So, as the lamb slowly cooks to a smokey 140* of grass fed perfection I decided to keg 20 gallons of my go to kolsch which has been conditioning @ 40* in the fermentor the past 30 days. I changed my usual hops for Mandarina Bavarian. I have used this hop for a few beers recently and thought my kolsch would taste good with it.
With that being stated, I added 1oz of MB to a 5 gal keg to see what happens using it as a dry hop. I know, kolsch really shouldn’t be dry hopped but (yes/no?) hey, I’ll try it!
Does anyone have any thoughts/experience using MB for dry hopping?
I dry hopped using 1oz of Mandarina Bavarian in a 5 gallon batch of German Pilsner and it was a good beer. I got a fruity tangarine flavor. I added the hops during fermentation when the krausen started to drop and removed them after 5 days.
Only in pale ales, but it’s a fantastic dry hop. Lots of orange flavor, but more the fruit/juice than the pith/rind from domestic hops like Centennial or Amarillo.
Ok, I dry hopped with 1oz of MB @10.10%AA for 31 days
I used 2.35oz of the same @60mins. for a total IBU of 22.
I also dropped in 1oz@Whirlpool <180*
20 gallon batch.
I am perceiving a slight bitterness that is not present on the other kegs of Kolsch beer, same batch but not dry hopped.
I’m also using a keg hop stopper/blocker
Overall I am happy with the taste and aroma although the aroma dissipates rather quickly.
For you guys that have used MB for dry hopping, did you have any negative reactions?
My wife used it as a dry hop in a Chocolate Orange Stout she made. Honestly, the only negative was the flavor profile just wasn’t strong enough for what we were looking for (not the hops fault). We also used some in the boil so I think it was more bitter than we intended, but besides that nothing much.
You dry hoped for 31 days? Don’t you get a lot of the crappy flavors from dry hopping that long?
On a side note, I used those hops for aroma and opening the bag of hops was life changing. They smell terrific. I just brewed 10 gallons of a hoppy Pilsner. I think I’m going to dry hop half of it with an oz or two of MB. Kinda excited now.
I didn’t get crappy flavors at all, just a bitterness that lingered.
I also dry hopped a cream ale recipe with MB, same amount but this time I left to condition for only one week before tapping the keg. Myself and all who tried it had no perception of bitterness. My Kolsch and Cream Ale recipes are very similar in their grain bill. So I think I will tap kegs that have been dry hopped with MB in these 2 recipes for one week. I would definitely do again, at least for one of the 5 gal kegs.