Hi,
I have a question for Hopsters. I inadvertly added my dry hops a week early in my secondary.The beer is a NB Saison. The OG was fine and the FG was in the range. Should I leave it the full 2weeks or keg it next week? Any suggestion would be appreciated. Thanks
so wait, why do you consider it ‘early’?
Short answer, the only way you know when a beer has had enough exposure to dry hops, literally the only way, is to taste it. Clean and sanitize as well as you can, pull a sample and try it. If it has enough hop flavor, pull the dry hops (or package in the event you added pellets/cones directly.
Many brewers (myself included on some occasions) add the dry hops at the tail end of the primary fermentation so the grassy flavors/aromas blow off, but the resiny/citrusy/piney ones stick around.
Shorter answer though: if you were at your FG, it was fine to add the dry hops. Personally, I do like dry-hopping saisons and farmhouse ales, so without tasting it, I would leave them in for another week then package.
Thanks, I think I’ll give it a week and do a taste test as you recommended. I’ll keg it if it’s what I’m looking for. I’ve only been brewing for year and haven’t yet progressed to all grain. I’m comfortable with kits and follow the instructions to the tee. So far so good. Thanks again for your input.
