When to dry hop a lager?

When is the best time to dry hop a lager? My plan is to primary for 14 days @ 48-50…then D rest at 65 for 3 days then rack to keg to lager…I heard that you should take the beer off the cake asap after D rest…Whats my best bet, dry hopping during or after d rest? cheers

This is a question I am pondering as well since I have a brooklyn lager sitting in the lagering freezer. I guess you could just follow traditional protocol and dryhop before carbing and serving. I’ve dryhopped in the keg before with a muslin bag tied to the top of the keg.
However I really want this beer to look clear so I was contemplating dryhopping and then letting it hang out in the freezer a bit longer to clear out again (I’ve been getting really hazy beers with dryhopping). But you get the best results right after dryhopping so that might diminish the impact.

I dry hop my pilsner usually… 19 days in primary @ 50, Day 20, Dry hop (still in primary)…Day 20-21 still at 50. Take it out for 2-3 days of D-rest. On day 24 or so, Keg and lager in the keg. That is what I have done so far with nice results.

Out of curiousity, where did you hear that? I’ve never heard that and I’m not sure why that would be the case. As for dry hopping you’re likely to get the most benefit if you dry hop in the keg, add them maybe a week or so before you plan to start drinking. That said your beer is likely to be a bit hazy if you’re dry hopping in the keg, at least for a period of time. If you’re interested in a pretty looking clear lager then maybe dry hopping before it hits the keg is your best bet.

I dry hop my lagers in conjunction with an extended D rest. I dry hop all my beers (ales and lagers) at cellar temp (mid 60’s). I don’t have the capability to lager in the carboy, so I have to lager in bottles. At the tail end of primary fermentation, I bring the beer up to D-rest temps, then add my dry hops. After about a week I bottle, carbonate for at least 3 weeks at room temp, then move the bottles to the fridge to lager.

You may not end up with as much of a fresh dry-hop aroma as an ale that is bottled and served immediately after dry-hopping, but I find that because of the cold storage the dry hops don’t fall off nearly as fast as if it were at room temp the whole time. Plus, you have the advantage of the cold conditioning to help drop out any hop debris that may pass through from dryhopping.

Out of curiousity, where did you hear that? I’ve never heard that and I’m not sure why that would be the case. As for dry hopping you’re likely to get the most benefit if you dry hop in the keg, add them maybe a week or so before you plan to start drinking. That said your beer is likely to be a bit hazy if you’re dry hopping in the keg, at least for a period of time. If you’re interested in a pretty looking clear lager then maybe dry hopping before it hits the keg is your best bet.[/quote]

I read that on homebrew talk…dont know if its true or false…yeah i want to avoid DHing in the keg for the reasons you mentioned

Out of curiousity, where did you hear that? I’ve never heard that and I’m not sure why that would be the case. As for dry hopping you’re likely to get the most benefit if you dry hop in the keg, add them maybe a week or so before you plan to start drinking. That said your beer is likely to be a bit hazy if you’re dry hopping in the keg, at least for a period of time. If you’re interested in a pretty looking clear lager then maybe dry hopping before it hits the keg is your best bet.[/quote]

I read that on homebrew talk…dont know if its true or false…yeah i want to avoid DHing in the keg for the reasons you mentioned[/quote]

to think for all these years I have been doing it wrong :stuck_out_tongue: . I always cold crash for 2 weeks or more after d-rest and never had any issues. I just do what has worked well for me. To be honest I have left my beer on the yeast cake for a couple months at cold temps and the beer was fine.

If you want dryhop character, lager the beer, then allow to come to room temp, dryhop for a week, then carbonate.

Is there a reason you don’t want to dryhop at lager temp?

the aroma from the hops is added to the beer better at warmer temps.

Kinda what I figured