Dry hopping temperature

Ingredients
1

I just finished an email conversation with the experimental brewer at Haas (for those who are not familiar, Haas is the largest hop producer in the world - just not so much to home brewers).  I was asking about a temperature that would be a sweet spot for dry hopping.  I was thinking that hop oils may not get into solution very well at lower temperatures.  What brought this up in my mind is my current IPA that I am about to dry hop, which I fermented at the low end of the range for 1056 (63*) in order to coax some lemony esters out.

His response?  50*F and below!

I thought it would be 70*+.  His main comment was that it doesn’t hinder the oils going into solution, and helps avoid a vegetal character, giving a clean hop taste.

I may have to follow up with him on process though because my usual process is to dry hop as fermentation is subsiding, which coincides with when I start ramping the temperature up by 2 degrees per day (1 AM, 1 PM) in order to rouse the yeast to finish fermentation and cleaning up fermentation by-products.

So now I can see myself doing this, then dropping the temp to ~45* to dry hop for a week.  The dissonance I am experiencing is that I have been dry hopping while the yeast is still active in order to counteract any oxygen that is introduced when I dump the hops in.

What are your thoughts?

2

Kinda explains why you can have hops in the keg for months without problems.

3

My experience has been a reduced hop aroma when dry hopping cold.  I would also caution against dry hoping during fermentation because yeast cells absorb many of the volatile hop oils you want in the aroma.  I only use a secondary for 2 things… dry hopping or fruit.  I typically use dry hops directly in the keg… but at fermenation temps.  I do pull the dry hops out after 3 days or so.

4

I’ve seen this topic come up over and over in this forum (in the short time that I’ve been here).

Consensus: homebrewer dry hopping procedures are all over the place. In the Hops book, Stan H. makes a similar conclusion in the pro brewing world.

The right time/temp/amount/etc is what works best for you.

Personally - I’m a double-dryhop in the keg kinda guy.

5

Totally agree.  I prefer 65 -68F for ~ a week, and I’m sure everybody else likes their own method just as much.

6

I have just recently started dry hopping more often. I usually just do it at whatever the beer was fermenting at. Right now, I have some dry hops in a beer the is at 60F which is cooler than normal due to basement temps during the winter.

7

I like to dry hop once the FG has been reached and the yeast begins to drop.

I’m of the belief that the yeast can absorb some of the oils and bring them down as it flocculates so I try to avoid that.

I usually go 5-7 days at 65-68F with great results. I also tend to use no less than 2oz and am usually at 3-4oz for the hoppier beers I brew

8

…and in secondary when the beer has cleared well.  ~ 2.5 oz for APA,  5 or 6 oz for IPA,  10-12oz total for IIPA ( in separate 5 or 6 oz additions for a week each).

9

Interesting. I too would have thought a slightly high temperature to be helpful. I typically dry hop at ale fermentation temperature, so that suggests that it may be a bit higher than desirable. However, I do only dry hop for 3 or 4 days and that may be a factor in the lack of vegetal notes. But now I’m going to have to try a lower temp for dry hopping.  Thanks for the info.

10

At the brewery I used to work for, we would dry hop certain beers, (like ESB, Pale Ale, and occasionally IPA) in the brite tanks, at around 38-40*.  Always got a nice, clean flavor from them. I’m not sure if it diminishes the aroma, as I never had a control beer to compare it to.  At home, I dryhop at the same temp as I ferment, or even a few degrees higher, and have had great results there too. Might have to split a batch and dryhop at different temps to see if there is truly a difference…

11

I’ve dry hopped at different temps and always liked the upper 60s best, both in flavor and aroma.  I feel the cooler you go, aroma starts to diminish. On APA and AIPAs I routinely add an oz or so at kegging to reinforce the hop aroma/flavor, but I feel that the effect at keg temp/serving temp is minimal as compared to dry hopping at ale temps. But I remember dry hopping @ 70-75F and not liking it as well as the 65-68F range - I’ve always felt that was the sweet spot.

12

The times I have dry hopped cold I have come to the exact opposite conclusions. Cold = vegal

13

+1.  And the colder temps are where I’ve picked up more of the grassiness/vegetal thing too.  I know some disagree.

14

Agreed.

15

Dry hopping IPA’s with a heavy load works best at fermentation temperatures for me.  I tried it cold once and had a vegetal grass bomb, never again.  It did eventually condition out though.  I brewed another batch with the same hops and dry hopped warm to pleasant results, the dry hopping temperature was the only change.

For best results I like to crash the yeast for a few days then warm it back up before dry hopping in a well purged keg.  Pressurizing and purging a few times with the leaf hops in the keg is a great way to eliminate oxidation concerns.

All the above applies to IPA’s only, APA, ESB, Czech Pils etc are a whole other story, probably due to the lighter dry hop load.  I know you can get away with a small amount of keg hops and avoid the grass, increase the amount at your own peril.

16

Good stuff! Sounds like dry hopping at cold crash is the way to go.

17

And I’m the opposite of your opposite!

18

The joys of everyone’s different taste buds!

19

Me too. It took several grassy batches before I tried dry hopping on the cold side.

20

What temp are you cold dry hopping guys doing it at? Ive has always been under 38 degrees. Maybe that has something to do with it.

Also, I’ve heard other commercial brewers say the same thing thing (veg flavors at cold temps) so there is some heavy hitters saying this. That doesn’t mean anyone is right or wrong but I question why it works or is opposite for some and not others.

Also, when I say “veg” flavors I’m talking more “herbal” like aromas and flavors. Not so much grassy, though that could be one descriptor.