Sinking a muslin bag for dry hopping.

I was wondering what some people use to sink the hops during dry hopping? I read something that said use steel ball bearings. I tried this and the bearings came out looking tarnished like the coating had been eaten off. I'm not sure if this beer is still worth drinking. Would like some advise from someone who has maybe been thru this situation. Haven't tried it yet and I'm kinda scared to. Advise please?

Marbles soaked in starsan first.

Marbles work great. I also use a string that is looped around the inverted dip tube and just pull the hops down and tie it off.

nothing betta than marbles,,,,cuz those steel ball bearings will rust

When dry hopping, I've never put anything in a hop bag but hops. I only use a bag when using pellets. If using whole hops... no bag... I just huck them in right on top and let 'em float.

Gary

GASoline71 said:

When dry hopping, I've never put anything in a hop bag but hops. I only use a bag when using pellets. If using whole hops... no bag... I just huck them in right on top and let 'em float.

Gary

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+1. Why bother trying to weigh down the bag? So what if it mostly floats? It's not like the hops aren't in contact with beer.

i use a coffee mug-... alot easier than marbles

Shot glass

Stainless steel bolts-big ones!

Stainless steel bolts and washers. Whatever is left from my "create-a-bolt" from which I got mash tun stainless steel washers.

I've only dry-hopped once. What would be the need to sink the bag? When I did it the bag sunk at first and after a while started floating. Is sinking it supposed to increase the flavor/ aroma?

I use a couple shot glasses, or some stainless steel spoons if I have a lot of hops to drop.

If you look at a bag of floating hops, you'll see some hops are naturally above the waterline. One would have to think that would decrease utilization. Therefore, logically it must be a good idea to get them fully submerged.