Should a Brown Ale be dry hopped

[Chrisp]

trying to get a feel for what a brown ale should be. Tryed plenty of reds, ambers,goldens etc but cant get a hold of any imported browns in Geelong. I do have a Brown in the fermenter at the moment & was wondering if it should or could be dry hopped at all. I did use some fuggles late in the boil.

[Finnagann]

Not sure it depends on what style you are going for I think. Northern english brown should have some hop aroma where as Southern and mild English Brown should have none. I don't know that the Northern is supposed to be dry hopped... but I doubt it would hurt it.

I'm going off the BJCP style guide on the Wyeast web site: http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_styleguidelines.cfm

[warra48]

Do whatever you like!
English Brown Ales are on the whole malt driven, but if you prefer to add a hop influence, why not?
American Brown Ales tend to have more hops.
Your choice.
I've done both, and enjoyed them all.

[Chrisp]

Thanks guys. Think i will dry hop. Should i stick to the fuggles- goldings or somehing a bit different. I know their not traditional but i am loving amarillo at the moment & i do have some spare saaz in the fridge. The other question is the LHBS only has 25g hop pellets is that to much.
Cheers Crisp

[Chrisp]

Ha ha, should have read the other thread first. (Dry hop time frame). So now the question of amounts is answered could you give us some advice on which to use. Thanks again.

[warra48]

Ha ha, should have read the other thread first. (Dry hop time frame). So now the question of amounts is answered could you give us some advice on which to use. Thanks again.

I think the Amarillo would clash with the Fuggles, and the Saaz would get lost.

Stick to the Fuggles, if it was my beer.

[Chrisp]

Thanks Warra, looks like i'm off to get some fuggles. Unless you think cascade could work, I have some to go into Wassa's honey porter.

[Finnagann]

Thanks Warra, looks like i'm off to get some fuggles. Unless you think cascade could work, I have some to go into Wassa's honey porter.

The american citrous hops are very strong and will likely overpower as warra said. They are also vastly different in flavour.

If it were me I'd go with Fuggles assuming you like the smell of I've been using 7-14 gr when dry hopping... 28 is a bit high I think? depending on variety, but I'd try it anyways if that's whats available as your worst case scenario is having to leave your beer a lil while to mellow. And you'll know if you like that much dry hop next time.

[Chrisp]

Thanks for that, sounds good to me. I think i'll get the fuggles and halve the pellets wich should give me about 12g give or take. And besides it gives me a chance to get some SO4 for Wassas honey porter while i'm there.
Another question though. Just bought another fermenter and was wondering, should i transfer the ale into this to dry hop or just leave it in the original fermenter & dry hop into that. I should tell you that the ale has been in for two weeks now, though i normally leave my beers for three weeks before bottling. This has worked so far for me, but i have never left the hops from the boil in the fermenter as i have this time.
Cheers Crisp

[warra48]

Thanks for that, sounds good to me. I think i'll get the fuggles and halve the pellets wich should give me about 12g give or take. And besides it gives me a chance to get some SO4 for Wassas honey porter while i'm there.
Another question though. Just bought another fermenter and was wondering, should i transfer the ale into this to dry hop or just leave it in the original fermenter & dry hop into that. I should tell you that the ale has been in for two weeks now, though i normally leave my beers for three weeks before bottling. This has worked so far for me, but i have never left the hops from the boil in the fermenter as i have this time.
Cheers Crisp

It's well known on this forum I'm not a fan of racking, so if it was me, I'd leave it all in primary.

My most recent APA was in primary at 18ºC for 9 days, I then dry hopped it with 23 gr Chinook, dropped the temperature to 3º, and left it for another 19 days.
I bottled straight from primary, 28 days after brew day.
It's a very clean, very clear, lovely APA, probably one of my best. I intend to repeat it exactly as I did this one, except to change the yeast from US05 to WLP001.

