DOUBLE HOP BEER (dry Hopping)

This is how I made my double hop beer (dry hopping).

It is a simple way, made with simple ingredients.

It is hoppy, fresh, and with an hint of honey flavor. It have a thick, persistent foam.

This is my first time dry hopping (I'm really happy with the results) so any suggestion is welcome.

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Ingredients:

- 2kg malt;

- 1kg honey;

- about 900 grams fresh hops, depending on how hoppy you want the beer;

- sugar (for sparkling);

- 7g yeast (1 sachet) or brewing yeast;

- water.

Tools:

- 25 liter bucket for brewing beer with a bubbler, 25 liter bucket wit a tap;

- a big pan (at least 15 liter capacity), a small pan (at least 7 liter capacity);

- a big stainer (fine) or https://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-Filter-for… ;

- a food safe hose;

- funnel;

- teaspoon;

- sodium bisulfite (for disinfect);

- beer densimeter;

- beer bottles (I used 75cl bottles).

Boil 700 grams of hops in a big pan with 10/15 liter of water for 20 or 30 minutes, than allowed to cool down to 22° C, with a top on.

Keep 200 grams, that you place all splay large on a paper, in a cool dry place, to allow to dry a bit for few days.

Heat up a little bit the honey and the malt (''bain marie'' or microwave), for an easier pouring and mixing. Slowly add them to 3 liter of hot water. Boil really slowly for 5 to 10 minutes, always stirring. Allowed to cool down to 22°C.

Put some water at 22°C in the fermenter, add the must and the hops infusion (with the stainer). Add the rest of the water up to 23 liter, also at 22°C. The beer should be around 22°C, it is really important.

Put a teaspoon of sugar with the yeast, add some warm water, allow to rinse a bit, than add to the beer. Stir really well for 30 seconds.

Put the top on the fermentator.

Pure some water with bisulfite in the bubbler.

Is important that the beer temperature is around 22°C, and really constant during the all fermentation. After few hours you will see the bubbler bubbling, it is the sign that the fermentation started.It can last from 5 to 10 days depending on the room temperature and the ingredients used.

So I added my hops (originally 200 grams when fully fresh), that was somewhere in between fresh and dry, after 4 days. But you can use it both dry or fresh. Fresh will give a little grassy taste, that can also be pleasant.

I added it in a linen bag, it need to be sterilized in boiling water, but you can use a special dry hops bag, or place it loose in the bucket, but after you need to filter your beer really well before bottling it. I did squeeze out all the air, and place a sterilized plate on top of it, so it wouldn't touch the air, and stay at the bottom of the mixture.

Do not let the bucket open for too long during this operation: the fastest, the better.

You can put the hops to dry hopping even before or after 4 days, depending on how fast your fermentation is happening, or on how strong you want the hops flavor.

I did it about in the middle of the fermentation, as I wanted some alcohol to be already in the mixture, not to allow the beer go bad from the air entering in the bucket, or from the hops.

When you noticed the bubbling stop, pour some beer in a long cylindric container and immerse the densimeter in it. Look at the level of it, it will tell you when the beer is ready to bottle (on mine is write ''bottle'' and is around 1002-1006). Do not bottle the beer before the fermentation is completely done and the level on the dendimeter is right, or the bottles of beer are going to explode! It's happened to me before, and what a mess!

Remove the east bag from the beer.

Pour the beer from a bucket to the other, with the hose (sucking the air out of it, and having one bucket hight and one down). Leave on the bottom some sediment, so the beer will become more transparent. Do it carefully, especially trough the bottom, so you won't pick up the sediment (place the hose almost horizontal, see drawing).

✱I use this sediment to flavoring bread, cakes, cookies…(Do not store it in a sealed recipient because this part have a lot of yeast in it and may fermented more and explode it).

(Follow the direction of the package of the sodium bisulfite for disinfect the bottles).This is how I do: Make a solution of sodium bisulfite (or other food proof disinfectant), with 10/15 g of bisulfite for 1l of water (or how specified). Pour the solution in a bottle, shake it, and than from a bottle to another, and so on… change the solution every 10-15 bottle. Allowed the bottle to dry for 10 minutes. I actually wash away the sodium bisulfite with boiling water because I'm really sensitive to it.

Put a teaspoon of sugar in each bottle for the sparkling. Pour the beer in the bottle, do not make the bottle full all the way, leave at least 3 cm from the neck. Shake the bottle a bit to make the sugar melted.

Sugar dosage:

330 cl beer bottle→2g sugar

500 cl beer bottle→3g sugar

750 cl beer bottle→5g sugar

Do not put too much sugar or the bottle will explode!

OR: get all the priming sugar you will need, boil in a small amt. of water, and put it in your beer before you bottle (stir it in).

Here's a calculator to tell you how much sugar to use: http://www.homebrewdad.com/priming_sugar_calculat...

Put the bottles for 5-7 days in a warm place, beet wen 18° and 24°, for the second fermentation. Then store them in a cold place. The beer is ready to drink in other 15 days, but an additional maturation of 1 or 2 months improve the taste. The beer should been drink in 24 months. The deposit on the bottom of the bottle is normal and natural, and for avoid that the beer become cloudy I suggest to keep the bottle in a vertical position, and pour it in a glass really slowly.

So this is how I did it.

I received comment before on how the beer will not work with what we call "beer east", the regular backing east…that's what I always use, and what my parent always used: it works! But specific beer east will probably improve your beer. Also a specific beer malt will improve your beer as well, and allow you a bigger beer choice, but I like the taste the bakery malt give too, it is super affordable and easy to find (in Italy at least).

The beer in the glass is cloudy as I poured it without too much care, but if you do it slowly, this beer actually come out super clear and transparent.

I used honey because I really like honey beers, but off course you can just use all malt, for a more traditional taste.

Any comment and suggestions are welcome! Thanks for watching.