Dryhopping sanitation concerns

CornyKegs 728
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Torchiest

Torchiest

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My IIPA has been in primary for almost two weeks now. It's still hitting a few bubbles per minute, but the time is fast approaching when I'll need to move it to secondary. I'm going to dryhop the hell out of it, using 1/2oz each of four different varieties.

The hops are all mixed together in a couple of lidded plastic cups. They've been in these cups since brewday. I'm planning on putting them all in a muslin bag. Do I need to somehow sanitize the hops before adding them to secondary, or will I be okay?

I know hops generally have some sort of antiseptic properties, and the IIPA should be around 9% ABV when I rack it, so am I out of the woods with contamination? I had some vague idea about putting the hops into the bag, then soaking it in a small amount of vodka for a couple minutes, then putting it in the secondary carboy along with the little bit of vodka. Is this a good idea?
 
Torchiest said:
My IIPA has been in primary for almost two weeks now. It's still hitting a few bubbles per minute, but the time is fast approaching when I'll need to move it to secondary. I'm going to dryhop the hell out of it, using 1/2oz each of four different varieties.

The hops are all mixed together in a couple of lidded plastic cups. They've been in these cups since brewday. I'm planning on putting them all in a muslin bag. Do I need to somehow sanitize the hops before adding them to secondary, or will I be okay?

I know hops generally have some sort of antiseptic properties, and the IIPA should be around 9% ABV when I rack it, so am I out of the woods with contamination? I had some vague idea about putting the hops into the bag, then soaking it in a small amount of vodka for a couple minutes, then putting it in the secondary carboy along with the little bit of vodka. Is this a good idea?
Click to expand...

I've never bothered sanitizing hops. Too much of a PITA just for a little peace of mind. I just sanitize my hands, spray some starsan solution around the carboy lip, and stuff them in. In fact, I've got me an IIPA that's been dryhopping for 2 weeks, along with about an ounce of oak cubes. Tasted it last night. Holy shyte! Truly groundbreakingly great beer. Joe, dude, I HIGHLY recommend oaking your IIPA alongside the dryhopping. :tank:
 
After these two responses, and some other research I did, I think I'm just going to sanitize the bag and throw the hops in with a couple weights of some kind. I think we have a big bowl of glass beads that would be perfect.

As for oaking, well, I've only had one beer that's been oaked in my drinking career: Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout. There was just too much going on in there for my tastes. It put me off the idea of oaking anything, at least for now.

I've also heard oaking is easy to overdo. I might look into it for some future brew, but since dryhopping day is more than likely going to be Thursday night, I won't have time to get any oak anyway. I don't believe LHBS carries it.
 
Torchiest said:
After these two responses, and some other research I did, I think I'm just going to sanitize the bag and throw the hops in with a couple weights of some kind. I think we have a big bowl of glass beads that would be perfect.

As for oaking, well, I've only had one beer that's been oaked in my drinking career: Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout. There was just too much going on in there for my tastes. It put me off the idea of oaking anything, at least for now.

I've also heard oaking is easy to overdo. I might look into it for some future brew, but since dryhopping day is more than likely going to be Thursday night, I won't have time to get any oak anyway. I don't believe LHBS carries it.
Click to expand...


Ironically I just bottled my IIPA that has been dry hopping for the past two weeks and had a 22 of the Oak Aged Yeti this past weekend. I agree...from my pov that Yeti just had a bit too much oak/burbonish notes and it was overwhelming. Enough so that I was not all that interested in finishing the whole 22oz. Interesting but a bit over the top.

I bleach (to remove any dyes/color) and thoroughly wash some pantyhose for holding the hop pellets and use a looser bag for whole leaf. I can't wait for this batch to carb...whole lot of hops going on.
 
To redeem your faith in oaked brews, try Dogfish Head's Burton Baton. They just sent out the shipments recently. The oak isn't easily identifiable as oak, it just adds this extra something to the profile.
 
I'll look into that. Dogfish Head 90 Minute is one of the greatest beers ever, IMO, but I have been unimpressed in general with their other efforts. The Punkin Ale, meh, it's okay. Raison D'Etre, not so great. Haven't tried that weird new one, Chateau Jiahu, which is based on some ancient recipe, but at ~$13/bottle, I'm a bit leery.
 
Torchiest said:
I'll look into that. Dogfish Head 90 Minute is one of the greatest beers ever, IMO, but I have been unimpressed in general with their other efforts. The Punkin Ale, meh, it's okay. Raison D'Etre, not so great. Haven't tried that weird new one, Chateau Jiahu, which is based on some ancient recipe, but at ~$13/bottle, I'm a bit leery.
Click to expand...

90 MIN: excellent stuff, as you said.
120 MIN: VERY awesome stuff. Over the top. Wonderfully hoppy and sweet.
World Wide Stout: Very nearly like booze. Like a fine scotch. Find some.
Fort: A raspberry strong ale. Well worth the price.
Burton Baton: an oaked IIPA, another favorite.

Also, Olde School bwine is awesome, esp. with age.

Yeah, the other ones, kinda iffy on them. Though, the 60 minute IS a good IPA. Jiahu is WEIRD, like the midas touch, which I don't care for. I do like the indian brown too. Don't care for the raison d'etre. And the chicory stout is good but not great.

But yeah, try the BB!
 
I love the 120min, but I can't enjoy it because I don't get to drink as much as I'd like to! :tank: I really liked the Indian Brown Ale when we had it on tap at my pub, but it didn't impress me in bottles. I bet I could get a sample bottle of that Burton Baton stuff from the rep for the distributor that carries DFH beers. Hafta look into that.
 
If you plan to use a hop bag, make sure you use plenty of weight. I added 1.5 oz of hops (whole leaf and plug) in a bag with about 6 grape sized marbles in my IPA and it's still floating. I should have used a whole bunch more, maybe a quarter to half a pound? It sure smells good coming out of the airlock though.
 
Thanks for the tip. I wasn't sure how many marbles to use. I'm using only pellets though, so they might not be quite as likely to float as whole flowers.
 
They'll float, but since they break up, it's not as big a deal. You'll get beer circulating over and through them, whereas when whole hops float, the top half of the hop stays dry and doesn't do you any good.
 
So you think I won't even need to worry about weighing them down? Just put them in the bag and let 'er rip?
 
I put mine in a bag, no weight about a week in the secondary and it tasted great. They floated and never really broke up more like they got really soggy.
 

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