DDH-ing and threshold

Well, jeez, look, nobody wants to accept an accepted definition cuz it hurtz their feels.

I are heckin' shocked.

 

Heckin bamboozled!

Most of the breweries I buy from indicate double the amount of hops. The brewery and beer I am really thinking about is weldwerks juicy bits. That beer has multiple dry hop additions already but is not labeled as DDH until it receives double the amount of dry hops. I also think the same pertains to Odd13 beers as well. @Tarheel4985

 

Yeah but what about triple dry hopping?

What does it mean exactly? As stated above it seems to be whatever the brewery wants it to be. To me I always thought that it was based on the number of times a beer has been dry hopped. The thought is by using multiple dry hopping you can add more. I think for the average consumer it means double the hops. But overall it implies that there are a lot of dry hops. How much exactly, who knows.

I don’t care what the label says on this it’s fantastic!!

 

Yup, you answered that question correctly.

For commercial breweries that ferment in tall CCV tanks there is a rationale for performing multiple dry hop additions (some brewers refer to this a layering). When you make the first dry hop addition the hops will settle to the cone in the bottom of the CCV over a couple/few days and also be covered by yeast that flocculate (i.e., drop out of suspension). Once these hops get covered they are no longer in contact with the fermenting beer and no longer contributing essential oils. A second (or third) addition at a later time will stay in solution for a couple/few days after that addition and be able to contribute essential oils (hop aroma contribution). Whether a third addition is really needed or more like a gimmick? Maybe this a function of the individual brewery's equipment setup.

Cheers!

 

I'd logical that in a 5-gallon batch, triple dry hopping with 4 ounces of hops (12 total and 4 ounces were used in the boil) is likely the same effect whether the additions were added three times or 12 ounces only once.

It's also likely that you get the same effect with double dry hopping that same beer with 2x 6 ounces, or just dry hopping once with 12 ounces. It's a numbers game aka marketing. But maybe it attracts triple the number of the hop heads.

 

The difference between homebrewing vessels (e.g., plastic buckets, carboys) and commercial brewing vessels (e.g., tall CCV tanks) is a very differing aspect ratio (width vs. height). Given that homebrewing vessels have a width not too different from height would suggest that you are correct here in this assessment. In contrast for commercial brewing vessels there is likely a benefit for conducting multiple additions as I detailed above (post #25).

Cheers!

 

. To the consumer, It means 3x the price.

 

The DDH Pliny specifies it’s a two staged dry hop. I’ve homebrewed the OG Pliny the Elder and the recipe from Vinnie is a two staged DH already. Found it interesting that RR specified that is is a two stage step. Maybe they did double the dry hops on both stages????

 

I too have homebrewed the Vinnie Cilurzo published recipe for Pliny the Elder and you are indeed correct that two stages of dry hopping are specified:

"1.00 oz (28 g) Columbus* 13.90% A.A. Dry Hop (12 to 14 days total)
1.00 oz (28 g) Centennial 9.10% A.A. Dry Hop (12 to 14 days total)
1.00 oz (28 g) Simcoe 12.30% A.A. Dry Hop (12 to 14 days total)

0.25 oz (7 g) Columbus* 13.90% A.A. Dry Hop (5 days to go in dry hop)
0.25 oz (7 g) Centennial 9.10% A.A. Dry Hop (5 days to go in dry hop)
0.25 oz (7 g) Simcoe 12.30% A.A. Dry Hop (5 days to go in dry hop)"

As to why Russian River is now 'branding' two versions of PtE with one advertising DDH?

More hop quantities for the one labeled DDH?

Cheers!

 

I do know that when Pliny for prez came out it was labeled/marketed as a double dry hopped version of PtE with some new hops. This is the Pliny for president recipe just with a different name. The two stage writing is new though.

goes back to what you and many have said. It’s whatever the brewer/brewery wants it to be

 

https://dudleydirect.tiredhands.com/collections/cans/products/little-log-cabin-chillie-willie-4-pack

So tired hands is triple dry hopping
Is this the same as double? Or no?

 

Triple > Double:

"Dry hopped three separate times throughout fermentation with Australian Galaxy, US Ekuanot, and New Zealand Cascade."

With the above the specific details of what triple hopped is spelled out.

Cheers!

 

Okay but is there really that much of a difference is what I should of said

 

Boy, you got me here. There is just so many variables including amounts per addition.

Would a beer using a total of x lbs. of dry hopping spread over three additions vs. two additions provide an increased hop aroma? Beats me.

I personally would think the most important variable here is the quality of the hops being used for the dry hopping process and I am unaware of any way to objectively assess this aspect.

Cheers!

 

Yep, we use the term quite literally when we double the total dry hop quantity of the base beer. That being said, we've found that some varietals and base beers are not great candidates for the "double dry hop" treatment. So while it markets well, double dry hopping doesn't always produce better results than the base beer.

 

Thank you so much for being open and transparent here.

I have had the opinion for quite some time that this was more of a marketing thing vs. an improvement of the beer quality.

I recognize that for a brewery who is looking to optimize sales this may be a 'necessary evil' but for me as a beer consumer I am not a fan of this marketing strategy.

Cheers!

 

It's a fine line to walk and admittedly, we didn't find our own limit until we pushed too far. But once it became clear that certain threshold/hop rates yielded empirically worse results, we backed off from that ledge. That being said, I do think DDH Juicy Bits is the best IPA we put out on a somewhat regular basis, but we've learned a lot about the importance of conditioning times for heavily dry hopped beers (even with a centrifuge), which has gone a long way to improve that specific brand.

 

Now I get when there is an OG version then a new version is labeled double dry hopped. To me that would indicate that the recipe has double the dry hops. I see most NE Style iPad labeled double dry hopped but there isn’t an OG version. So if it means double the dry hops, what are they doubling?

 

Can you please provide more input here?

Is this a hop creep thing? Do you need to 'age' your heavily dry hopped beers longer to account/manage the hop creep aspect?

Cheers!