Glossary
Hop creep
Renewed fermentation caused by enzymes carried in on dry hops breaking down dextrins the yeast had left behind.
The full record
Hop creep has its own catalogue entry with the detail this page summarises — causes, thresholds, related styles and evidence.
Hop creep — Explain the renewed fermentation that dry hopping can start in beer that had already finished, and the over-carbonation and dryness that follow it.
Hops carry amylase and other enzymes. In a heavily dry-hopped beer these can convert unfermentable dextrin into fermentable sugar, and any remaining yeast then ferments it — lowering final gravity, raising alcohol slightly and generating extra CO₂.
In the package this means over-carbonation and, at worst, failed containers. It also regenerates diacetyl, which is why some heavily dry-hopped beers develop a butterscotch note weeks after packaging. It is a genuine safety consideration for homebrewers bottling hazy IPA.
Related
- Dry hopping — The technique that causes it.
- Bottle bomb — Its worst outcome.
- Diacetyl — The off-flavour it can regenerate.
More vocabulary
Arrested fermentation · Barrel ageing · Batch sparging · Biotransformation · Blending · Bottle conditioning · Bottom fermentation · Burtonisation · Cask conditioning · Centrifugation
See every term on the glossary index.
Last reviewed 2026-08-16.