Cold Crash while dry hopping?

Northern Brewer General
1

I have a batch that I brewed 2+ weeks ago, and the recipe calls for a hops addition for 3-5 days after primary fermentation is complete. I took a sample at the 2 week mark, and I got 1.012 (down from 1.058) with WLP001. Having used this yeast before, That’s typically the mark I hit (sometimes 1.010) when fermentation is complete.

If I were to wait until Friday to dry hop, that would be 3 weeks from brew day…could start cold crashing when I add the hops?

After a few days I was then going to try and clear it up with gelatin, and if it were already cold, that would help. I’m not necessarily in a hurry, but I am going on vacation on the 11th and wanted to try and keg before leaving so it can carb up while I’m gone.

2

APA? IPA? I would dry hop when its at room temp. How long? I don’t think I get much from a long dry hop session. 3-5 days fer me is the max…. Carb it good and let it cold crash and I would say you won’t need to add clarifying agent…… I, of course, don’t mind not having sparkling clear brew. Mashing temps will aid in getting it clear along with time and temp…… Less is more to learn… Sneezles61 :blah:

3

We’ve had good results on our hop-forward beers cold crashing, adding finings, wait 2 days, then add dry hops after bringing back up to room/cellar temp (60-70*).

Some go in the reverse order, dry hop the bright beer after fermentation, then cold crash, then package. I don’t know if cold crashing after precipitates out some of the hop oils, but our thinking was that removing as much yeast as possible will make the hop oils more soluble and less likely to bind to the yeast cells and ultimately get dropped out when the yeast gets dropped out.

To answer your specific question though, I believe the current thinking is that dry hopping at cold-crash temps does not yield the best effects from the dry hops.

4

It’s a Pale Ale that calls for 1 oz of both Cascade and Centennial dry hop additions. I mashed for 60 mins at 150

5

I tend to dry hop for anywhere from 3-7 days before cold crashing and hitting her with gelatin a couple days before bottling. Works for me :cheers:

6

So…While I’ve done it both ways in the past…is it better to dry hop after transferring to a secondary or can it happen in the primary? I know that there was one vote to not dry hop on the yeast, but wasn’t sure what others did.

7

I haven’t gone into a secondary for quite some time. It just seems to me to a point you could bring a flavor thats not wanted, oxidation, maybe a wild bug would get in there…. My way of brewing has been changing and these little things are part of it. less moving yer brew around is good to me… I’ve not done any side by side comparisons like Pietro has, and if you read his past posts, he is a good mentor to follow… Sneezles61 :cheers:

8

I only use whirlfloc or irish moss in the boil. No gelatin for me. I find process and patience makes for sparkling clear beer.

I’m lazy and always looking for ways to simplify the process. I’ve DH’d in the primary many times and it worked out fine. Lately I’ve been DHing in the keg, in the fridge, while carbing up, and leaving the bag of hops in the keg until it kicks. Works great but…

I do believe the aroma gained from DH is reduced by the cold temp. As a comparison I have 5 gals of my C squared IPA on tap right now. It’s been kegged and had bagged hops in it for about 3 weeks right now. It’s quite tasty.

I have another 5 gals still on the cake waiting for an available keg. I’m going to DH it for about 5 days now and then keg it and compare. I’ll let you know what I find but Pietro’s process sounds like a winner if that works for you.