Beer Forum

So I'm comparing my IPA to commercial examples, and even a beer that I don't care for that much tastes a whole lot better than my beer because mine is too grassy. I swore off dry-hopping for a while because I always seem to get a grassy flavor. Does anyone have any tips on how to make dry hopping taste good? The citrus flavors are there at first and then get replaced by grassiness over time. Is there a way to maintain the citrus? I usually dry hop with Columbus, Centennial, Amarillo, Citra, Chinook, and Cascade at fermentation temperature and for no more than 3 days. It doesn't matter which one I use, they all eventually taste the same to me. Does anyone know how Tasty and Nate do it? From what I understand, their beer is heavily dry hopped and people seem to love their beer.

Are you dry hopping with pellets or leafs? Since you say "fermentation temperature", I am assuming you are doing this in the fermentor. Pellets in particular are susceptible to having hop matter being carried over to the package--I find if I'm not careful, I can end up with some hops in the keg which will develop grassy notes.

siwelwerd wrote:Are you dry hopping with pellets or leafs? Since you say "fermentation temperature", I am assuming you are doing this in the fermentor. Pellets in particular are susceptible to having hop matter being carried over to the package--I find if I'm not careful, I can end up with some hops in the keg which will develop grassy notes.

Yes, I'm dry hopping with pellets in the fermenter. What is the better way?

You could chuck them in a mesh bag?

j1m1 wrote:You could chuck them in a mesh bag?

Oops...I should've mentioned that I do use a mesh bag.

Well there goes my plan unless you get like a really fine mesh bag

You could try dry hopping a bit cooler (like around low 60's or so) depending on what your fermentation temperatures are. I do not use a mesh bag and rather just dump them in the primary.

You could also try racking to a secondary carboy (along with a blanket of CO2) after fermentation has completed and the yeast has dropped out and then add your dry hops. Just throwing some ideas out there for you.

brewinhard wrote:You could try dry hopping a bit cooler (like around low 60's or so) depending on what your fermentation temperatures are. I do not use a mesh bag and rather just dump them in the primary.

You could also try racking to a secondary carboy (along with a blanket of CO2) after fermentation has completed and the yeast has dropped out and then add your dry hops. Just throwing some ideas out there for you.

What hop varieties do you find work the best for you? Do you like pellet or whole leaf? Do your citrus flavors stick around? I find that I can still maintain some citrus aroma, but the citrus flavor disappears, and that's when the grassy character appears. It usually happens after only about a week in the keg. Do you think that lower temperatures will help maintain the desired oils or maybe lower temperatures don't extract the undesired oils? I'll give it a try. Thanks.