Coopers IPA - Dry hop with Citra or Cascade?

[JimmyP]

Hello all.

I'm currently fermenting my second ever beer and as it won't be long before I put in the hops for dry hopping I would like to know which would be a better option - Citra or Cascade?

Here are the ingredients I have currently used:

Thomas Coopers IPA tin
1KG Light Dry Malt Extract
350g Dextrose

30g Cascade boiled for 15 minutes
15g Cascade boiled for 5 minutes
10g Citra boiled for 5 minutes

I have Cascade pellets and Citra leafs available to me at home.
Also, should I be adding the dry hops 5 days before bottling?

Thanks for the help in advance,
Regards,

James P

 

[DocScott]

Here's a crummy answer: whichever you want! I love citra as a dry hop. It's sweet and gives a real mango aroma to the nose. Cascade is more citrusy to me. I think if it were me, I'd use the citra.

Add the dry hops 4-7 days before bottling

 

[unionrdr]

First of all,the beer should be at FG & settled out clear or slightly misty before dry hopping. You don't want the hop oils coating the yeast,etc & sinking to the bottom with them.
Anyway,dry hopping 7 days before bottling is the average time for it. You could use an ounce each of cascade & citra.

 

[JimmyP]

Hmm think I'll go with 30g of Citra 5-7 days before bottling then.

Will the aroma be better on day 5 or 7, I would like quite a strong hop smell.
Like I said earlier I have just finished my English Bitter and there is hardly any hop aroma to that, I put the dry hops in on day 3 or 5 (I'm not too sure) and left everything in the vessel for 11 days. I used 20g of Cascade pellets and threw them straight in the vessel.

 

[DocScott]

To maximize hop aroma, as unionrdr said, make sure your beer is at terminal gravity first before adding your dry hop. This does not happen on a "timed schedule" but rather when your yeast finish. In order to know, you need to check your gravity with your hydrometer on two separate days about 2 days apart. If the gravity is the same on each of those readings, it is done fermenting.

Do this bc the gassing off of co2 during fermentation will "scrub" the aroma out of the beer and you'll lose it through your airlock.

There were some studies done that showed most oils were extracted during dry hopping over the first 3-5 days I believe. (Don't quote me on that though). Most of us use 4-10 days with 7 being the average. I use 5-7 days and for my really highly hopped beers use a two or three stage dry hop to get maximum aroma.

The amount of hops used will also change the aroma. More hops used in the dry hop, the more aroma you'll get.

 

[unionrdr]

7 days usually gives me plenty of aroma. but adding dry hops on the 3rd to 5th day of fermentation is a waste. The beer is still fermenting & the hop oils coated the yeast & trub swirling around & went to the bottom with them. That's why you got no aroma. So wait till it's done fermenting & settled out well first. It's common to dry hop a week before packaging for this reason.

 

[JimmyP]

Ahh right I understand, yeah I obviously didn't let the beer finish fermenting before I dry hopped. I did notice as soon as I put the hops in it seemed to kick start the fermenting a lot more again, I had another largish layer of foam appear not long after.

DocScott - You mentioned a several stage dry hop, do you mean for example add 30g 7 days before bottling then another 30g 5 days before bottling then another 30g 3 days before bottling?

 

[JuiceyJay]

Add both cascade and citra

 

[DocScott]

Multistage dry hop I add one addition once fermentation is complete. About 4 days later, ill add another addition, sometimes same amount and same hops as first addition, other brews its different each addition. Then, let sit another 4-6 days, then bottle/keg.

You can do this as many times as you want really... Eventually diminishing returns probably kicks in.

Most beers I do one addition, but as I said earlier, on iipas ill sometimes do more. Most I've done was 4 stage on a double jack clone...man that was good...

 

[JimmyP]

Tastes so good already, it started at 1.044, and now it's sitting at 1.008.
So I guess that reads at 4.8%, maybe it will hit 5.3% after secondary fermentation, that's such a nice number for me - just what I wanted

 

[jonmohno]

I would do equal parts for dryhopp/flavoring. Just because I like them both. Citra is more intense though. both are good for flavoring dryhopping. Unless you get old leaf hops that smelled like dirty refrigerater like I had from some leaf cascades from the ol' lhbs. Smell them and go from there maybe. I think Im a fan of doing a short term dry hop as opposed to longer. 3-5 days does seem to be a prefered average for some expericenced homebrewers. I dry hopped cold in a keg for over 3 weeks but its cold so thats different,but that beer was awesome, but I also hopped the crap out of it too. I highly recommed doing that if you keg though too.

 

[JimmyP]

Hmm maybe I'll throw in a bit of both then, I don't want it to be too intense though as I would like to session on the stuff.
By the way my hops has been sitting in the garage for like a month now, I read that it's best to put them in the freezer, is this true?

 

[unionrdr]

Yes,def put them in the freezer. I put the packets in a zip lock freezer bag on that lil shelf above the ice maker. Out of harm's way from larger items. They def last a lot longer in there.

 

[JimmyP]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I ended up dry hopping today (6 days after starting the brew)

I added around 23g Cascade pellets & 25g Citra leaf hops all in the same muslin bag and threw it in the fermenter after sanitising the bag in star san for 10 minutes.

At the moment the bag just seems to be sitting on the top of all the liquid, I dropped the bag in the beer and dipped it up and down a few times then shaked the fermenter only slightly hoping to get some moisture inside the hops. I take it the bag will soak up a lot more water over the next 5-7 days, and maybe even sink? (which i doubt).

Have I done this right?

 

[unionrdr]

Only by adding the dry hop after only 6 days fermentation. In that amount of time,little more than initial fermentation would be done on average. But initial fermentation is the majority of fermentation in an average gravity ale,so that's not too bad. but less than ideal.

 

[Clonefan94]

Add both cascade and citra

Just did a Cascade/Citra IPA. Dry Hopped with an ounce each. Not carbed up yet, but I stillook a taste and I will definitely be making this one again.

 

[JimmyP]

Only by adding the dry hop after only 6 days fermentation. In that amount of time,little more than initial fermentation would be done on average. But initial fermentation is the majority of fermentation in an average gravity ale,so that's not too bad. but less than ideal.

Do you mean I should have left it a bit longer before dry hopping, well I think it's defiantly going to work nice this time, the dry hop on the English Bitter I made didn't seem to work that well - even though the beer is very nice, just no smell to it really

 

[JDGator]

I've done the Coopers IPA about 4 times now. I use both citra and cascade but have not dry hopped yet. I may have to give it a try next. This is one of my favorite "quick" brew.

 

[unionrdr]

Do you mean I should have left it a bit longer before dry hopping, well I think it's defiantly going to work nice this time, the dry hop on the English Bitter I made didn't seem to work that well - even though the beer is very nice, just no smell to it really

Yeas,it's usually best to leave til it reaches Fg & settles out clear or misty before a one week dry hop. That usually gives the desired effect.

 

[JimmyP]

It's been stable at 1.008 for a good 3 days, the fermentation seemed to end very quickly.

 

[JDGator]

mine are done fermenting by 5 days or so but i leave it a min of 2 weeks. let the yeasties clean up after their party!!