bags for dry hopping

I just finished my second brew, an IPA, and I will dry hop it. I am doing the secondary in a five gallon carboy, and was wondering (and this is a really noobie question) can I use bags to dry hop, or is it just easier to throw the hops in? If I throw the hops in, should I put them in first, and rack the wort on top of it, or throw them in after. If I use a bag, I guess I should sanitize it. How is the best way to do that?

Thanks for being here!

Pellets or whole cone hops?

If pellets, just drop 'em in. If leaf, up to you. I like bags, others like free floating. Sanitize the bag by a quick StarSan soak or boil.

I toss them in my primary, after fermentation is complete.

Bags in the carboy are a pain to get out. What do you ferment your primary in? How much hops? What type?

The short answer is Yes you can. I use them for pellet hops as it cleans up better with less trub. Bags are hard to get out when they have more than 2-3 oz of hops in them as the hops will swell. If your using leaf, just dump the leaves on top. Try not to rack onto hops as they will introduce a bit of oxygen and you dont want that. Its best to let them sink from top down. Use a weight if you do decide to use a bag.

In all honesty, its all brewers preference. Try it and if you like how it worked keep doing it.

I prefer to just let the swim regardless of pellet or whole leaf, it's really brewer's preference. If you choose to use the bag it mus be sanitized and you can just soak it in star san solution. If using whole leaf and using more than two ounces be aware the hops will absorb a lot of beer and swell up quite a bit which can make extracting the bag a PITA

I was thinking that about the bag. I guess I just needed to hear it.

I just dump em into the secondary and when I rack to keg I put a fine bag on the output end of my hose. Same principle without trying to dig a bag out of my carboy.