Sorry I sound so skeptical about judges. But I am one, and I know how some are, so…
The big point you need to keep in mind is, sometimes hops are grassy. They just are sometimes.
Dry hopping will give you more grassy flavors than boiled hops.
Also some crops will be more grassy than others.
Certain varieties such as Saaz are known for being more grassy than others.
Also, hops that are not ripe and/or not sufficiently dried will taste grassy as well.
Lots of factors.
Without tasting the beer myself, I am skeptical when judges of unknown qualifications throw out terms like “grassy”, because… I just am, based on experience. I haven’t experienced a huge lot of beers that are indeed grassy, and one judge didn’t even notice or care, which makes me all the more skeptical. But if it’s truly grassy, then see above.
Okay I’ve said everything multiple times now again and again over and over so I’m done now. ;D
Haha, no problem. I appreciate your insight. I’ve tasted what I feel is “grassy”, but it was definitely due to dry hopping cold. That was the first time I ever dry hopped, and it was very noticeable.
I think it really has the most to do with picking them underripe and/or not drying them enough. If one were to pick hops in July that aren’t ripe until September, and not bother to dry them very well, that will taste like grass. Me, I’m lazy and don’t pick mine until they’re overripe, then I dry them in a low oven for a few hours, which avoids grassiness completely but perhaps hurts them in other ways. But I use all mine for full boil only so I guess I don’t much care about losing the aroma. Perhaps sometime I should just air dry them like normal people. Maybe this year. Maybe.
Interesting as well…I only tried dry hopping cold once. I got a very distinct grassy, vegetative flavor to the beer. Although it could have been what settled to the bottom.
I found some information that suggested cold dry hopping could give the beer the grassy/vegetative taste, so I stopped doing it. I really don’t taste it in this beer, but again, my pallet isn’t the best.
My experience with grassiness in my home brews come mostly from using wet hops and from oxidation. As to oxidation, the fresh hop quality had faded allowing the grassiness to become apparent.
Thanks for the info. Would dry hopping with an old /oxidized hop contribute more to the grassy flavor than one used for primary bittering? Seems like dry hopping would be the dominate factor?
I’ve always gotten a grassy character when I’ve dry hopped with cascade, sometimes to the point of having to dump the beer. So I don’t dry hop with it anymore.
And I’ve dry hopped with Cascade hundreds of times and never gotten it. How many times did it happen to you? Were all the batches from the same lot of hops?
Three batches over the span of about a year. Had to dump two of them, the grassiness was so bad. Don’t know what lot(s) they came from, but they were all from different orders/bags. To be fair, this was a few years ago. Haven’t used cascade on the cold side since then because I’m a bit gun shy with it now.
I’m drinking a batch dry hopped with Cascade right now. Not grassy, I just find it lacks the punch I’ve accustomed myself to with Simcoe. Palate wrecked. ;) Seriously, one thing I do find is more vegetal or chlorophyll like character dry hopping with pellets rather than whole cones. Is that perceived by some as “grassiness?”
And again, I’ve used it for cold dry hopping for 20 years, probably at least a hundred batches, with hops from 3 different suppliers I can think of. Not once have I experienced grassiness. Kinda strange, huh?
Possibly. But the grassiness from dry hops I’m talking about comes across, to my palate, as similar to eating a raw snap pea, i.e. a perfumey, chlorophyll, “green” flavor. I’ve only ever dry hopped with pellets, though–and usually with great success, except for that darn cascade!
I don’t just get that from dry-hopping, I get that from big whirlpool additions with pellets as well. I don’t know if I’d call it exactly grassy, but more like rough/dirty/stemmy - like licking a hop pellet.
Yes, I don’t get grassiness from bittering additions. When I was talking of oxdiation, I was talking about oxidation of beer, but I supposed old hops might come off grassier than new hops to the extent that the primary aromas and flavors have faded.
I see. I do have a newer bag of Cascade that’s unopened. I may try that next time for the dry hopping and use the current opened bag for the bittering addition.
OP was it grassy or vegetal? I get vegetal right away from beers with a lot of bittering ( read boiled long) hops. I pick it up right away in beers say… Two hearted as well.
