So I got the outline of a Can I Kick it? 7% NEIPA clone from home brew store but I oversparged and didn’t boil enough so my OG is 1.056 instead of 1.067. Final gravity target is 1.014. It’s looking like I may have a 5.5% beer so I’m wondering if I scale back my double dry hop that the recipe calls for? Keep in mind this is a 3 gallon batch but even when the 5 gallon recipe is scaled down to 3 gallons I believe it still calls for a total double dry hop of 6oz (need to find recipe sheet). Now that it’s going to be closer to 5.5% instead of 7%, it seems like 6oz of hops could be overkill. Not to mention I don’t have CO2 so it could oxidize on me.
Regardless of OG you could add as many hops of dry hopping as you wish but bear in mind there is a point of diminishing return as regards the amount of aroma that is added. In the September 2021 issue of BYO Drew Beechum and Denny Conn wrote an article about IPAs: “When dry hopping, don’t get caught up in thinking more is better, either in terms of time or amount. Recent research has shown that there is a limit of about 8 grams/L (approximately 1 ounce per gallon) of dry hops before you get diminishing returns.” For your 3 gallon batch you could add all 6 ounces or instead use the above ‘guideline’ and just use 3 ounces. Your choice here. Cheers!
Ok. I’ll probably do 2oz on two different days for a total of 4oz. That way I’m fairly close to recipe but don’t waste all my hops. Thanks
Not what you asked, but if your target OG was 1.067 and target FG was 1.014, that's 79.1% Apparent Attenuation. ((67-14)/67) With your actual OG of 1.056, an Apparent Attenuation of 79.1% would get you to an FG of ~1.012. (The recipe's FG target no longer applies.) 1.056 to 1.012 would get you an ABV of about 5.8%. (This assumes that the original recipe writer actually knew what kind of attenuation to expect.)
. . . from a hop-head, obviously . . . My basic philosophy is DH'ing is always a lifeline for an imperiled brew. Not asked, but consider adding some sugar early in fermentation. This will do nothing for your FG, but can kick up the ABV a smidgen. I've had success adding the sweet stuff just after high krausen.
I learned recently that holding the temp probe against outside of carboy is likely to read colder than inserted down into fluid at least early on. Reasoning is that initially during fermentation, the heat is closer to center of liquid and cools off toward the outer edge of vessel. My glass carboy exterior is around 65 degrees and fermentation is going very strong.
I think you kknow this, but for clarity... the FG will actually end up a little lower, due to alcohol being lighter than water. Sucrose has an apparent attenuation of about 122%.
Update: checked the gravity 3 days ago and it was 1.016. It tasted very similar to my last beer that I fermented too warm. This beer was fermented about 5 degrees cooler and I pitched a very similar new yeast called Cosmic Punch from Omega. The precious batch I used British Ale V from Omega. I went ahead and barely squeezed a bag with 3oz of hops into 3 gallon carboy (2oz el dorado and 1oz citra). Waited a little over 2 days and bottled last night. OG was 1.014 giving me a 5.5% beer. The dry hop enhanced the beer noticeably. My method wasn’t executed as well as I hoped to minimize oxygen exposure (don’t have CO2) but I think I picked the right day to bottle it and let the caps rest on the bottle before capping. This can help the lighter oxygen escape as slightly active yeast off-gas a tiny bit. Definitely get pineapple from the el dorado and as I poured out the yeast from fermenter i got a slight fruit punch aroma. A lot of tangy citrus aroma comes from that yeast.
