also (dry-hop). A term from
brewing referring to placing hops into the cooled, pre-fermented beer (aka
wort) as it goes into the
fermentation vessel. It can produce an amazingly strong hop
aroma, but contributes little to the
hoppiness of the beer. Dryhopping is commonly used for a style of beer known as
American Pale Ale.
Homebrewers do this all the time when they attempt to replicate the style of
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or other quality American Pale brews. The next time you pour a glass of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and smell
grapefruit, its the
Cascade hops used as aroma hops.
Professional brewers, and ultra-techie homebrewers achieve the effect by using a device called a hop-back. They run the cooled wort through a filter-like apparatus into which they've put their hops.