Confused my recent BYO Dry Hop Article

I was just reading the newest BYO and the article on Dry Hopping by Terry Foster.

He writes: "For the homebrewer, I would recommend dry hopping in the secondary, or in the keg, as adding such hops in the primary in the late stages of fermentation is generally impractical."

He doesn't give any more explanation of this statement and it has me a little confused. I've dry hopped in the primary quite a bit and been happy with the results.

Why is it impractical for a homebrewer to add hops to the primary?

Yeah. I didn't get that either but settled on the fact that not everyone who gets published is right about everything.

I find most of the brewing books for HB'ers are just regurgitations and few actually discuss newer fads/techniques.

I would venture a guess that adding hops to the primary would get you diminished returns because as the primary is still fairly active, fermentation would scrub away the hop flavors & aromas you're shooting for with dry hopping in the first place.

Dry hopping a secondary or keg would allow for the beer to retain the volatile characteristics of the hops that would otherwise be fermented away.

Just my $0.02.

cactusgarrett said:

I would venture a guess that adding hops to the primary would get you diminished returns because as the primary is still fairly active, fermentation would scrub away the hop flavors & aromas you're shooting for with dry hopping in the first place.

Dry hopping a secondary or keg would allow for the beer to retain the volatile characteristics of the hops that would otherwise be fermented away.

Just my $0.02.

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What he said. In primary the continued release of c02 scrubs and releases the hop's aroma so waiting until fermentation is complete will provide a more efficient use of hops. You can add more to offset to get the desired result, but you may also lose more aroma during conditioning/aging/storing faster than if you hopped later in the process. Obviously if you're getting desired results, keep on keepin on

Hops oils are attracted to yeast, so if you want as many hop oils as possible to stay in solution then you want as little yeast as possible.

I personally keg cold with gelatin, push to a new keg and let it warm up and dry hop, then chill/carb/serve. If I had a conical I would try to mirror Russian River's process as much as possible. What I am doing is as close as I can get without a conical.

Pg 22 of the document below outlines RR's process.

http://destroy.net/brewing/IIPA.pdf

When I read the article, I interpreted this as meaning 'don't dry hop while fermentation is still active'. I dry hop in primary quite often, but usually not until it's been 2-3 weeks after I've pitched. I don't see a need to rack something to secondary just to dry hop it.

remilard said:

Hops oils are attracted to yeast, so if you want as many hop oils as possible to stay in solution then you want as little yeast as possible.

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Now THAT makes perfect sense.

I've never liked the idea of dry hopping in the primary. It just seems nasty.

It's possible he is talking about trying to stuff whole leaf into a carboy neck. Anyway I dry hop in the serving keg usually.

I have never had a good experience hopping the keg. "Most" everything you read suggests that theuy can stay in indefinitely. The few times I have tried the keg is delicious for about a week and then it's a Zoysia IPA or sumthing from then on.

GilaMinumBeer said:

I have never had a good experience hopping the keg. "Most" everything you read suggests that theuy can stay in indefinitely. The few times I have tried the keg is delicious for about a week and then it's a Zoysia IPA or sumthing from then on.

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I have had a similar experience leaving hops in the keg too long. Beyond about 2 weeks the flavour turns.

What has worked very well for me is putting the hops in a long muslin bag. I spread the hops throughout the length of the bag, and knot it every few inches to keep them separated. Then I rig up some fishing line and tie the bag to the keg lid (just put a hose clamp around the pressure valve body for something to attach to). This way you can pull the bag out after 5 - 10 days and avoid those off flavours.

I am putting my bets into a hop back.

cactusgarrett said:

I would venture a guess that adding hops to the primary would get you diminished returns because as the primary is still fairly active, fermentation would scrub away the hop flavors & aromas you're shooting for with dry hopping in the first place.

Dry hopping a secondary or keg would allow for the beer to retain the volatile characteristics of the hops that would otherwise be fermented away.

Just my $0.02.

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Yeah, I realize this part but that's not what he was saying. He was stating that you always have to wait until primary fermentation has settled way down, which I understand.

But then he goes on to talk about it not being practical in the primary. The responses about dry hopping with as little yeast around as possible makes a lot of sense. Thanks!

I did not like the article either. When I dry hop I do so in the secondary. However, I also utilize the dreaded secondary fermentation... dun dun dun. I rack the beer to a secondary fermenter when the gravity has dropped 2/3-3/4 of the expected apparent attenuation. Usually this is after about 4-5 days and for those using a carboy, will be when the air lock is chuggin away at about 4 bubbles per minute.

I place my dry hops in the secondary vessel, then rack the beer on top. The suspended yeast with finish the beer and condition it. An added benefit of dry hopping like this is that the small finishing fermentation quickly "scrubs" any O2 present in the hops and further lessens the chances of contamination due to active fermentation.

As for losing aroma and oils due to CO2 movement, I call that horse hockey if used near the tail end of fermentation. Yes you will lose aroma if you hop during vigorous primary fermentation, however, later on,t he pressure differential is not great enough to drive off volatiles in mass.

This information is based on a lot of reading and my anecdotal evidence. A lot of the article was good, but I think the points a reader is left with are less than awesome.

I dry hop in primary but I also use a conical. Note to self use a bag next time or else it clogs the racking port

I think he just assumes the normal homebrewer won't be patient enough to wait until final gravity has been reached and even beyond that before adding the hops in.

I have dry hopped in the primary now and love it, just one less thing to do.

GilaMinumBeer said:

Yeah. I didn't get that either but settled on the fact that not everyone who gets published is right about everything.

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Yeah, the first place I'd look for reliable info is this newsgroup.

Foster's books are excellent, his historical and practical knowledge
are interesting and accurate and his recipes are great.

Dry hopping in the primary means you've got a big mess to deal
with when you transfer to secondary, unless your primary IS your
secondary. I don't understand hopping in the primary, I want my
hops in contact with the beer as long as possible before bottling
unless I am putting dry hops in a keg with finished beer.

Ray

rayg said:

Yeah, the first place I'd look for reliable info is this newsgroup.

Foster's books are excellent, his historical and practical knowledge
are interesting and accurate and his recipes are great.

Dry hopping in the primary means you've got a big mess to deal
with when you transfer to secondary, unless your primary IS your
secondary. I don't understand hopping in the primary, I want my
hops in contact with the beer as long as possible before bottling
unless I am putting dry hops in a keg with finished beer.

Ray

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The thing about dry hopping is that there is a lot of art and interpretation in this area of brewing. Also, as with most processes you have to balance the plus minus.

I much prefer shorter contact times with more hops as I feel the flavor profile is much better and cleaner with less organic taste.

To each his own. I just don't agree with the practices (they aren't bad just not my preferred).