OK, it would appear as though my hop storage techniques has degraded my hop effectiveness pretty bad. I think I’m gonna throw out all hops that are not sealed from the farm, and start vacumming packing when I open one of those one pound foil bags. That will help in the future, but…
I have ten gallons of a real nice IPA, that is very sweet. It’s all done, been in the kegs about a month. Carbonated to my liking…
Can I dry hop this beer to get it back to an IPA, instead of the sweet APA it is today? If so, any tips?
Dry hopping might help because flavor and aroma can increase perceived betterness. You could also brew a really dry IPA and blend it.
What is the starting and final gravity? How long have you had the hops and why are you sure that they are the problem. It could also be under-attenuation or bad utilization from technique. Do you add them straight to the boil?
The hops are from the 2009 harvest year. And when I opened a foil pack, I just taped it shut, and put back in the freezer. That will change as I state. I used the same hop schedule as I have many times for this beer. Plus, my last time was a bit sweet, but nothing like this.
Sounds like your thermometer might be inching up on you. I haven’t noticed my hops going down in bitterness, and I don’t store them too much differently than you. Or maybe you didn’t weigh the bittering addition correctly, it happens.
Yes dry hopping will help to create a more balanced beer.
I always account for the age of hops and have used well stored hops that were two years old with no problems. I buy in bulk (as close to harvest I can) then do the vacu seal/freezer storage method. Even though this slows the loss of bittering capability, it does not stop it. Some hops such as centennial will lose up to half their bittering ability in six months. Some of the available brewing software will plot this for you. Even though I have some IsoHop extract, I haven’t used it since I started accounting for hop age.