Successful Dry Hopping Techniques?

Honestly I do not see what the big deal is with whole hops in the fermenter? You are only talking a couple ounces at most. There are way fewer small particles than pellet hops, and when you autosiphon the whole leaf hops act as a filter.

They really aren't that big of a deal to get out of the carboy, use your finger, or a cleaning brush.

Wait until after visible primary fermentation is completed (the off gassing of Co2 will take with it the hop aroma you are trying to keep in your beer), put 1-2 ounces of 'whole leaf hops' into the primary fermentation vessel, wait a week, rack to secondary for conditioning, then keg it.

JBZSTL said:

I have read a lot about dry hop methods. It sounds to me a lot of it boils down to personal preference. It appears to me as if the all around easiest method would be to put the hops in a nylon bag. Are there any drawbacks to using the nylon bag? I plan on using pellet hops and will be using a carboy as my second.

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Hey, I'm doing an "Uckleduckfay"(with some touches) using Mt Hood to dry hop in place of crystal and only using a primary. I brewed on Thurs 9/1/11 how and when should I dry hop in my primary?

I'm gonna bump this. I dry hopped with an ounce of amarillo pellet hops 2 days ago. I just dropped them straight into the primary after 2 weeks. How long do I need to wait for the hops to drop out and get the flavors I want? I can't see the beer very well because I use a bucket when I dry hop. I figure ill just use nylon stockings or a doubled up muslim bag over the end of my autosiphon(R) when its time.

Recently brewed an extract American IPA. Dry hopped with 3oz nelson sauvin pellets for 7 days in secondary. Bottled, then after a week of carbing, popped a few open and wow, amazing. Citrus, passionfruit flavor notes and incredible aromas. A week later, popped another 2 open and now I'm tasting some grassy notes and less aroma is present.

My question is, can grassy notes result from using a high volume of dry hops? Or does that typically result from beer having an extended period of time in contact with dry hops?

I would say both have an influence on grassy notes. To me, the higher the amount of hops and longer they are in contact with the beer, the more pronounced the grassy flavor.

Would a more pronounced hop flavor result from a higher volume of hops used for say...3 or 4 days?

If you use hops that are grassy to begin with you are going to transfer that into your beer. I've only seen that happen with hops picked too soon. I've left hops in contact with beer for months without any problems, but If I tossed in some grassy hops, they will ruin the beer in a day. Good thing is that time seems to mellow that out and fade those flavors/aromas.

I'm gonna bump this.

I typically buy hops by the ounce and they come in a sealed container. I recently purchased a larger quantity in bulk and stored the left overs in baggys in the freezer. I wanted to dry hop with them, but I'm concerned about dormant bacteria that may be in the freezer because my baggys aren't air tight. Any additional sanitation concerns before I just dump them in the carboy?

I read about ten pages and thought of a something new. I just added an ounce of centennial whole hops to my primary, which is in the third day winding down. I am using an ale pale for this brew. Gently pushed them down to hydrate them. What I plan on doing is racking to my secondary in a week to ten more days, and before I begin racking I will stretch a large nylon bad(sanitized) over the pail, and push down in the middle until it bottoms out. Then I will siphon from the middle of the bucket to avoid hops going into the secondary. On this batch I purposely ended up with a little extra going to the primary knowing I might sacrifice a little when racking to the secondary. I will report back how it works out.

Here's a good question....how does dogfish head dry hop their 120 Minute IPA for a month?

Dry hop blast from the past!
In 13 pages of this thread I see one refferance to Citra Hops.
I have a Cali Steam going and want to put a hoppy spin on it.
Was wondering if Citra would be a nice compliment or if it would clash with the Cascade bittering and Amarillo aroma?
Thx for your feedback.

Citra will be right at home with those

i've been wanting to dry-hop but i don't have a secondary and i've been paranoid about opening my primary for anything except bottling, which i'm fairly sure is what lead to my one and only spoiled batch. any tips?

The spoilage potential is the same with a primary or secondary. by the time you get to the secondary fermentation stage most people don't sorry so much about it, since there is enough alcohol to kill most bacteria.

hendenburg2 said:

i've been wanting to dry-hop but i don't have a secondary and i've been paranoid about opening my primary for anything except bottling, which i'm fairly sure is what lead to my one and only spoiled batch. any tips?

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No need for paranoia, dry-hopping in the primary is great, and less of an infection risk than transferring to secondary.

ah true, and depending on your bottling process, you can use two strainers (slightly offset, which forms a "finer" mesh) to filter out the pellet bits if you bottle using an intermediary vessel to mix in the priming sugar.

hendenburg2 said:

ah true, and depending on your bottling process, you can use two strainers (slightly offset, which forms a "finer" mesh) to filter out the pellet bits if you bottle using an intermediary vessel to mix in the priming sugar.

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Try using a nylon hop bag (or Home Depot paint strainer bag)...sanitized, then immersed. Less oxidation than pouring through strainers.

bianco152 said:

Here's a good question....how does dogfish head dry hop their 120 Minute IPA for a month?

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They probably dump the hops and add in new ones every week or two.

