[soymateofeo]

Howdy!
My IPAs have all been old school west coast style for the past ...  long time. I was wanting to get away from my 60-30-20-10-5 minute additions and try a bittering charge and whirlpool/dry hops for nice aroma and flavor.  But how much is enough and how much is too much? I asked my young LHBS guy and he said to start with this:
Bittering charge +
pales 2-3 oz whirlpool 2-3 dry hop
IPA 3-4 oz wp and 3-4 dh
DIPA 4-5 oz wp and 4-5 dh

seeing as that I don't know s***ake, any input would be huge. 

My goal is west coast bitter with big aroma and flavor.

[dmtaylor]

Your LHBS guy is *exactly* right IMHO.  For 5 gallons.  Any more than those amounts, and you're wasting hops.  Any less, and you won't get the hop forward beer that you want.  Those are all the right numbers.

Cheers.

[tommymorris]

I agree. I also add a bit at 1 minute. It might just be in my head, but, I think moving 1 ounce to a 1 minute addition makes a difference.


- formerly alestateyall.

[RC]

Not a bad start, but IMHO way too little for IPAs. You'll get much better hoppiness from a WP/flameout and dry hop rate of 2-3# per bbl (each), which translates to 1.0-1.5 oz per gallon. More loss, but that's a tradeoff. I suggest a bittering charge at 60 min or even 30 min for all the IBUs. After flameout, bring the temp down to ~170, do a steep at this temp for 20-30 min with 3#/bbl. Use the same rate for dry hopping.

[soymateofeo]

Not a bad start, but IMHO way too little for IPAs. You'll get much better hoppiness from a WP/flameout and dry hop rate of 2-3# per bbl (each), which translates to 1.0-1.5 oz per gallon. More loss, but that's a tradeoff. I suggest a bittering charge at 60 min or even 30 min for all the IBUs. After flameout, bring the temp down to ~170, do a steep at this temp for 20-30 min with 3#/bbl. Use the same rate for dry hopping.

ok so for a 5 gallon batch, that is bittering + 5-7oz wp+5-7oz. dh

Damn! thats a lot o hops.  time to start buying by the lb i guess!  =)

[soymateofeo]

i am going to start with those numbers from my guy at the shop and see what I get. i am going to bitter with some warrior or columbus and aroma/flavor with centennial and simcoe.  i like me some dank and cat pee.

[dmtaylor]

Not a bad start, but IMHO way too little for IPAs. You'll get much better hoppiness from a WP/flameout and dry hop rate of 2-3# per bbl (each), which translates to 1.0-1.5 oz per gallon. More loss, but that's a tradeoff. I suggest a bittering charge at 60 min or even 30 min for all the IBUs. After flameout, bring the temp down to ~170, do a steep at this temp for 20-30 min with 3#/bbl. Use the same rate for dry hopping.

ok so for a 5 gallon batch, that is bittering + 5-7oz wp+5-7oz. dh

Damn! thats a lot o hops.  time to start buying by the lb i guess!  =)

I've seen data from commercial breweries that suggests they use the equivalent of 4-5 oz per 5 gallons at most.  Now maybe the New England guys use more, but I also don't like chunks of hops in my pint glass.  As for cat pee........ I've got 4 cats and some dirty litterboxes here, let me know if you'd like any or all of that.

[RC]

I've seen data from commercial breweries that suggests they use the equivalent of 4-5 oz per 5 gallons at most.  Now maybe the New England guys use more, but I also don't like chunks of hops in my pint glass.  As for cat pee........ I've got 4 cats and some dirty litterboxes here, let me know if you'd like any or all of that.

In the region I live (Sacramento area), ~3#/bbl for dry hopping for IPAs is typical. And believe me, it makes a difference. Many homebrewers seem surprised when I suggest 9oz of dry hops for a 6-gallon batch (which is 3#/bbl, the rate I use for my IPAs). This is because they're used to seeing old recipes using, say, 2oz of dry hops per 5 gallon. But that's old school. Many good IPAs have been brewed this way, but again, where I live, breweries generally go much higher for their IPAs (I know this because until recently I was a brewer at one of them). As for chunks of hops, you don't get more hop particles from 3#/bbl vs. 1# or 2#/bbl, assuming a proper cold crash and transfer. More dry hops does not mean less settling, it just means more beer loss.

[erockrph]

There are plenty of ways to skin a cat, and you can call all of them IPA in the end.

My personal preference for IPA's is 2-4 ounces per gallon at flameout with an extended hot whirlpool, and 1-2 ounces per gallon of dry hops. Yes, that's a lot of hops, but that's how I like it.

[soymateofeo]

wow.  that is a grip of hops.  i will give those higher numbers a whirl. Things have changed but I likebvb that big aroma.  But i like my bitterness as well.

[majorvices]

I'll share what has given me an amazing burst of hop flavor: Recirculating dry hops for 12+ hours with a pump. I realize this isn't necessarily practical on the homebrew scale but man does it ever make a difference. After 12 hours recirc cold crash and package.

[RC]

I'll share what has given me an amazing burst of hop flavor: Recirculating dry hops for 12+ hours with a pump. I realize this isn't necessarily practical on the homebrew scale but man does it ever make a difference. After 12 hours recirc cold crash and package.

We also did this where I worked. It added more hop punch for sure. To mimic this in my homebrew, I gently rock/swirl the carboy twice a day while on the dry hops. The goal is to gently break up the thick cap of hops on the surface and allow them to mix into the beer. Works pretty well.

[blatz]

I'll share what has given me an amazing burst of hop flavor: Recirculating dry hops for 12+ hours with a pump. I realize this isn't necessarily practical on the homebrew scale but man does it ever make a difference. After 12 hours recirc cold crash and package.

wonder if it would be possible to recreate this technique at the homebrew level.  I have some ideas, but limiting O2 pickup would be hard.

[majorvices]

Maybe a self priming pump but you would have to get beer off yeast. Anyone who has a conical should certainly give it a go. A March pump would do the trick.

[Robert]

How about containing the hops in a mesh container in a keg and periodically jumping the beer back and forth to another, à la torpedo?   Oxygen pickup at the outset would still be a problem. Maybe just flush that keg with CO2 the best you can.  Anyway it's just an idea you could play with.