Dry hop kit help

[Nommag]

Hey everyone,

I've purchased a mangrove jack's beer kit (no. 6 pils) which includes 28g of saaz hops to be added at 7 days for 3 days. I've only ever attempted the standard cheap cans from the grocery stores but am making a step up for potential partial mash brewing (learning how to dry hop).

I have temperature control and keg the beer straight from the primary fermenter (ssbrewtech brew mastet bucket). I don't have a secondary fermenter or siphon so dont do a secondary fermentation.

The no. 6 pils uses the california lager yeast so my plan is to brew for 7 days at 18 degrees then add the hops and over four days raise temperature slowly to 21 degrees (leave at 18 for a day and then a temp raise once per day)

Its impossible to find a clear instruction to temp with dry hops, everyone does it differently. I just want to know if my strategy will work or if it will ruin the beer.

Thanks!

 

[IslandLizard]

Your intended method looks good!

There is no need for using a secondary, it's actually highly discouraged using one. Just leave everything in your (primary) fermenter until ready to package (keg/bottle). Secondaries increase oxidation and raise risk of infection. There is nothing they cure or needs cured. Secondaries do not make clearer beer.

Dry hopping is typically (and best) done 3-7 days before packaging, so you count days back from that point, not from the day you pitched the yeast.

Therefore I would check the gravity before adding the dry hops. The beer should be close to being finished when adding them. If the gravity is much higher, let it ferment a few more days, then add them. You can add dry hops pretty much at any temperature, but high 60s to low 70s is best for good extraction. So yes, your schedule is perfect.

Pellets or leaves/flowers? Are you dropping them in loose?

On a side note:

potential partial mash brewing (learning how to dry hop)

You may have phrased that a bit awkwardly. As you probably know, partial mash brewing has nothing to do with dry hopping.

 

[Nommag]

Thanks for the detailed response! When i say want to start partial mash I understand what that is. I just nena dry hopping is doing something other than mixing malt extract, dextrose and water together.

The kit included dry pellets and requested that the kit be brewed for 7 days at 18 degrees (sorry really bad with fahrenheit, as in dont know it at all) and then check gravity and if 1.020 or below add hop pellets and ferment for a further 2-3 days of which I'm adding a 4th day for extra rest time and 2 more for cold crash

 

[brewdude88]

I prefer to dry hop any time under 1.020 but before fg. Active yeast are the best oxygen protection we have as homebrewers, I highly suggest using their services, especially for a pils. On the flip side, it is possible to loose some aroma from Co2 scrubbing or get a different hop character from biotransformation if you dry hop during fermentation, but that beats possible oxidation by a long shot for me.

 

[IslandLizard]

check gravity and if 1.020 or below add hop pellets

Those are kit instructions. That presupposes your beer will ferment out to its predicted FG during the following 3-4 days. That's not always the case though, it may take a week (or even longer) even after raising the temps, which is fine.

As @brewdude88 said, dry hopping at the tail end of active fermentation has a lot of charm as it helps protecting your beer against oxidation, with the small trade-off of potentially sacrificing some of the hop aroma if it takes a few days longer.

 

[Nommag]

Wouldnt the diactyl rest period for 4 days speed up fermentation quite a lot though?

 

[foolsbrew]

Wouldnt the diactyl rest period for 4 days speed up fermentation quite a lot though?

Fermentation happens faster when it's warm, but it also slows down over time as it nears completion. I think it will be slower relative to the first few days, even after the temperature increase. That's been my experience. Check this document:
https://fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Brochure_Tips_and_Tricks_201810_BD-1.pdf
Look for "Apparent Attenuation"

This document doesn't have lager yeasts at constant temperature, but the basic idea is the same. In their tests, US-05(ale) reaches 50% attenuation after the first five days, and it takes another five days for an additional 20% attenuation.

You can just go for it though, leaving your hops in for an additional 2 days isn't going to make a huge difference.