TyTanium said:

Try using a nylon hop bag (or Home Depot paint strainer bag)...sanitized, then immersed. Less oxidation than pouring through strainers.

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the problem with a hop bag is that it limits circulation by placing a physical barrier in between the hops and wort. whether you use whole or pellet hops, they are kept close together and they do not bloom fully, which limits surface area, which slows absorption of the flavor compounds.

hendenburg2 said:

the problem with a hop bag is that it limits circulation by placing a physical barrier in between the hops and wort. whether you use whole or pellet hops, they are kept close together and they do not bloom fully, which limits surface area, which slows absorption of the flavor compounds.

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Are we talking about filtering into to bottling bucket or dry hopping in the fermenter?

If in the fermenter, hop bags work just fine if you don't stuff them. Sure, it's probably not 100%, but still really good and removal is a cinch.

For not getting tons of hops in the bottling bucket, which I what I assumed you were talking about with the double strainers, a hop bag also works when wrapped around your autosiphon or on the output end of the racking tube...either way, it's submerged and thus no pouring and exposing the beer to oxygen.

TyTanium said:

Are we talking about filtering into to bottling bucket or dry hopping in the fermenter?

If in the fermenter, hop bags work just fine if you don't stuff them. Sure, it's probably not 100%, but still really good and removal is a cinch.

For not getting tons of hops in the bottling bucket, which I what I assumed you were talking about with the double strainers, a hop bag also works when wrapped around your autosiphon or on the output end of the racking tube...either way, it's submerged and thus no pouring and exposing the beer to oxygen.

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yeah, you got it right. sorry for the confusion. the method that i came upon was born out a few problems - 1) how to mix in the priming solution without stirring up bottom sediment 2) get around clogging issues while filtering from the submerged end of the racking cane 3) limited equipment. how much of an impact does oxygen have? if you care to reply i'll start a new post so as not to derail this one.

No need to start a new thread; I think this still fits within the realm of dry-hopping technique.

Oxygen is bad. It's the enemy of finished beer. So anything that involves pouring, spashing, bubbling, etc should be avoided. To answer your questions, here's a pretty common practice:

1) Add boiled & cooled priming solution to sanitized bottling bucket
2) Lots of the hop junk sinks or remains floating on top, so hold autosiphon so the opening is in the middle of the beer; shouldn't be too much gunk suspended.
3) Place a sanitized hop bag on the output end of the racking tubing, placed at the bottom of the bottling bucket (many also put it over input; either way works).
4) Siphon the beer, any junk sucked up gets trapped in the bag. Allow the flow of beer to create a gentle whirlpool in the bottling bucket; this adequately mixes the priming solution
5) As you get near the end, tip the fermenter; you'll start getting more hop junk, but that's what the bag is for.
6) Pull out the bag, allow it to drip out, give it a genltle squeeze if you want and there you have it - primed, hop-free beer.

I like to dry hop in the keg's actually. Well, I'll do a two part because I'm lacking in patience.

I'll plan to dry hop, and for instance, say I'm doing 2oz of something, same or different, doesn't matter. I'll rack to secondary, and put the pellets in the secondary loose. Leave it be for whatever time period I decide to pull it.

I will rack it to a keg, using a sanitized paint strainer bag to catch any hops still floating around in there, most have settled out.

I will take a fine mesh hop bag, put my other hops in there, seal it up, and suspend the bag from the string using a SS hose clamp on the underside of my pressure relief valve on the underside of the lid. Fits perfectly with no modification. Allows the hops to sit in the beer roughly 1/3 of the way into the beer, without opening or floating around. I'll put the keg in the keezer, and start carbing it while it's cooling, AND it's dry hopping.

I also have a cut diptube, and a screen over it as well, and I've yet to have a green dusty pour from my taps. First pull gets all the junk off the bottom when it cold crashes and is carbed, and after that it's ready to go. No yeast, no hops debris.

Some will claim they get a grassy flavor from hops being in the beer too long, I've yet to experience that, but I love highly hopped beers. You could also pull the bag after a week if you wanted, and still multi-task the whole process a bit quicker if you want without leaving the hops on the beer too long. If you drink it fast enough, the bag will be suspended in the keg above the beer after a certain amount is pulled, and will no longer touch the beer.

FATC1TY said:

I also have a cut diptube, and a screen over it as well, and I've yet to have a green dusty pour from my taps. First pull gets all the junk off the bottom when it cold crashes and is carbed, and after that it's ready to go. No yeast, no hops debris.

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what type of screen mesh? fine? how are they measured?

hendenburg2 said:

what type of screen mesh? fine? how are they measured?

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Not really what what type. Small round holes. It's not super, super fine. It's similar to what you will find online for a dip tube screen.

Looks really close to this actually, although I didn't get it there.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_33_82_88&products_id=13453

Couple that with cutting around a 1/4 inch off the tube, and a fine mesh bag for pellets that is suspended in the keg, I haven't gotten any junk in my glass yet!

I know it was stupid, but I put my hops in after about 20 hours of fermentation in the primary, did i waste them, or did I cause more problems by not waiting till primary fermentation was done?

