This is year 3 for the Old Stoner BW recipe. Thanks Mr. DC, great recipe !! Years 1 and 2, no dry hop. I’m thinking of splitting this batch and dry hopping half with either all Centennial or 50:50 Columbus and Amarillo. Suggestions based on your experiences?? Gracias beer amigos.
IMO, that beers NEEDS dry hops. Why not do half with each of the hops you propose?
Out of curiosity, How much are you going to dry hop with? I would think it would need a truck load to stand up to the extended aging.
Na Zdrowie!!
I’ve got a batch of Stoner thats been sitting in a keg in my basement for 8 months. In the next few weeks, I’m thinking of dry hopping with an ounce or two of Simcoe leaf in muslin bag, sit for 2 weeks in kegerator, then bottle from there w/ counter pressure filler. I’m pretty excited about this. It’ll be my first real BW, and I’ve never been so patient with a beer before.
The Fhunt–you are right about the aging. Had I dry hopped when I kegged it in November, not much aroma would be left at this point.
Sorry to threadjack but I recently was reading Michael Jackson’s “Ultimate Beers” and they mentioned how Old Foghorn barleywine by Anchor sits on dry hops for 8 to 9 months. I also made Denny’s Old Stoner in February and have it sitting in secondary now. I plan to bottle/keg it next month but plan to dry hop it first. Any thoughts on if dry hopping for more than a month might be a good idea…
I took the Anchor tour last month and I’m pretty sure the brewer said they only dry hop a small part of the maturation time. Of course we sampled 8 different beers at the end of the tour, so my memory is a little hazy 
I’ve added dry hops to my barleywines about 2 weeks before bottling. That’s worked out about right.
I usually dry hop OS for several months. Pretty much the while time it’s in secondary.
[quote=“Denny”]
I usually dry hop OS for several months. Pretty much the while time it’s in secondary.[/quote]
Do you find you get grassiness from the extended dry hopping?
I had made the first two batches without dry hops. While it tastes great, my opinion is that hop flavor is a little lacking for my preferences. Since then I’ve read various sources about the value of dry hops in barleywines and/or highly aged beers. Some said dry hops are a must, some said that with aging the hop aroma fades. Originally I intended to add 2-3 oz or so additional flavor hops but forgot when I brewed it. Anyway, I plan to go 50:50 Amarillo:Columbus dry hop for a while. To quote the Isley Bros: “it’s your thing, do what you wanna do !” Thanks.
[quote=“Belpaire”][quote=“Denny”]
I usually dry hop OS for several months. Pretty much the while time it’s in secondary.[/quote]
Do you find you get grassiness from the extended dry hopping?[/quote]
With all due respect, if I did, then why would I do it?
Apologies, the "it’s your thing… comment’ wasn’t directed toward you or any of the other posted replies. It was just a general comment about personal preferences when brewing. I love your recipes and always respect your input. Cheers.
Sorry if you thought I was taking issue with your comment. I was responding to Belpaire about extended dry hopping and grassiness.
[quote=“Denny”][quote=“Belpaire”][quote=“Denny”]
I usually dry hop OS for several months. Pretty much the while time it’s in secondary.[/quote]
Do you find you get grassiness from the extended dry hopping?[/quote]
With all due respect, if I did, then why would I do it?[/quote]
Point taken.
Extended dry hopping is something I am trying to get a handle on. The general consensus is to dry hop 2 weeks or less to avoid grassiness. I once made an IPA and dry hopped it for 4-5 weeks and it was barely drinkable because it was so grassy. At the same time I have ready that IPA’s being shipped to India were dry hopped in the barrel before the 6 month +/- warm journey. Obviously they wouldn’t have done it if it didn’t taste good once it got there. Then we have Denny dry hopping for months without grassiness.
Why can it work sometimes and not others?
At the same time I have ready that IPA’s being shipped to India were dry hopped in the barrel before the 6 month +/- warm journey. Obviously they wouldn’t have done it if it didn’t taste good once it got there. Then we have Denny dry hopping for months without grassiness.
Why can it work sometimes and not others?[/quote]
They were sending supplies to soldiers and mariners. I don’t think they were too worried about the taste, just that it didn’t spoil. Hence the offensive amount of hops in the traditional India Pale Ale. The style is more subdued now that people drink it for the taste, not out of necessity.
Cheers!!
I dry hop in my keys all the time. I toss them in with a little weight and leave them there until the keg kicks. I have had only one beer that I would consider grassy tasting and I do not think it was from the dry hopping.
Based on my totally unscientific observations, I think it’s based on hop variety and personal tastes. This might be a good experiment for the book.
Yeah, I once dry hopped a CAP with saaz and left the beer on the hops longer than two weeks. I have since determined that was not my finest moment so I never leave beer in contact with hops more than 10 days. I know there are folks that are now double dry hopping, I think they do that at Firestone Walker but the actual contact time on the beer is pretty short for both doses. I read someplace that Brindleson believes in like 3 days max. Of course, if you are doing a barley wine you can likely get away with quite a bit more.
Based on my studies, Saaz are about the worst hop in that regard. And keep in mind that just becasue a commercial brewery does something, it may not necessarily apply to homebrewers. I have a keg of Rye IPA that’s been on Columbus dry hops over 2 months so far. Delicious, not grassy.
[quote=“Denny”]
Based on my studies, Saaz are about the worst hop in that regard. And keep in mind that just becasue a commercial brewery does something, it may not necessarily apply to homebrewers. I have a keg of Rye IPA that’s been on Columbus dry hops over 2 months so far. Delicious, not grassy.[/quote]
Denny,
I was wondering if variety had something to do with. FWIW, I dry hopped a pils with saaz for just two weeks and still no good. I think perhaps saaz just shouldn’t be dry hopped with.
I like your thought about experimenting with extended dry hopping. Be easy enough to do with a 5 gallon batch split into 1 gallon carboys or even growlers.
[quote=“Belpaire”][quote=“Denny”]
Based on my studies, Saaz are about the worst hop in that regard. And keep in mind that just becasue a commercial brewery does something, it may not necessarily apply to homebrewers. I have a keg of Rye IPA that’s been on Columbus dry hops over 2 months so far. Delicious, not grassy.[/quote]
Denny,
I was wondering if variety had something to do with. FWIW, I dry hopped a pils with saaz for just two weeks and still no good. I think perhaps saaz just shouldn’t be dry hopped with.
I like your thought about experimenting with extended dry hopping. Be easy enough to do with a 5 gallon batch split into 1 gallon carboys or even growlers.[/quote]
I agree with you about Saaz not being a good dry hop at all…unfortunately.
