Dry Hopping, Wet Hopping, Fresh Hopping?!?!

Just thought I would take a minute to clarify some potentially confusing terminology.  Dry hopping and wet or fresh hopping are both actually pretty easy concepts.

The most important thing to understand is that in this case, wet and dry are not opposites, and in fact don't even refer to the same part of the process!

So let's start with dry hopping.

DRY HOPPING is when hops are added after the boil, usually either during or after fermentation.  These hops can be fresh, dried, or pellet hops.  Dry hopping eliminates a lot of the loss of hop aroma.  That means that dry hopped beers tend to have very fresh, often floral (although depending on the variety, it could also resinous, citric, earthy, or any other hop-derived aroma) smells to them when you pour a glass or crack open a bottle or can.  Dry hopping allows less time, however, for the hops' alpha acids to incorporate in the beer (and does it without the added element of heat), meaning that some of the hop flavors (especially the bitterness) don't necessarily carry over.  It also means that if a dry hopped beer is left to sit for too long (especially after being opened or poured), the aroma is likely to seep out of the beer faster than hops added during the boil.

WET HOPPING is actually the same thing as FRESH HOPPING.  Wet hopping can occur at any stage of brewing (so yes, you can wet/dry hop a beer!!!).  Wet hopping refers to the fact that fresh hops, right off the vine, are used, without being dried or turned into pellets or oils.  So these beers tend to be seasonally available, shortly after the hop harvest in the breweries' area.  The hops can still be added in the boil, or can be used for dry hopping to give really fresh, floral aromas to the beer, or both.  Like dry hopping, these beers are best enjoyed fresh, as without drying or processing, fresh/wet hops will love their flavors and aromas quickly.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you all found this informative.  If you did, like it, share it comment on it!  Also, please feel free to leave questions or suggestions in the comments for any drink-related topics you'd like me to cover!