Dry hop in primary

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frenchtoasted

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So I have always racked off my beer to secondary then dry hopped my beer for 4-6 days.
With all this talk about finishing off your beer in the primary vessel, I am wondering how everybody is dry hopping their beer.

I just assumed that all the hop pellets would sink and just blend in with the trub and not be as effective.
Would love to hear how everyone is getting the best results.
 
Until I switched to the conical, I always dry hopped in the secondary. I keg, so it's easy to hit the carboy with CO2 prior to racking the beer over, so I didn't worry about O2 touching the beer. I put the hops in, hit it with CO2, and racked over. IMHO, I think this resulted in a better beer. I got the beer off any trub, dead yeast etc. There was enough yeast left in suspension to clean up the flavor, and it resulted in a clearer beer. After dry hopping, I'd cold crash it for 3 days prior to using gelatin in it. Super clear beer!
 
Just throw your hops in the primary if you want. I use whole hops, so I use a bag. You absolutely do not need to rack to secondary to avoid dead yeast. You will also not get clearer beer. There is nothing magical about a secondary that clears a beer any more than it will clear if you leave it in primary for the same period of time. For the most part, clearing is a result of time and temperature, not whatever vessel the beer is in. Personally, I think it probably clears a little more if you leave it in the primary because it is not being disturbed by unnecessarily racking it.

Of course, the above is just my opinion. If you want to rack to secondary in order to dry hop, it's your beer so you can do whatever you want.
 
I like to dry hop in the primary, it saves me from cleaning up two carboys and the racking gear. I also cold crash for a couple days after dryhopping, but I don't ever want to use gelatin finings again. I feel that it striped a lot of the hop flavor/aroma.
 
if i'm dry hopping with pellets -and- not going to reuse the yeast, then i throw the pellets in the primary, free range. cold crash after a few days and all the hops sink nicely.
 
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