[Chrisp]

I think that may be the way to go Warra. This way i dont have to wash out the fermenter before starting my next batch (either Wassa's honey porter or Dr S's JSGA K&Bits Clone). Probably the Golden Ale considering I have brown on at the moment! I was considering pitching the honey porter straight onto the yeast cake of the brown ale. The yeast used though was just a Muntons tin yeast, so i might just get the SO4.
Thanks again Crisp

[Bum]

Sorry for the OT, Chrisp, but have you considered wyeast 1272, Warra? Very nice yeast for APAs.

Back on topic, as Warra advises, I'd just bang them in primary some time after the krausen dies off. And not meaning to contradict Finnagann at all but 28g might not be too much at all. It is all personal taste. Also if you don't power through your batches you may find a lighter dry hop will be less perceptible towards the end of a batch. Food for thought rather than actual advice.

[warra48]

Haven't tried WY1272 as yet. However, I would think it would be nice in an American Amber or an American Brown, as the extra esters and subtle fruit character would add something nice to those brews
Will be using WLP001 for now, as I bought a tube recently, and it's currently fermenting an AIPA.
I saved a tube from my starter, and intend to get a few more brews out of it yet.

[Chrisp]

I try not to drink to many of them before Three months (as you would know, this is harder said than done). As for as enjoying hoppy beers, i think my favorite at the moment is a White Rabbit Dark Ale, I am no expert ,in fact quite a novice when it comes to knowing flavours in a beer, but i think for a dark it is hoppy ( If anyone knowes anything about this beer I would love some feedback) & i do enjoy IPA's & James Squires Golden Ales. Dont know how hoppy they are to other beers but i do love that amarillo. Anyway i'm crapping on, i think what your saying is not to be scared because if i over do the hops it wll mellow out over time,-Hopfully not to long.
Cheers Crisp

[Finnagann]

Definatly listen to Bum and Warra over me. They are very experienced and I'm just learning (a lot from them in fact ).

I find a lot of the dry hop effect fades pretty quickly. If you taste a sample at bottling it can be very ... vegital (for lack of a better word) with lots of hop aroma and flavour. After a week that vegitalness is still around but has faded considerably along with some of the flavour/aroma. By two to three weeks it has mellowed in nicely and is more a part of the beer instead of being on the side or dominating.

As time goes on it continues to mellow in though not as noticeably so. I'm sure this would change somewhat based on the amount and variety used. Northern Brewer, for instance, has pretty strong and distinct characteristics (I love it in the red I just made) and I noticed the above far more than say with Hallertauer or Willamette. I imagine the citrousy ones would be fairly potent as well.

I drink mine much faster than you If you're leaving them that long I would try them at different stages and make tasting notes .

[Bum]

Definatly listen to Bum and Warra over me.

Not at all (well, I mean do listen to Warra - his advice is always considered and helpful). I'm no more experienced than yourself, I am sure. And as I hope I indicated earlier, your advice wasn't bad in anyway. I just wanted to put another perspective forward so Chrisp could work out what he needed.

[Chrisp]

Thanks for the advice guys, I do appritiate it all. It's probaly better to have more info than less to make an informed decision & if everyones thought process was the same everything would be ,- well - ,a little boring . So keep it comming.
Anyway I decided to chuck the whole 25g in, one i dont have scales so the is no use trying to guess a couple of grames, Unless i halved or quarted it & secondly like you suggested i am going to now exactly what i am tasting & being new to HB i do take tasting notes on everything including diferent priming sugars etc so hoppfully i should get a good idea of how the flavour mellows over time and adjust to that , considering also the AA% (the Fuggles being 4-5.5 % ). Hoppfully one day i may also be confident enough to pass on some advice.
Cheers Crisp

[drsmurto]

A little bit late...

In answer to the original question.

English Brown - no
American Brown - maybe but i wouldn't

[Chrisp]

Just a quick note to let you now how the brown ( well it could almost be a red acording to the last edition of Beer & Brewer) turned out. I ended up dry hopping with 25g fuggles for 7 days, and it has now been bottled for 1 month , and tasts great IMO . It has some smokyness and creamyness that seems to be cut through at the end by a slight tartness, that i am guessing is the hopps. It is not overpowering though and not overly distinctive. The most important thing is that I feel like having another mouthfull straight after the last.
crisp