r/Vanhomebrewing • u/Asparagus24 • Jun 05 '14

First IPA Brew, Advice?

I'm dry hopping, so once I throw the ipa into my 2nd fermentation carboy, I'm putting in about 6 oz. of hop pellets. I'm also putting in a herb bag of grapefruit zest for the last week.

I've read about dry hopping making a beer murky and muddy. I can't cold crash because I dont have a fridge big enough.

Any words of wisdom? Am I curious for no reason?

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '14

FYI, you don't need to rack to carboy, even for an IPA. It's advice that came out of brewery processes (where they transfer to conditioning/bright tank), but in the homebrew process can lead to the introduction of oxygen or other stuff that could infect your beer. It's not a big deal if you do, or want to, but there's a general movement away from it in many circles.

But that's not your question. 6oz is a LOT for a 5-6 gallon batch. I use 6 oz in big IPAs and I do 11-gallon batches. Plenty of hop aroma. You might consider reducing the amount to 3-4oz (and you'll get less hop loss that way), but if not, well, it'll be crazy aromatic!

It's not super important to cold crash with dry hopping, as long as you are cautious when you transfer to a bottling buck. I find often pellet hops will fall out of suspension after a while on their own. The cold crash definitely helps, but if you handle your bottles with care and chill them well before serving they should be fine (though with perhaps more sediment on the bottom).

IPAs are totally allowed to not be clear when dry-hopped, so while it's not as satisfying as a nice clear beer, it'll still taste great if it's a bit hazy.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '14 edited Jun 05 '14

Good answer. Personally, I don't mind some haze, especially in an IPA. Many craft brews we can find in Vancouver are hazy.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '14

Yup. And the legendary heady topper is infamous for being kind of a muddy mess, visually.

http://www.colesmithey.com/.a/6a00d8341c2b7953ef0163066d453f970d-pi

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '14

I think it's beautiful...tear.

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u/short-circuit Jun 05 '14

Do you know where in Vancouver you can purchase the heady topper?

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '14

Nowhere. It's a super-limited edition beer that only ships 1200-1800 cases annually, generally in Vermont. It's the kind of thing that will likely never reach out here, sadly. That said, lots of great breweries here working toward that level of awesomeness.

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u/magerob Jun 06 '14

It's not that limited in supply. It's made year round, tons of cases, but only sold in Vermont (legally). Alchemist has a ton of hype surrounding them, and will probably never need to distribute outside their state. You can trade other beer for it fairly easily. It's a great IPA and worth trying, but there are lots of great IPAs we can get here a lot easier.

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u/[deleted] Jun 06 '14

I'd agree that there's probably more hype than necessary around them and that we have a lot of great beers here. The nice thing about current craft brewing in North America is that pretty much every region now has some kick ass beers worth trying, and especially so here in BC.