I am going to be brewing up NB Zombie Dust in a glass 1 gal jug. I want to dry hop tho. I have a pack of 1 oz. XJA/436 Experimental hops and a pack of 1 oz. Cryo Citra hops in the freezer. Which would work best? Whatever one I dont use, I will be using for a 5 gal Kama Citra Session IPA to dry hop or to even substitute.
I’d save the Cryo Citra for the Kama Citra. Hop heads use 1 oz per gallon for dry hopping at least but your XJA/436 experimental hops seems to be a bittering/flavor hop with little aroma descriptors. So maybe you should dry hop now with the Citra and flavor the Kama Citra with the experiment hop. But that will change a perfectly good Kama Citra… bringing us back to where we started.
I’m a noobie at this, but I like experimenting. I could just use both now with the NB Zombie Dust. And use the experimental pack at flame out with the 1 oz citra that came with the kit, and then dry hop with the cryo pack. Or would that just ruin this beer. Experimenting is fun, but I do want to drink this beer haha
The nice thing about 1 gallon batches is that they are consumed quickly. Whichever you chose you are not going to ruin the batch. You are just adding value. But the advantage to sticking to a recipe as a noob is to find out if you like the recipe to begin with.
That’s very true. Stick to the recipe the 1st time. Change what u want the next time. Just like cooking. I just have these packs sitting around. Wanna use them eventually lol.
Since I imagine dry hopping in a 1 gallon jug might be a messy affair and knowing my personal preferences. If I was in your shoes and wanted to use them I would NEIPAize my next brew and add them as late addition/hop stand.
Yah, that was my next question. As to how even try to dry hop in a 1 gal lol. I was thinking of just throwing them in, but with a 1 gal, there already isn’t a lot of liquid, and putting them directly in will had to the trub. If I would use a mesh sack, I’ve heard they tend to float and could get moldy this way. What have been your experiences dry hopping?
You would want a funnel (sanitized with star san). I would just dump them in there but I seem to be in the minority here. They will sink in a day or so and will not get moldy as that is their job. They are the OG preservative. When it comes time to transfer your beer to bottles just try not to suck up the trub with the hops in it (you will lose a bottle because with is not cool).
Hop particles in your bottles settles down to the bottom with the yeast just don’t pour it out at the glass time (or do for a medieval experience)
Well I decided to use the experimental hops in my NB Zombie Dirt. I decided to dump the whole damn bag (1 oz) in at the beginning of boil, along with 3.5 grams of citra hops. This turned out to be a horrible idea lol. Prolly gonna dump this one. At least I learned from this mistake (final IBU is 301 lol).
Might be salvageable. When you feel like getting your drunk on, get yourself a 40-oz of whatever, and blend it with a bottle of this batch in the largest pitcher you have. Who knows, it might be delicious!
But probably not. FWIW, I make a RIS that’s about 250 calculated IBU. It’s really bitter, but sometimes that’s what hits the spot.
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It will be fine. There are real IBUs and the theoretical ones that come out in our brewing calculators. It’s beyond most people’s abilities to tastes bitterness differences after 100 IBUs and your 1 gallon of wort would have gotten supersaturated with Alpha acids long before 300.
As a noob the main thing you need to understand is that there are a lot of really great oils and chemicals in hops besides the bitter alpha acid that they are known for. Your goal is to keep all these others. The bittering one is the easiest one to keep all the others are volatile and are easily lost. Do some reading on boils times for flavor and aroma and keep in mind that hops cousin plant is not yet legal in all 50 states.
One of my favorite research Titles “The Sedative Effect of Non-Alcoholic Beer in Healthy Female Nurses” points to some added benefits of hops. The Sedative Effect of Non-Alcoholic Beer in Healthy Female Nurses
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I made an undrinkable beer early on by making a hop tincture with vodka. It ended up that all you could taste was the hops and the vodka and none of the beer.
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