell’s Quinnanan Falls clone attempt today. This is a lager made with American hops with Noble hops as part of the parentage. Used Vanguard, Santium, and Crystal. Will dry hop with Crystal.
The traditional lagers I make do not get dry hopped.
She’s got a Nelson Sauvin/Mosaic Pils now that I hear is amazing as well… I wish the weather would get nice so we can start porch drinkin’! ;D
I made a premium American lager dry-hopped with 4oz of Motueka. It’s probably one of the best beers I’ve ever made.
Dry hopping is Reinheitsgebot-compliant, right?
I always assumed that the traditional German lagers with the brightest hop character were dry-hopped because the long lagering time makes the kettle hop flavor/aroma drop off.
I would think it’s compliant. I was always under the impression (maybe except for some alts?) that the Germans tended not to. I could easily be wrong.
The Reinheitsgebot is basically BS.
It may be compliant, but is not done in Germany, with the exception of the Uerige Sticke. The reason usually stated is that late additions to the boil (10 min.) give a more refined hop aroma.
Very true for most people. You must be of German DNA to qualify as a brewer capable of brewing under the rhg
Naw, German brewers can make Belgian-style ales with sugar and export lagers with adjuncts, all “in accordance” with the RHG.
Good read. I love when people use the term ‘bollocks’. Teehee.