I am planning on brewing a NEIPA this Saturday. Usually, I add an oz of Galaxy, Mosaic, Citra and El Dorado into a whirlpool @180 and let it drop, then I add the same amount at dry hop. I bought an 8 oz bag of Galaxy a while ago that I'm itching to use. My thought is to add half of it at whirlpool and another half at dry hop. The new recipe would be: Whirlpool @180 4oz Galaxy 1oz Mosaic 1oz Citra 1oz El Dorado Dryhop 4oz Galaxy 1oz Mosaic 1oz Citra 1oz El Dorado Is the bump in Galaxy gonna be too much for that new England flavor profile? I'd love to use it all at once so I don't have to worry about saving the open bag. However, I'd hate to impart grassy flavors into what I want to be a tropical brew. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!
Go for it!! I think grassiness from dry hopping is more likely to arise due to exposing the dry hop to the beer for too much time, and less likely to arise due to adding too much quantity. How long are you exposing the dry hops to the beer?
That’s not too much.. I frequently use 16oz total in a 5 gal batch. That being said, here are something’s I’ve leaned along the way while using 16oz of hops.... I keep the FG around 1.015 and purposely add bittering hops to 30 IBU during the boil. That level of sweetness/bitterness gives a nice balance to it imo I mash at a pH of 5.2 and then lower it a little more during the boil with about 3g of citric acid. I find hop flavors to be nicer with a lower pH. Cold crash it as low as you can go for at least 2 days. I put mine in a 36F garage fridge for 72hrs before kegging to drop as much possible. While transferring to keg, I stopped tipping the bucket to get every last ounce. I’ve started sacrificing a few quarts in the fermenter to ensure no trub gets into the keg. I think some of those particles can cause the hop burn or grassiness that sometimes happens. I’m not a scientist and have no evidence to back any of this up.... just things I’ve adjusted along the way that have made my NEIPAs more enjoyable to my palette.
Galaxy will overpower all those hops in a big way. Was recently talking to Connor from Callermaker and he said if they were using say Galaxy and Simcoe they would have to use 4 times as much Simcoe in relation to Galaxy to get any sort of balance. Personally I’d cut the WP amount down by a few ounces and add those amounts to the DH. You’ll get more bang for your buck (as long as you keep O2 pickup to the bare minimum) with the DH over WP. 4-5oz WP 9-10oz DH You’ll need to cold condition the beer for a while if you’re using a lot of Galaxy and not fining it. It’s really high in polyphenols and in elevated amounts it can be really chalky and harsh. Same with most of the Aussie hops.
I find a bigger whirlpool and a smaller dry hop to be a better mix, but that's just my opinion. My normal neipa at home is 16oz whirlpool and 4oz dry hop(added within the first 24-48 hours of fermentation)
I think you start getting diminishing returns with too much dry hops. For me anything over 5 I don’t really notice a difference. 14 ozs for an ipa is too much for me. I get good results with around 9. I don’t think it’s too much from a taste perspective. I just think you don’t get as much in return for the cost. If you got hops to burn go for it. Crazy to hear multiple comments about using 16oz hops in an ipa. I don’t even use that much in most of my dipas.
Same here. Usually I'm around 6-8 oz for any ipa. Not to mention hops falling out of suspension and settling on the bottom of bottles. IMO it's a waste, but many folks like it. Brew it and see what u think.
I agree with wasatchback, the galaxy will dominate. I'd save the mosaic and el dorado for another batch. Citra is a good base hop, I find most hops play well with it. With just Citra and Galaxy you'l get a great beer.
Thanks for all the advice guys! What do you guys think about doubling up on the other hops in the whirlpool? Then using the remaining galaxy my lone dryhop? To clarify: Whirlpool: Galaxy 2oz Mosaic 2oz Citra 2oz El Dorado 2oz Dryhop Galaxy 6oz Would that be a better Ballance? I know it's alot for a dry hop but I love the Galaxy smell
Cut the Galaxy out of the whirlpool. The rest looks good. Or the El Dorado to get to your 1/2 lbs. use of Galaxy. Either way it’ll be a citrus tropical fruit forward IPA no matter what. El Dorado is always a good hop to have in the back pocket for a blend.
I agree 100% here. I am perplexed why so many brewers 'waste' hops like this but maybe they have 'money to burn'!?! Cheers!
At homebrew club a member brought in an ipa that he said he used a lb of hops. When I had it I didn’t think wow! That’s hoppy! Tasted like must ipas I brew or have had. Don’t remember when he used them in the process. But my thought at the time was he didn’t get that much out of the lb of hops he used. I will add the member brews good beer so it’s not an incompetent thing. Hops are a big cost so i’ve Played around with varies amounts and different times and i’ve Noticed, not scientifically, that just throwing hops in after hops doesn’t really yield the impact I thought it would, at least from my homebrew perspective. Maybe i’ll Have to do a split batch based on the amount of hops used and then do triangle blind taste.
That would indeed be an interesting 'experiment'. Or just continue to brew hoppy beers using less than 1 lb. of hops as long as those beers are turning out great. Cheers!
