Dry hopping with no secondary?

I have been considering some IPA possibilities, and in my research, I ran into the concern that I do not have a secondary fermentation vessel. I am not exactly sure how necessary secondary is, and there seem to be numerous opinions about it...

Is this the only way to dry hop?

Does much fermentation actually occur during this period?

Are there any alternatives to a secondary for any given brew, even if the recipe calls for it?

I do not keg - I bottle condition.

As a side note, does anyone have a good BIAB IPA recipe (10.5 Gal Kettle, 5 gal bottle volume)?

Thank you!

You can dry hop in the primary. I just made a light IPA (4.7% ABV) that I fermented for 7 days, added dry hops in the primary and then kegged it 5 days later. It has wonderful aroma. The hops say IPA, the body is a bit lighter than I would like - I've been stealing some samples. It is not fully carbed yet. This was my first attempt so I will be tweaking the grain bill.

This was very fast because the OG was low. It would probably take an extra day or 3 for a typical IPA to ferment out. Once the bubbling has pretty much stopped, you can go ahead and add the hops. 5-7 days is all you need to get the most out of the dry hops. Some hops can give some harshness if dry hopped too long.

Is there any disadvantage to dry hopping in the primary?

No. I am a firm believer in not transferring beer except three times.
1. Kettle to Fermenter
2. Fermenter to Keg
3. Keg to my belly.

You can do anything in the fermenter. I no longer even call l it primary.

Bradinator said:

Is there any disadvantage to dry hopping in the primary?

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Only if you were planning to harvest the yeast cake.

Personally, I've stopped dry hopping in fermenter. I'm only dry hopping in serving keg now. IMO MUCH better hop flavor/aroma this way. Plus it's not faded by the time you pull a pint. I use whole hops and put them into a nylon mesh 'hop bag' and then put them into the keg just before it goes into the brew fridge. :rockin:

This is good stuff to know. Thank you.

So I should have no impediments to making a solid IPA using just a fermenter? Most recipes don't call for a second pitch, do they?

I was considering a Sculpin clone but got scared off by the dry hopping and all.

We make a Dave's IPA that we use a Hop Rocket (hop back) when transferring the wort to the fermenter. Basically you pass hot wort over Leaf Hops (about 1 oz) and then through a plate chiller into the fermenter. This is 10x better than dry hopping as for flavor and aroma. Also, by using a plate chiller, it speeds up the process greatly as we can transfer as fast as we can pump. The Hops act as a filter as well.

I think that if you use a hop bag, you could still wash a yeast cake. I do not know if any for profit brewery dry hops in the fermenter and then harvest yeast, but I bet they do.

Also by second pitch, do you mean to add more yeast? I have never heard of that unless you have a DOA when you first pitch which I have never had happen in 3 years.

oakbarn said:

I think that if you use a hop bag, you could still wash a yeast cake. I do not know if any for profit brewery dry hops in the fermenter and then harvest yeast, but I bet they do.

Also by second pitch, do you mean to add more yeast? I have never heard of that unless you have a DOA when you first pitch which I have never had happen in 3 years.

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I guess what I was referring to was if you are going imperial or trying to make a high gravity beer. I've never done this but feel like I have read about people doing a second pitch to boost the alc. I would not be surprised if I am just way off.

What is the intent of harvesting a yeast cake?

I rarely secondary, unless it's for bulk aging/souring.

I brew a tone of dry hopped beers, and always dry hop in primary.

cotillion said:

I guess what I was referring to was if you are going imperial or trying to make a high gravity beer. I've never done this but feel like I have read about people doing a second pitch to boost the alc. I would not be surprised if I am just way off.

What is the intent of harvesting a yeast cake?

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Pitching twice is usually unnecessary, unless as was stated before the yeast were too weak to finish. In most cases it's not as much about "boosting" the abv, as much as it is replacing dead or tired yeast to finish the ferment. Even big beers when pitched with enough healthy yeast only need one shot of enough yeast. Making a starter for bigger beers is recommended by pretty much everyone here, and elsewhere.

Harvesting a yeast cake means to reclaim the yeast and use em again. Decent cost savings there. Imagine using a $10 pack of yeast 10 or 15 times rather than just once. You can pour a fresh batch of wort onto a used yeast cake, provided you JUST racked the previous beer off the cake and dump new wort on top. You can also wash the yeast, and there are several threads on here for yeast washing and harvesting, and even semi long term storage.

Harvest the yeast cake means to take the yeast at the bottom of your brew and save it to use again. Search "Yeast Washing" and there is plenty of info. We do not do it.

Wrong thread?

Golddiggie said:

Only if you were planning to harvest the yeast cake.

Personally, I've stopped dry hopping in fermenter. I'm only dry hopping in serving keg now. IMO MUCH better hop flavor/aroma this way. Plus it's not faded by the time you pull a pint. I use whole hops and put them into a nylon mesh 'hop bag' and then put them into the keg just before it goes into the brew fridge. :rockin:

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I do this too. 2 small pieces of advice:

1. Leave the keg at room temp for 5 days with the dry hops in it. You get better/more flavor from them this way.

2. Tie a piece of floss to the nylon bag and hang it out the top of the keg so the bag stays suspended in the middle of the keg. This prevents the bag from blocking the dip tube and it also gives you the option to easily remove the bag. If you leave the hops in too long you will start to get some grassy/vegetal flavors, however a few weeks has never caused any issues for me.

Will it sink on it's own? I just dry hopped a DIPA and and it's still floating... Even with about 10oz of stainless couplers in the bag with the hops.

cannman said:

wrong thread?

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+1