Cause more problems? Nope, no harm
Waste them? Not entirely. You'll still get some character. Taste after fermentation.

If you are serving out of a corny keg, use a nylon paint strainer bag and add hop pellets to that then tie it off to the down tube with a string long enough to let it drop to the bottom without going all the way so it doesn't clog the tube. You will see a huge hop nose (depending on variety) within days. Keep the beer on dry hops no more than 3 weeks as it will start to make the beer grassy.

Thanks for the replies, at least I didn't screw it up too bad! As far as hopping in the keg, if i don't kick the keg in a couple of weeks, how do you deal with it? i probably will kick my keg in about 6 weeks, will it be grassy by then?

Also, should i pull that ounce of hops after a week and just add another ounce for the remaining two weeks of fermentation?

Mickeymoose said:

Thanks for the replies, at least I didn't screw it up too bad! As far as hopping in the keg, if i don't kick the keg in a couple of weeks, how do you deal with it? i probably will kick my keg in about 6 weeks, will it be grassy by then?

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I attach mine to the PVR body on the lid with a SS hose clamp, the string from the hop bag is attached that way, so after... 2 weeks, if the keg is still around, I pop the lid, pull the bag, and gas it back up. Takes... 30 seconds? No harm done!

Mickeymoose said:

Also, should i pull that ounce of hops after a week and just add another ounce for the remaining two weeks of fermentation?

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Leave the hops you added early in until fermentation is complete.

Taste the beer, if it's got enough aroma and hop flavor to it, then you don't need more.

I would avoid adding your dry hops DURING fermentation. Wait until the gravity is stable for a couple of days, meaning it's done fermenting, and then you can dry hop. The production of Co2 during fermentation will drive off the aromatic compounds that you are trying to add during dry hopping. Defeats the work you are doing to a degree.

Thanks FATC1TY just the info I was looking for.

You are not dry hopping in the fermentation, but rather during conditioning.It is suggested to only keep it on hops for three weeks but I have gone longer with no bad off flavors. It will turn out great.

I always go with Whole leaf hops if avalabe, because i dont have a steady siphon hand, also i have voided out secondary fermentaion so I just boil a hop sock and a couple marbles to sterilize and then place the hops and marbels ( to keep from floating) into my keg and und push it under the diptube with a my sanitized raking cane. this method has proven great with a wallop of hop flavor and no particulate.

I use the nylon draw string tea/ herb bags $11.00/ 100

Sorry tried to attatch a file didn't work, Google Aliexpress, home and garden section, cooking utensils Nylon filter bags

I bought a bag from my LHBS.. It's a specifc nylon food grade bag. VERY fine, but easily allows the beer to flow through and out it. Infact, I can put pellet hops in there and dry hop with it without issue.. Worth the $3, IMO.

Also, look into a dip tube screen if you like to dry hop in the keg. It's all I ever do now, because it's so clean and easy, and speeds up the process.

OK. Thank you all again. After much study and reading forum posts and articles I am overwhelmed with different methods, rack it first, dry hop in the primary and swirl it then rack it and let settle for a week, 1 oz, 2 oz, 3 oz, 4 oz, 2 days 4 days a week, hop pellets, leaves, drop straight in, use a filter bag, a stainless tea bag, ahhh, I'm just happy I'm not dumping after all the time and money invested. (Yes Procrastination takes time too, just haven't gotten around to figuring out how much, I'l do it tomorrow) OK so here's what I've decided to do. If anyone sees any major no no's or has a strong opinion against what I'm planning please feel free to try to stop me. Otherwise, I'm going to do the following tomorrow night:

I'm going to use a filter bag, put 4 oz of cascade hops, (maybe just 3), I'm going to rack it first from my bucket to a carboy, I'm going to let it work for 5 days. Then I'm going to rack it into my bottling bucket and add 11.5 g of an American Ale yeast (Safeale US-05) and my sugar and I'm going to bottle it. Then I'm going to let it rest for about a month, (probably tasting one now-and-then to see how it's developing) and I'm going to hopefully have a good IPA when It's al said and done. Look forward to reporting my results. Cheers!

So like I said, if anyone sees anything wrong with that method please let me know. I'll check back to this thread again tomorrow night before I start.

ConcreteKirk said:

I'm going to use a filter bag, put 4 oz of cascade hops, (maybe just 3), I'm going to rack it first from my bucket to a carboy, I'm going to let it work for 5 days. Then I'm going to rack it into my bottling bucket and add 11.5 g of an American Ale yeast (Safeale US-05) and my sugar and I'm going to bottle it.

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OK well the hops part is fine, but I don't understand why you are adding more yeast. I have *never* needed to add more yeast at bottling, even for very high ABV beers.

Then I'm going to let it rest for about a month, (probably tasting one now-and-then to see how it's developing) and I'm going to hopefully have a good IPA when It's al said and done.

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I probably wouldn't wait as long, but that is mostly because I am impatient. So far as carbonation balance is concerned, I tend to try samples at 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks...after 3 weeks it is generally as good as it's going to get in my experience, but I am pretty happy drinking after 2 weeks and can tolerate the carbonation at 1 week usually, although it tends to fade quickly so drink fast!