Easiest Way of Getting Hops into the Carboy

I'm about to do my first significant dry hop, and am wondering what the easiest way is to get a few ounces of hops into a 5 gallon glass secondary. The opening is only about an inch in diameter, and I'm using whole/leaf hops.

The only thing I could think of was using a sanitized funnel and a sanitized rammer, and just forcing them down through the funnel. Hmmm...

...how do you guys do it?

that actually sounds pretty good. I tried just pushing them in by hand....complete clusterf***. Hops everywhere.

That is one of the reasons I started using buckets for secondaries if I'm dryhopping, the other is trying to get the hops out when your finished.

enderwig said:

That is one of the reasons I started using buckets for secondaries if I'm dryhopping, the other is trying to get the hops out when your finished.

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Man, I didn't even think of that...how would one get leaf hops out of a carboy? A bent hanger and some patients?

Pelikan said:

Man, I didn't even think of that...how would one get leaf hops out of a carboy? A bent hanger and some patients?

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1. Add water
2. Swirl
3. Dump
4. Cuss
5. Repeat

enderwig said:

That is one of the reasons I started using buckets for secondaries if I'm dryhopping, the other is trying to get the hops out when your finished.

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I do the same thing, saves a whole lotta time.

Haven't done this yet but I am going to take a funnel and cut it high enough up so the hops can fit through.

Do you guys like to dry hop plugs and whole leaf in bags or just loose in a bucket? Seems like I could use a carboy if I just put them in a bag. I'm guessing I wouldn't get full potential but for the effort might be worth uppping the hops instead.

johnnyc said:

Do you guys like to dry hop plugs and whole leaf in bags or just loose in a bucket? Seems like I could use a carboy if I just put them in a bag. I'm guessing I wouldn't get full potential but for the effort might be worth uppping the hops instead.

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I like to use Whole Leaf in a very loose Bag, in a Bucket. Last time I used a bag in Carboy, I destroyed the hop bag getting it out. You also minimize your beer loss this way,IMO.

I'll have to mill it over. I really want to use the carboy secondary, mostly because I paid good money for it, but I can just tell getting two ounces of leaf hops out of a standard carboy is going to be a major PITA.

I'll probably roll with the carboy this time around and see how it goes.

Hey, do you think there's anything that can be added to the carboy to dissolve or "sludgeify" the remaining hops? Something like a hefty concentration of starsan or something of the like?

Pelikan said:

I'll have to mill it over. I really want to use the carboy secondary, mostly because I paid good money for it, but I can just tell getting two ounces of leaf hops out of a standard carboy is going to be a major PITA.

I'll probably roll with the carboy this time around and see how it goes.

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Use the carboy, it'll provide much less head space and surface area than a bucket (assuming you are using a 5gal for a 5gal batch) which is a much bigger benefit than the ease of cleanup.

To be honest really - I dry hop almost one out of every three beers I make and I've added multiple oz's of leaf hops to a five gallon carboy and never really had any issue with getting them in or out. I tend to either add slowly by hand or create a paper funnel and them rinse them right out.

Pelikan said:

Hey, do you think there's anything that can be added to the carboy to dissolve or "sludgeify" the remaining hops? Something like a hefty concentration of starsan or something of the like?

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There are no shortcuts, just rinse and repeat over and over....

A homebrew supplier I once used suggested I make a "tea" of hops when dry hopping. It's quite effective. Here's how:

In a small sauce pan, boil 1 cup of water In a second sauce pan boil 1/2 cup of water. Add hops to the one cup of water pan and remove heat from both pans. Stir hops in water for about a minute or so. Strain hops through a hop bag into a bowl,. Sparge slowly with the 1/2 cup of boiled water. Pour resulting liquid into the fermeter with your brew.

It's ridiculously easy, sanitary, and effective.

put the hops in a food processor for a second before putting them in. I'd use a sanitized grain bag.