dry hop w/ muslin bag

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zodiak3000

zodiak3000

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i was going to attempt a dry hop other than just tossing them in. i figured from reading people say to sanitize a muslin bag, toss your hops in, then let in sit in the fermenter for about 1 week. does this sound like a good way to dry hop? should I use a shot glass or marbles to weight down the muslin bag so the hops are exposed enough?
 
I wouldnt bother unless you are using whole hops. Pellets will settle to the bottom (for the most part) in about a week.
 
I am sure you will get a variety of answers, but when I dry hop I actually use nude colored women's pantyhose. You cut them off at the top of the leg. I soak them for a couple of minutes in star san prior to use, wring them out to knock off the excess star san, insert hops, and drop them in. The nude colored hose won't impart any offs or dyes into the beer and are the right mesh size to keep the hops contained through the dry hopping process. Much cheaper than muslin bags and you just toss them when you're done. Dump the hops in the toe and tie the knot near the top of the leg. Plenty of room for expansion of the hops. I don't personally weight mine down, though I know some people do, as I have found the hops will typically float in the hose and I can easily reach in with a sanitized spoon and remove them when the dry hopping schedule has elapsed.
 
I use a cheesecloth hop sack - works great. I'd think pantyhose would work great too..

Here's a tip: If you have a blender, spray down the inside with your sanitizer. Then stretch the hop sack over the opening of the blender. Add your weights to the hop sack (I add 6 or 7 stainless, sanitized, bolts for weight). The weight will pull the sack down into the blender making a natural "tube" for you to add your hops too.

You can now fill your hop sack easily because the opening is the stretched the size of a house hold blender. Push hops down and tie the top. Add to primary bucket. Done.
 
It works well with whole hops, which is almost exclusively what I use for brewing. To keep it submerged you can throw some large marbles, or stainless steel hardware in the bag. Another option is to tie/zip-tie the bag to the dip tube (my preferred method). Just a word of caution: make sure anything that goes in the bag to weight it down is either glass or stainless (don't ask).
 
KellyK said:
I am sure you will get a variety of answers, but when I dry hop I actually use nude colored women's pantyhose. You cut them off at the top of the leg. I soak them for a couple of minutes in star san prior to use, wring them out to knock off the excess star san, insert hops, and drop them in. The nude colored hose won't impart any offs or dyes into the beer and are the right mesh size to keep the hops contained through the dry hopping process. Much cheaper than muslin bags and you just toss them when you're done. Dump the hops in the toe and tie the knot near the top of the leg. Plenty of room for expansion of the hops. I don't personally weight mine down, though I know some people do, as I have found the hops will typically float in the hose and I can easily reach in with a sanitized spoon and remove them when the dry hopping schedule has elapsed.
Click to expand...

hmmm, you mentioned that the pantyhose wont impart any offs or dyes into the beer. i wonder if a muslin bag would do that in any way...
 
TwoHeadsBrewing said:
It works well with whole hops, which is almost exclusively what I use for brewing. To keep it submerged you can throw some large marbles, or stainless steel hardware in the bag. Another option is to tie/zip-tie the bag to the dip tube (my preferred method). Just a word of caution: make sure anything that goes in the bag to weight it down is either glass or stainless (don't ask).
Click to expand...

what about a shot glass that has some imprinted writing on it? not sure what the grafix on the shot glass are made out of or if it will effect the beer...
 
zodiak3000 said:
what about a shot glass that has some imprinted writing on it? not sure what the grafix on the shot glass are made out of or if it will effect the beer...
Click to expand...

LOL, I think that would be fine...but you'd need a BUNCH of them. Hops are pretty buoyant...that's why I started tying my nylon bags to the keg dip tube.
 
I encountered an issue today after dry-hopping in my primary (Glass carboy) for two weeks. My Double IPA came out fine and filled my corny keg but I can't get the bag out. So, I've decided to break it to get my stainless steel balls out and just replace it. Not a total loss though...because I had an epiphany...

Next time I dry hop, I am going to use a long muslin bag (They sell 28" long bags at Midwest Brewing) and then I'm going to add a stainless ball and a fistful of hops, tie it off and then add 3 or 4 or 5 more small fist-fulls (along with a ball for each knot) until I can easily load it, knot by knot, into the carboy. I will also add a string to the end so I can easily retrieve the first hop-knot and then pull them all out one by one.

This idea alone is worth smashing the carboy. :mug:
 
Another reason I don't use carboys. But that's another thread. :drunk: I use muslin hop sacks for pellets & muslin grain bags for whole leaf. I let'em float,since they act the same as tea bags in a jug of sun tea.
Ever watch your sun tea when you first set it out in the sun? The tea starts to settle downward in the water column. Hops are no different ime. Now imagine that with a weighted hop bag...:confused:
 
Definitely use a bag of some sort. I just threw some hop pellets in fermenter and Waited 5 days, they never settled. Hop matter was everywhere. Had to use a mesh bag over auto siphon when racking to bottling bucket....
 

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