Primary Fermentation then Dry-Hop

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wentsj28

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I'm Primary fermenting an American IPA OG 1.064 right now and I plan to dry hop 2 oz of Cascade (One for 7 days, the other for the final 3 days). My question is, should I let my yeast ferment to FG before racking to secondary and dry hopping. Or, should I wait about a week in primary, rack to secondary, and let the yeast finish with the dry-hopping going on?

Thanks! :fro:
 
no need for the secondary. once the fermentation subsides add the dry hops. leave them in however long you want then package the beer.
 
if you can cold crash or get as much yeast out of solution before dry hopping you should have better results. I believe it was stone that discussed that yeast like to bind to some of the hop oils that give aroma so less yeast in solution the better
 
if you can cold crash or get as much yeast out of solution before dry hopping you should have better results. I believe it was stone that discussed that yeast like to bind to some of the hop oils that give aroma so less yeast in solution the better

I may use a hop bag. Should I still be concerned with yeast sabotage?
 
Absolutely. It's just not needed for most beers.

I have always done a secondary but have been reading on here that they aren't always necessary. I thought an IPA with dry hop additions would be a candidate for a secondary. What types of beer are best for a secondary?
 
I've found that hop bags are unnessesary and counterproductive for dry hopping. If you have the ability to cold crash, just freeball those hops in the carboy. They will drop out of solution when you crash it. You may have to rock the carboy a little to break the surface tension.
 
What types of beer are best for a secondary?

Fruit beers are the most common type that requires a secondary. Basically, any time more fermentables are introduced after primary fermentation has ceased, you'll want to do a secondary. Also, it is common to secondary when aging the beer on wood cubes/chips.

I've not done any wood aging, but I have brewed a few fruit beers and those have been the only ones I have transferred to secondary. All other have been left in primary until it was time to bottle/keg.
 
I've found that hop bags are unnessesary and counterproductive for dry hopping. If you have the ability to cold crash, just freeball those hops in the carboy. They will drop out of solution when you crash it. You may have to rock the carboy a little to break the surface tension.

Unfortunately I don't have the ability to cold crash. Also aren't you worried that rocking the carboy might lead to oxidation?

If I have no way of cold crashing is a hop bag a legitimate route? I plan on kegging and would like to avoid clogging up my keg.
 
Fruit beers are the most common type that requires a secondary. Basically, any time more fermentables are introduced after primary fermentation has ceased, you'll want to do a secondary. Also, it is common to secondary when aging the beer on wood cubes/chips.

Boom. That about covers it. I do secondary on fruit beers, aged beers, and beers that require large dry hop additions. That's it though.
 
I both secondary and use a bag for dry hopping and have not had a problem. The one time I dry hopped in primary I was not pleased with the results. This has been my experience.

I like to transfer to secondary, let it clear for a week, then drop in my dry hops for 5 to 6 days. If you do use a bag, be sure it is big enough to allow for expansion.
 
I let mine sit in the primary for 10 days til i hit 1.010 fg then put 3 oz of leaf hop right into my sanitized secondary and racked my brew right on top of the hops for 7 day. i dont know if it makes a diff but i left it at 78f for 2 days and them lowered the temp to 68 using my swamp cooler

IMG_4672.jpg
 
If I have no way of cold crashing is a hop bag a legitimate route? I plan on kegging and would like to avoid clogging up my keg.

If using pellets I pour directly into primary fermenter after fermentation is complete. If using whole hops I find it better to put them in an empty secondary and rack on top of them. When tranfering to a keg, I zip tie a sanitized nylon knee high to the outlet of my siphon. This acts as a final filter before my keg and I have not had any problems with clogged dip tube using this method. I did have a couple of clogs before I implemented this measure.
 
From my experience, a secondary is a must in order to get the maximum aroma from the dry hop addition. Dry hopping in the primary has been a waste in comparison.
 
From my experience, a secondary is a must in order to get the maximum aroma from the dry hop addition. Dry hopping in the primary has been a waste in comparison.

