This is my second time brewing and I am using a liquid malt extract kit. The recipe goes: 6.6 lbs light LME Crystal 40L malt 8 oz Crystal 120 L malt 8 oz .5 oz columbus 60 min .5 oz columbus 30 min 1 oz centennial 0 min I though that the hops used were Columbus and Cascade so I bought Cascade to dry hop with. Im sure that isnt a problem though. So this recipe is described as an east coast Amber with a pronounced sweetness and a citrusy background from the columbus and centennial. So I guess my question is how can I change this recipe to make it slightly more bitter and more aromatic? The guy at the store told me to dry hop with 2 oz of Cascade 3 days before I planned on bottling. I know that dry hopping will not make it more bitter but I hope it will make it more the way im picturing it. Does this sound like a good plan or is there something else you would recommend. 2 oz seems like a lot and 3 days seems like too short amount of time. Any help would be appreciated.
You could add another ounce of hops at 5 minutes, that would add quite a lot of flavor without adding much more bitterness. I'd toss in an ounce of cascade at 5 if that's what you've got. It will be delicious. Dry hopping as you planned would work fine too. Two ounces for five gallons is not too much, it's quite typical of what I use.
I like the recipe as is. Designing your own recipes is a big part of what is fun in this hobby. Next time if you have the means make your own recipe.
I usually take my cooking approach to brewing. I look through a dozen recipes of the style I want to make. I pick and choose what I like about all of them and refine my recipe from there. OP: I think there are a few intimidating steps you'll run into when brewing. After you finally sack up and brew a beer the next is usually making your own recipe. The recipe is solid as is. Let it ferment out for two weeks. Take a taste and if you want to dump in another oz of C hops, go for it. A great thing about dry hopping is that it's at least a week away from when you brew and you can change it up as you go.
