Beer Forum

Just wondering what the consensus is out there on the best dry hop for American IPA's and American Pale Ales.

I have an American IPA fermenting right now and I'm not really happy with the dry hop aroma (1oz. of Summit)...it's only been in there 5 days...will the aroma increase?

I love Centennial and I was considering adding 1 oz of that in a week or so...

What about Chinook?

Any thoughts, opinions would be great...

Cheers!

Matt

I tried Chinook once and was underwhelmed. I don't know if Chinooks just don't make a good dry hop or if mine were just past prime (about a year old, but vacuum sealed in the freezer).

Columbus (another high alpha variety like Chinook) gave me great aroma, but rather one dimensional, like tangerines. It was very distinct.

The 50/50 centennial/cascade from JZ's APA recipe is pretty good.

Straight cascade seems soapy to me sometimes. A 70/30 blend of cascade and willamette smooths that out pretty well.

I threw an oz of Amarillo plug in an APA recently and within 2 days it was overwhelming. Kind of like the Columbus in its straightforwardness, but more lemony than orange.

I dry hopped with 1/2oz. Chinook pellets (fresh) and I thought it came out nice. I'll admit, the aroma was a bit weak. Maybe try an ounce first, if it's not strong enough for you, then add another ounce.

I tried an ounce of Columbus once and got a soapy beer, probably like DannyW got with all Cascade.

the soapy is more from the water used for brewing than the hops next time you brew something hoppy try adding a tablespoon of gypsum to the boil.

My favorite IPA/APA dry hop is Centennial.

FWIW, I have dry hopped with Chinook whole flowers several times with GREAT results and with Chinook pellets with not so great results. They were fresh as far as I could tell, and I live within a couple hours drive from Yakima, so I'm sure they weren't old. I honestly don't know why the pellets didn't work that well as other pellet strains worked great in the past.

I prefer Amarillo for American Ales. I have an american Brown that uses 6 oz of Amarillo in 10 gallons (2oz are dry). Yummy!

Lars wrote:I prefer Amarillo for American Ales. I have an american Brown that uses 6 oz of Amarillo in 10 gallons (2oz are dry). Yummy!

I'm the same way with browns/darker ales with Amarillo but will run Cascade or a mix of Amarillo/Cascade with pale ales or even IPAs.

Centennial is good with IPAs too.

I agree with Lars... I think Amarillo as a dry hop gives an awesome sharp citrusy aroma that is just great in an APA.