I've got a sour in secondary right now that I've been debating on dry hopping. Before I do this I was wondering how the hop flavor will hold up over time? I know the hops will fade, but should still be a tasty beer, even several years down the road? Maybe just dry hop half would be a good idea. I plan on bottling.
That Brett will do some interesting things with the hops over time. I would dry hop if I were you, just because I really dig how wild/sour beer changes over time.. it's alive!
I personally enjoy the fresh flavor in dry hopped sours and If you're looking for fresh hop flavor in the beer, you'll want to consume it rather fresh. Brett will change the flavor of the hops over time as well, so it will change. Hang onto a few bottles.
This. Also tip from Jay Goodwin from the Rare Barrel is limit contact time of the dry hop like 2-3 days.
Thanks. Yeah, will more than likely be dry hopping this one. Probably won't get around to it for another month or so. I'm thinking an ounce each Mosaic, Simcoe, and Centennial.
I'd save a 6-pack of the batch, write the date on it, and forget about it in your basement/cellar/wherever for a few years. I bet you'll be amazed at the results. I've been doing this with all of my wild batches lately, and some are dry hopped as well. You'll definitely notice a change over time
There are a lot of variables, so I think it is impossible to say how it will age. I would say only dry hop what you want to drink right away and are willing to experiment with for long term aging.
I did a mosaic dry hopped sour a couple years ago. Kettle soured...I believe with grain but anyway... It got acidic quickly, killed it off with a short boil then pitched maybe some saison yeast or Brett...don't have my notes with me. Anyway it was a nice beer fresh and the mosaic hops were completely different than how mosaic presents in a normal ph beer. It had a lot of raspberry/lemon/lime notes but was a little harsh to drink fresh. There was just too much going on I guess. Anyway those lime/lemon/berry notes stuck around for over 2 years. Just drank my last bottle last week and it was amazing. More subtle but still very aromatic. Now a days I prefer kettle souring with pro biotic a or a grown up commercial lacto.
He didn't go into the science about it, stating there is a lot to still be learned about dry hopping sours. He based this on his personal experiences and found he had better results with shorter contact times and using basically the same load you'd use in an IPA. I'd imagine if you let it sit longer, some of that perceived bitterness may come through that can potentially clash with the sour characteristics. Would be a good question to have him elaborate on The Sour Hour.
