I’ve got the karma citra kit in the fermentor, dry hopt it, hoping to bottle last Sunday, it is now Wednesday (almost). If I can’t bottle Wednesday, should I leave it, or at least rack into another fermentor to get the dry hops (most of them) out?
Will the dry hops leave any off taste if they are in there too long?
The dry hops have been in there for about 10 days now… :roll:
I wish I could give you a direct answer, but I don’t have firsthand experience with your situation. I do know that some folks who keg their beer dry hop in the keg, and the hops stay in until the keg is empty. It doesn’t seem that they have any problems with any off flavors, and the hops will only contribute so much flavor and aroma no matter how long they are left in. I would bet you will be fine if you wait until later to bottle.
Prost!!! Thanks Marty. Mind is at ease…namaste
10 days is no big deal bottle when you have time.
I dry hop in the keg.I’ve noticed the hop flavor mellows with time but I don’t think 10 days as a long time. If let’s say a month, I’d probably throw in another oz if you want that big hop burst. In your case as far as leaving the old ones in I’d leave it alone and not risk opening the fermenter needlessly.
I dry hop in the keg also, and hops can stay in there for a few months if I don’t drink that beer quickly. No off flavors.
This is another one of those issues where the “common wisdom” has changed in the last few years. Everyone used to be told to not let the hops sit in the beer for more than 10 days to two weeks, or you risk getting “vegetable” off flavors. But I can say with certainty that at least when it comes to hops commonly used for dry hopping, that isn’t the case. Old hops, cheesy hops or certain varieties may give different results.
Not throw a total monkey in the wrench here, but John Kimmich from Alchemist says that he does not dry hop longer than 5 days. Ever. He believes you will extract some really really not really good stuff from the hops.
Now, keep in mind, he is a perfectionist, also working in commercial brewery conditions (pressurized brite tanks, larger batches, etc.).
I personally, have not had issues leaving dry hops in a keg during serving for 4-5 weeks. This is also at sub-40 temperatures.
The thing about commercial brewers is they are more concerned with consistency.
They are also dealing with very different equipment and conditions than homebrewers. Things that most homebrewers ignore (because for a homebrewer, they just don’t matter) like hot side aeration are a real concern for commercial brewers. Likewise yeast autolysis. It isn’t an issue in little buckets or carboys, but it is in big tanks.
This is one of the things that has messed up a lot of homebrewers - most of the research on best methods was focused on commercial production scales, and that doesn’t always work best for 5-10 gallon batches. But for years that’s what homebrewer were told was the best way. The opposite is a problem too. Homebrewers who think they can just go pro without knowing some of the detail on how to get things to work properly when they scale up. I’m convinced that is a prime reason I am so often disappointed when I taste new microbrews.
[quote=“Pietro”]Not throw a total monkey in the wrench here, but John Kimmich from Alchemist says that he does not dry hop longer than 5 days. Ever. He believes you will extract some really really not really good stuff from the hops.
Now, keep in mind, he is a perfectionist, also working in commercial brewery conditions (pressurized brite tanks, larger batches, etc.).
I personally, have not had issues leaving dry hops in a keg during serving for 4-5 weeks. This is also at sub-40 temperatures.[/quote]
But he’s not a homebrewer, right? Different conditions, equipment and goals, as you point out. One point Derw and I make over and over in our book is that what commercial brewers do doesn’t necessarily apply to homebrewing.
I dry hopped my Kama Citra for two full weeks. It ended up being my #1 favorite batch ever. (I added grated ruby red grapefruit peel to the dry hops too!) I’m fermenting another batch right now, which will go to secondary and dry hopping this coming Saturday…
