To dry hop or not, that is the question...

[beer4myhorses]

This is my first brew. My recipe had 3 doses of pelletized hops. Two went in at boil (20 minutes and 60 minutes). The third told me I could either do end-of-boil or dry hop. I chose not to do end of boil. My question is...this is a pale ale recipe. Should I dry hop as a beginner, or will it be too hoppy? My understanding of dry hopping is to add it to my beer half way during the fermentation process...when I add my geletin finings. That way the hops are in the fermenting beer for the last week, to add extra aroma. Do I risk this tasting too hoppy if I do this? Any things I need to be careful to do right if I dry hop?
Thanks

[siwelwerd]

It depends on how much, and what you're looking for out of this beer. I say go for it. The time to add them is not really "halfway through fermentation", however. If CO2 is still being produced, this will scrub away some of the volatile aromas. What I like to do is add them for that last week after the gravity stabilizes but the beer is still conditioning (see my response to your other question). Others will say to add them right at the end of fermentation (due to oxidation concerns), and this is probably where the 'halfway' thing came from. Dry hopping is pretty straightforward--just drop those pellets in there and seal everything back up.

[beer4myhorses]

Thanks, I will add them when the bubbles have stopped, then dry hop for the last week of conditioning. I appreciate the advice.

[TheTodd]

Also, dry hopping won't add any significant hoppiness to the taste. It will just give you that nice hop aroma. I say "go for it."