At this point, I’m planning to follow the NB recipe for dead ringer…2 weeks in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, and dry hop the last week of secondary.
Should I deviate from the recipe by dry hopping the 1 oz hops in the primary for a third week ( instead of in the secondary) and do just 1 week of secondary? My thinking is that by the time it gets through secondary, it will be clear and will not have hop residue…what do you guys think?
I like the secondary (5 gallon big mouth bubbler) as I think it clarifies it more…
I have typically left the beer in the primary for three weeks until the beer cleared and SG sample showed very little CO2, then dry hopped, in the primary, for six to seven days. Liked the results. The Dead Ringer I bottled yesterday was in the primary for two weeks, and then I dry hoped for seven days. The taste going into the bottle was dubious. Very little hop aroma. When I added the pellets CO2 immediately started coming out of solution on the nucleation points the hops created.
I have read that CO2 coming out of solution can scrub hop aromas from the beer. I think this is what happened. I’ll go back to three weeks in the primary, then dry hop.
I have brewed this 4 times in the last year. Last month I had a Two Heart Ale side by side with my Dead Ringer. Here are my suggestions. …add half the malt at beginning, the rest at last 15-20 mins. I don’t have the recipe on me now so I am winging it. Delay some of the hops to a later time…like the last 10-15 mins. Dead Ringer is a little more bitter than Two Heart…this should help. I am looking forward to my next batch…it should be spot on.
