Dry hop with pellets

Dry hopped a week ago. Want to keg but there is a scummy looking layer of dissolved hop pellets on top. What is best way to get beer into keg without the hop residue?

I bottle, so I usually strain my beer as it comes into my bottling bucket to try and remove the hop matter. Other suggestions I have read about include putting a nylon bag or hop bag over the inlet to your siphon. Just make sure you sanitize whatever you use really well.

I usually dry hop for about 10 days and start rocking the fermenter twice a day with 5-7 days left. That gives the hops enough time to drop as well as forces them a little. I usually hold off on rocking the day before I bottle to let the yeast settle.

If you rack underneath the hops, not much will get into your keg. A few leaves won't hurt. They'll just sink to the bottom of the keg.

AngusPA said:

Dry hopped a week ago. Want to keg but there is a scummy looking layer of dissolved hop pellets on top. What is best way to get beer into keg without the hop residue?

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Place 2 hop bags around your auto siphon. Just did this yesterday with 1 nylon hop bag, but because you used pellets and the hop particles are smaller I would recommend using two hop bags.

Oh my gosh- don't do anything special at all. Especially no rocking or filtering!

All you do is sanitize your autosiphon or racking cane, and start the siphon in the middle of the fermenter. Lower the racking cane as the level of the beer drops. It's super easy and no problem at all.

If you can cold crash the fermenter for a day or two that usually drops almost all of the hop particles out of suspension.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll give it a shot

Yooper said:

Oh my gosh- don't do anything special at all. Especially no rocking or filtering!

All you do is sanitize your autosiphon or racking cane, and start the siphon in the middle of the fermenter. Lower the racking cane as the level of the beer drops. It's super easy and no problem at all.

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+1

I wouldn't recommend straining the hops out. Adds a ton of air and will oxidize the beer.

I cold crash and then wrap a nylon bag around my auto siphon at the intake end. Can't really oxidize your beer this way unless you have O2 living in the bottom of your fermenter

Yooper said:

Oh my gosh- don't do anything special at all. Especially no rocking or filtering!

All you do is sanitize your autosiphon or racking cane, and start the siphon in the middle of the fermenter. Lower the racking cane as the level of the beer drops. It's super easy and no problem at all.

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x 1042

it's as easy as that..... and please, please, don't rock, shake, agitate, etc. the fermenter to drop the hops. it'll drop 'em, sometimes, but it'll also introduce o2, all the time. o2 after fermentation can accelerate the staling of beer. not good.

unionrdr said:

That's why I always strain into the fermenter,& use hop sacks for dry hopping. Everything stays cleaner that way.

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or use whole hops. they tend to keep floating for some time, maybe a few leaves fall is all. then it's real easy to rack from under them. personally, i think the aroma with whole hops is better and cleaner than with pellets anyway, and they're cheaper a lot of the time, too.

If you're doing a big dry hop though, whole flowers won't all get saturated and it kind of seems like a waste of hops. Whereas pellets eventually sink to the bottom and get completely saturated and release all of their flavor and aroma.

Give the pellet hops a few days floating and then cold crash if you can to get them to sink. Then you can wrap a paint strainer bag around your autosiphon and go to town. Not sure the strainer bag is even necessary though since the cold crash really compacts the trub,yeast, and hops on the bottom.

chumpsteak said:

If you're doing a big dry hop though, whole flowers won't all get saturated and it kind of seems like a waste of hops.

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i dry hop in secondary, put the cones in first, rack beer on top. with bigger additions, if they're not all soaked in a few days, i'll give them a gentle nudge with a sanitized racking cane or something to push them into the beer. for really big additions, like my Pliny clone, pellets are the way to go, but mainly cuz they absorb less beer. then, as always, carefully rack from between the hops and the bottom of the carboy.

I put the hops into a 1 gallon paint strainer bag, use a airlock grommet to secure the end of the bag, place in the fermenter, before bottling I retrieve the hops with a set of prongs.

Yooper said:

Oh my gosh- don't do anything special at all. Especially no rocking or filtering!

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I understand not filtering, but why not rock? I thought that it was OK to rock because the fermenter is filled with CO2 and has no oxygen. Sure it shakes up the trub a bit, but so does moving it from wherever you ferment to wherever you bottle. That's why I give it a day to rest.

I'm sorry to give misinformation if my understanding is incorrect. I remember getting the same advice from some pretty reputable people here when I had the same question.

Edit: I did some searching, and there seems to be mixed opinions on whether or not to swirl. I've always swirled, but my beers probably don't last long enough for me to detect any oxidation. After giving it some thought, next time I'll try racking from underneath without swirling. If I get the hop character I expect and minimal hops in the bottles, then that seems safer to me. I don't have a dissolved oxygen meter, so I may not know if I'm oxidizing. Thanks Yooper!

Yooper said:

Oh my gosh- don't do anything special at all. Especially no rocking or filtering!

All you do is sanitize your autosiphon or racking cane, and start the siphon in the middle of the fermenter. Lower the racking cane as the level of the beer drops. It's super easy and no problem at all.

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Sorry for the bad info about straining, I guess I have gotten lucky so far or I just dont know what oxidation tastes like... I have a Pale Ale that is almost ready to bottle so will try this method out.

I still think its okay to use a straining bag at the inlet of your racking cane, preventing the hop material from ever entering the tubing. Siphoning thru a strainer into a bottling bucket or keg is a real bad idea

straining is overkill, you run the risk of clogging the line if too much is in suspension. I'd say rack between the layers, they'll meet at the bottom and you'll be just fine.

steber said:

straining is overkill, you run the risk of clogging the line if too much is in suspension. I'd say rack between the layers, they'll meet at the bottom and you'll be just fine.

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exactly, every time i've tried the strainer on a siphon idea, whether it's racking from kettle to carboy, or after dry hopping to the bottling bucket, it clogs quickly. PITA, and too many risky variables. i'd stick with trying to avoid the hops and if you get a few particles of hops debris in a few bottles or a keg of hoppy brew..... so be it.

Mine has never clogged, but I try to cold crash first and avoid dusturbing the bottom. It's always worked for me