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StophJS · 10-09-2011, 01:59 AM

I'm looking at brewing a batch of Midwest's Ferocious IPA because I hear really great things about it. I see that it requires dry hopping so I had a couple questions about that. I don't currently have a secondary fermenter and am fairly hard up for cash so I'm wondering if I need to invest in a 5 gal better bottle if I want to attempt this kit. If I don't need the secondary, at what point should I throw the additional hops in the fermenter? Assuming fermentation is done in 4-5 days I'd usually leave the beer in there for another week and a half or so before bottling to let it settle out. Would I just dry hop it immediately after fermentation or for a few days toward the end? Thanks.

jaycount · 10-09-2011, 02:07 AM

You can add the hops directly to your primary fermenter. Normally I add the hops a week before kegging/bottling. Make sure primary fermentation is complete before adding them or else the Co2 evacuating will drive off precious aroma from the dry hops.

For the record, I prefer racking to a secondary when dry hopping. It has been suggested that dry hopping in a secondary will bring out more aroma/flavors than tossing the hops into the primary.

New2Brewing3 · 10-09-2011, 03:43 AM

I had a similar situation not long ago with an IPA that I am currently drinkng. My carboy was full with a beer that wasn't ready to keg so I dry hopped in the primary 3 or 4 days before transferring to the carboy. I don't remember exactly how long it was, but I made sure the fermenting was done before the dry hop and it turned out great. The aroma is wonderful and the beer is very drinkable. Don't know if what I did was right, but it worked. Hope this helps.

DragonOrta · 10-09-2011, 04:00 AM

I like to transfer to secondary to primary, as hop resins will cling to yeast cells and drop out of the beer with the yeast. I also add a bit of sugar when I transfer to get a CO2 into secondary from fermentation.

**beowulf** · 10-09-2011, 04:20 AM

If you don't plan on harvesting yeast from your primary, I'd say go for it if you're in a bind as long as fermentation has finished completely for the reasons mentioned above. I'm sure you can still probably harvest/wash yeast from your primary if you've used it for dry-hopping, but you'll have a lot more gunk in there when it's all done.

Baldy_Beer_Brewery · 10-09-2011, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by New2Brewing3

I had a similar situation not long ago with an IPA that I am currently drinkng. My carboy was full with a beer that wasn't ready to keg so I dry hopped in the primary 3 or 4 days before transferring to the carboy. I don't remember exactly how long it was, but I made sure the fermenting was done before the dry hop and it turned out great. The aroma is wonderful and the beer is very drinkable. Don't know if what I did was right, but it worked. Hope this helps.

If you're happy with it, then it's right. I had to something along this line recently too. A shoulder injury has hampered my brewing and I'm not doing a lot of things like I usually do. I kegged the IPA I dry hopped last week today and it tastes and smells wonderful.

StophJS · 10-09-2011, 06:44 AM

Lots of good info, thanks all!

**unionrdr** · 10-09-2011, 12:14 PM

I wait till I have a stable FG,then dry hop in primary for 1 week. My IPA turned out great doing it this way. You have to wait till that point to get most of the yeast settled out to retain flavors & aromas. Not much dissolved co2 at that point either.