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Just wondering what everyone does to keep their hoppy beers, IPA's and DIPA's, fresh with hop flavour and aroma (besides drinking it fast!)? I prefer to brew 10-12 gallon batches (US gallons) since it takes up a about the same amount of time as a 5-6 gallon batch, but with DIPA's I've only brewed 5-6 gallon batches. With the 5-6 gallon batches by the end of the keg it definitely doesn't have the same pop to it. If I brew a larger batch batch of DIPA (10-12 gallons), could I just leave the second half of the batch in a carboy or keg and dry hop it in the 2 weeks before drinking? I guess my flameout hops wouldn't have much flavour to them with this approach? I don't imagine there's anyway to preserve that hop flavour and aroma?

Hop degredation in a keg?

Well it seems like it, the beer doesn't have as much aroma as it did initially. The citra hops were really strong initially, now the aroma has decreased considerably. Is that not normal or did I do something wrong like not purge the head space enough?

How long would you say it took for the hop flavour to degrade significantly? how big of a dry hop did you do?

It's been about 3.5 weeks since I kegged it, it was carbed within a couple days of going in the keg. It had about 4.5oz of dry hops (amarillo and citra). The aroma was pretty strong at first. I'm planning on making a 12 gallon batch tomorrow so I'm just trying to plan it out.

I noticed the difference pretty quickly when I compared mine to Unfiltered's DOA which of course has a strong hop aroma. Not saying mine was that hoppy but it made me realize my beer lost it's aroma.

Hoppiness fades fast, sadly. Getting it into the keg and chilled is the best thing to do. You'd be worse off leaving things in the carboy, unless you were storing your carboy cold.

You could add additional dry hops directly to the keg in the final couple of weeks. That's one option.

for hop forward beers I like to dry hop as soon as I reach FG (or almost reach)... I purge the head space in the carboy with co2 before and after I add the hops. then dry hop for 2 or 3 days...4 at the most. Cold crash for 24hrs at 0C. keg as normal. then hook up the co2 at 30psi for 36hrs (still at 0C). then move to my serving fridge...super fresh hop flavors and aroma. works way better for me this way vrs the normal 2 week carb at 12.5psi @ 4C. I'm drinking the beer almost 2 weeks fresher

Thanks for the advice. I brewed a 12 gallon batch on Sunday and it's fermenting right now.

jason.loxton wrote:Hoppiness fades fast, sadly. Getting it into the keg and chilled is the best thing to do. You'd be worse off leaving things in the carboy, unless you were storing your carboy cold.

You could add additional dry hops directly to the keg in the final couple of weeks. That's one option.

I think that's what I'll do to keep the aroma strong. I'll dry hop the first half of the beer then dry hop the second in the keg with a keg bag.

jacinthebox wrote:for hop forward beers I like to dry hop as soon as I reach FG (or almost reach)... I purge the head space in the carboy with co2 before and after I add the hops. then dry hop for 2 or 3 days...4 at the most. Cold crash for 24hrs at 0C. keg as normal. then hook up the co2 at 30psi for 36hrs (still at 0C). then move to my serving fridge...super fresh hop flavors and aroma. works way better for me this way vrs the normal 2 week carb at 12.5psi @ 4C. I'm drinking the beer almost 2 weeks fresher

That's similar to what I do, although I was dry hopping for longer in a 4 separate additions and crashing for a few days longer. I'll try and cut back those steps to get the beer in the keg faster. Is there any advantage to dry hopping in separate additions vs one large addition? I was just following a recipe that called for separate additions but it's kind of a pain to be dry hopping every 3 days.

I cant speak on separate dry hop additions as I only ever do 1. 9oz was the largest I think.

I have read that hop oil extraction in dry hop starts within like 6 hours. most oil is extracted by 24hrs. and levels start to fade after 48hrs. I'll try to find the study. if it's accurate, then long extended dry hops, or multiple dry hop additions wouldn't be beneficial.

that's why I do short dry hops...then into the keg...carb and serve asap

here it is...http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui ... sequence=1

doesn't exactly translate to homebrewing in practice (agitation/temp)...but the theory makes sense to me enuf to adapt my dry hopping methods

How would this not make multiple dry hop additions beneficial? I use them often to punch up an IPA or pale ale that has aged.

LiverDance wrote:How would this not make multiple dry hop additions beneficial? I use them often to punch up an IPA or pale ale that has aged.

Is it necessary tho? Or would you get at least the same with one large addition? According to the study the aroma starts to dissipate within a few days. ..so adding a second addition may be just making up for the loss of aroma from the 1st addition?
Again ...these are my methods based on my readings. I like the amount of aroma I've been getting from my hoppy beers. I also think speed carbing has helped due to drinking it 12 days earlier that set and forget.

That's exactly why I do a second addition. The pales or IPA I have tend to last about 2-3 months in my fridge. So after 4 or 5 weeks when it's fading I add dry hops to the keg to get me extra punch for the rest of the way


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LiverDance wrote:That's exactly why I do a second addition. The pales or IPA I have tend to last about 2-3 months in my fridge. So after 4 or 5 weeks when it's fading I add dry hops to the keg to get me extra punch for the rest of the way


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Ok...we are talking 2 different processes. I was referring to dry hopping prior to kegging...not while kegged

This has been very helpful. I have the same issue with my hoppy beers. After a few weeks I have a noticeable drop in punch from the hops.

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How long does it take for you guys to normally notice a drop off of hop punch? My most recent batch is a juicy session IPA, or at least it was for two weeks. Now it's in serious decline, noticeable by the day.

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robcoombs wrote:How long does it take for you guys to normally notice a drop off of hop punch? My most recent batch is a juicy session IPA, or at least it was for two weeks. Now it's in serious decline, noticeable by the day.

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5 or 6 weeks here...they don't normally last much longer than that. By then the are a little long in the tooth imo.