Dry Hopping in the bottle?

I was thinking of getting a 12 pack of something with low ibu's maybe Michelob light, and some Harpoon UFO and throwing in a few hop pellets, recapping, let it sit at 60 for 5 or 6 days, then chill it for a day, and strain it into a glass. I figured it would be a fast, easy way to test some different dry hop combinations. How many hop pellets you think I would need per bottle? I'm thinking maybe 2 or 3 pellets of each variety? I'm just thinking about taste and aroma here, I know I won't get any bitterness. I'll use oxygen absorbing caps, and I'm sure the dry hops are gonna create some nice foam to cap on. Somebody must have tried this before.

For the record, I am not encouraging anybody to drink Michelob light, not that there's anything wrong with it, there's just way to many other good choices, but as for UFO I still enjoy it on draft once in a while. Those were just 2 I think might work well for this. I'd much rather try this with a Sam Adams Noble Pils, damn I'm loving this stuff on draft.

Bob

My buddy did this with a single hop cone per 22oz bottle, fresh of the vine. It didn't add a ton of flavor, so I'm thinking with how much more dense pellets are, I would start at a couple pellets per bottle. Try different amounts in different bottles.

I've done it with 3-4 whole hop comes per bottle at bottling. Works well, but the beer will foam up a bit when you open it. Pellet hops seem like more of a hassle to take out, but it certainly could work. Good luck.

Thanks for the feedback guys, I just found this video on youtube, it looks like I'm gonna get some gushers.




I went ahead and got a 12 pack of Harpoon UFO Hefeweizen, I figured the the hop oils might stick to the yeast and get a little more hop flavor. Here's what I put in the 12 bottles

1. 0 pellets

2. 2 pellets Willamette
3. 2 pellets Revolution
4. 2 pellets Sterling

5. 3 pellets, 1 Willamette, 1 Revolution, 1 Sterling

6. 4 pellets, 2 Willamette, 2 Revolution
7. 4 pellets, 2 Willamette, 2 Sterling
8. 4 pellets, 2 Revolution, 2 Sterling

9. 6 pellets Willamette
10. 6 pellets Revolution
11. 6 pellets Sterling

12. 6 pellets, 2 Willamette, 2 Revolution, 2 Sterling

I was thinking of dry hopping my current batch of pale ale with an ounce each of Willamette, Revolution, and Sterling, but after smelling the Sterling I'm thinking of maybe just the Willamette, and Revolution. I based the hops off of Rogue's Oregasmic Ale, I loved last years version, but this years version, not so great.

Bob

Buna_Bere said:

Thanks for the feedback guys, I just found this video on youtube, it looks like I'm gonna get some gushers.

Click to expand...

i think that guy added hop pellets to already carb'd bottles.

I've added whole hops to bottles of my homebrew at the normal bottling time along with the bottling sugar, etc.

The whole cones sometimes would shoot out of the bottles when I opened them. Pellets sink to the bottom, but straining the hop matter out when pouring is still a good idea.

Keep in mind, this is basically just another form of dry hopping. You'll basically only be getting a boost in aroma, with minimal flavor being added and almost no bitterness.

Laconner Brewing in Washington State used to sell a special version of their IPA where each bottle had a whole hop cone in it, I think they stopped that, but it was widely hailed as a fantastic brew.

Ok, I won't bore you with my tasting notes, but here's what I found.

After 3 days I noticed alot of the hops were stuck in the necks of the bottles, so I flipped the bottles and gently knocked the hops free. The hops settled, but even after chilling for 2 days there was still alot of foam. There was much more aroma from the bottles with 6 pellets rather than just 2. The metal strainer I used was the finest I could find, but there was still some hop material that got through(did not taste very good). Overall I'm not sure what I accomplished here, but I can tell you if your gonna dry hop a Hefeweizen, Willamette might not be a bad choice.

Bob