When too late to dry hop?

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yeoldebrewer

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I just brewed a 5 gallon batch of Cooper's Australian Ale. Half of it was bottled 10 days out of the fermenter and the other half sits in a 2 gallon secondary.

I tasted a sample of the still green brew and it tasted very unfinished but was better than expected. But seems like it could use some aroma hops.

Is 4 days into secondary fermentation too late to dry hop? Or should I just leave it alone and let the yeasties work?
 
I just brewed a 5 gallon batch of Cooper's Australian Ale. Half of it was bottled 10 days out of the fermenter and the other half sits in a 2 gallon secondary.

I tasted a sample of the still green brew and it tasted very unfinished but was better than expected. But seems like it could use some aroma hops.

Is 4 days into secondary fermentation too late to dry hop? Or should I just leave it alone and let the yeasties work?

It's never too late to dry hop! It can be too early to dry hop at times (like during fermentation- the nice hops aroma can be carried away during active fermentation), but never too late. Many of us even add more hops to the serving keg.

Go ahead and add some hops! What kind are you thinking?
 
I don't dry hop until after 3-4 days in the secondary. Then leave it for 10 days or so before bottling.
 
Many of us even add more hops to the serving keg.

I've been trying to come up with a way of doing that without getting the hops stuck in the pickup tube. I thought about bagging the hops and tying it to the pickup, but I'm afraid it will slip down and clog the tube. All I have is pellet hops. How do you do it, Yoops?
 
I've been trying to come up with a way of doing that without getting the hops stuck in the pickup tube. I thought about bagging the hops and tying it to the pickup, but I'm afraid it will slip down and clog the tube. All I have is pellet hops. How do you do it, Yoops?

I use a tea strainer:

tea-6.jpg

or a hops bag. I know Biermuncher uses zip ties to attach his to the dip tube, but I've just thrown it in there.
 
I use a tea strainer or a hops bag. I know Biermuncher uses zip ties to attach his to the dip tube, but I've just thrown it in there.

Ooh! I like the tea strainer idea. I think I'll have a look around and see if I can find one of those. I like the idea of the hops getting to the bottom of the keg and sitting there. If they are zip tied to the dip tube they'll eventually come out of the beer.

Thanks for the tip!
 
I've been trying to come up with a way of doing that without getting the hops stuck in the pickup tube. I thought about bagging the hops and tying it to the pickup, but I'm afraid it will slip down and clog the tube. All I have is pellet hops. How do you do it, Yoops?


I tied mine up in paint strainers along with some marbles and just chucked the bags into two kegs. No plugging yet, although I'm only several pints into the kegs. These are whole leaf FWIW.

Oh, and good hops flavor and aroma after several hours, absolutely freakin' awesome hops flavor and aroma after 24 hours.
 
I dry hop almost all my beers except for the Belgiums. I use a paint strainer bag and toss it in the keg. It will sink in a couple days and by the time conditioning is finished it is at the bottom of the diptube acting as a filter. Some say grassy from too long exposure, but since I have never dry hopped with more than 1 OZ per 5G I have never had a grassy flavor.
 
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