Should I wait to dry hop?

sw1818 · 02-08-2012, 02:51 AM

Hello all. I've enjoyed learning about brewing thanks to all of you helpful people on HBT. I have a quick question of my own that I couldn't find through searches.

I have had a batch in my primary for two weeks and was hoping to dry hop soon..my question is whether I need to hold off until the yeast settles a bit more..Hopefully I can get a picture to work, but there is a considerable amount of yeast still in suspension and is covering the fermenter's walls. Would it be wise to hold off or am I good to add the hops? Thanks!!

**Golddiggie** · 02-08-2012, 02:57 AM

Wait until the brew is FINISHED fermenting and tastes [otherwise] finished.

I've moved to dry hopping in the serving kegs, instead of before kegging (I'm not bottle carbonating anymore

)...

If you're still bottling, I would still wait until the batch is finished, then dry hop it. I've dry hopped in primary without any issue. Keep in mind, though, that what you get from dry hopping fades pretty fast. Chances are, what you get will be gone within a month or three. I've discovered that even when I dry hopped 6 gallons of finished beer with 3 ounces of whole hops. Now, if I do 1oz per 3 gallon keg, as it's going into the brew fridge (to carbonate and then get served) it lasts for the entire time the keg is on tap. Of course, I bag the hops to keep them out of the dip tube and poppets.

Others will say to dry hop in secondary, which you could do, if you wanted to. It's more of a personal choice.

I will say, to NOT dry hop (if doing it before bottle carbonating) for more than 14 days. Otherwise, you run a very real risk of getting 'grassy' flavors in the batch. I was dry hopping for about 7 days and got exactly what I wanted from it. The longest I would do at room/ambient temp is 10 days. After that, it gets off the hops and into kegs.

sw1818 · 02-08-2012, 03:02 AM

I appreciate the advice. It has reached final gravity based on a few days of consistent gravity readings, but I'll give it a bit more time.

**Golddiggie** · 02-08-2012, 03:06 AM

Reaching a stable SG/FG is only part of the equation. Depending on what you made, it could need more time, a good deal more time, before it's about ready for bottles. I would wait until it's actually otherwise ready for drinking (except for carbonation and what you'll get from the dry hops) before dry hopping.

Since this sounds like your first time, I would dry hop for a solid week, no more. Then bottle it up. IF you're actually going to keg it, I would go with adding the whole/dry hops to the keg as it goes into the fridge/keezer/etc. IME, you'll get more from the dry hopping that way.

sw1818 · 02-08-2012, 03:19 AM

Thanks Golddiggie. I made Yooper's DFH 60 Min Clone. I am going to be bottling. I'm just going to let it do it's thing for a week or two before messing with it. Thanks again!

**BrightSpot** · 02-08-2012, 04:32 AM

Per Tasty, I dry hop when there's about 6-10 seconds between airlock burps, usually about 4-5 days... let it sit another week, then package!

sw1818 · 02-08-2012, 04:43 AM

Thanks everyone