I've done both and found no difference. Now I stick to one fermentation vessel, even when dry hopping.

I always dry hop with pellets, but I can see why people might want to dry hop in a secondary if they're using a large amount of whole hops.
 
MaynardX said:
From my experience, a secondary is a must in order to get the maximum aroma from the dry hop addition. Dry hopping in the primary has been a waste in comparison.

If your not getting enough dry hop character from dry hopping in the primary you are not waiting long enough to dry hop. The vigour of the fermentation drives off the hop aromatics and if a bunch of yeast is still in suspension it will pull the hop particles out of solution with it as it flocculates. I tend to dry hop when the beer is about 90% fermented out. So there is enough yeast in suspension to metabolize any oxygen that the hops introduce.
 
In my experience (which is only 7 batches - so I don't claim to be an expert), I have found no benefits in transferring to secondary - with or without dry hopping. I will use a secondary when I want to age a beer on wood or want to add fruit. But 6 of my 7 batches have been dry hopped, and I'm getting great hop aroma just adding pellets straigh to the primary - usually 5-7 days after pitching. I have dry hopped anywhere from 1 week to 2 weeks. For me, the risk of infection/oxidation by transferring the beer to another vessel, plus the extra work and cleaning this step takes makes it a pretty unappealing option for me. I cold crash my carboy for 2 days in my beer fridge, then prime and bottle.

I love hearing all the different methods homebrewers use in their process. For me, streamlining the entire process is a pretty important part of the homebrew experience. If I ever find the hobby more work than pleasure, I imagine that's when I would stop.
 
After reading this thread and listening to some podcasts on the subject I've decided to wait until 7 days of primary (tomorrow is day 7 (today is July 18th, 2012)) then add my first oz of Cascade right into the primary. At day 11 I will add my second oz of Cascade. On kegging day I will just put a hop bag around the end of my racking cane. It seems that dry hopping has a lot of different schools of thought and until you actually do it, you can't start developing your own method.
 
I've decided to wait until 7 days of primary (tomorrow is day 7 (today is July 18th, 2012)) then add my first oz of Cascade right into the primary. At day 11 I will add my second oz of Cascade

Give it a go and let us know how it turns out. Like you said, you don't know what's going to work until you try it.

Just going to put this out there, but in my experience, any dry-hopping that I've done before 2 weeks (whether it's still in primary or not) has been a waste. I ususally wait 3 weeks or more. The thing is, even if your beer is mostly done, there still some activity in there and that's going to scrub your hop aroma right out. I've wasted a lot of hops from dry-hopping too early.

That being said, if you've fermented out in 7 days and your hydro readings are showing you've reached FG, knock yourself out.
 
Just going to put this out there, but in my experience, any dry-hopping that I've done before 2 weeks (whether it's still in primary or not) has been a waste. I ususally wait 3 weeks or more. The thing is, even if your beer is mostly done, there still some activity in there and that's going to scrub your hop aroma right out. I've wasted a lot of hops from dry-hopping too early.

That was my original idea. But a few things I've researched say that you want a little bit of fermentation power left when you dry hop so that those yeast clean up the oxygen that will get into the beer during the actual process. But again... many different schools of thought. Luckily my hops only cost $2 and I'm only doing 2 oz. We'll see how it goes.
 
But a few things I've researched say that you want a little bit of fermentation power left when you dry hop so that those yeast clean up the oxygen that will get into the beer during the actual process

Yeah, I heard the guy from Kern River brewing say that the other day on CYBI. I dunno, maybe it works out for him since he was dry-hopping his Citra DIPA like, 100 times. I would say if you follow that route you might just want to buy a few more ounces. Food for thought.
 
That was my original idea. But a few things I've researched say that you want a little bit of fermentation power left when you dry hop so that those yeast clean up the oxygen that will get into the beer during the actual process. But again... many different schools of thought. Luckily my hops only cost $2 and I'm only doing 2 oz. We'll see how it goes.

i think if you are careful it is pretty easy to avoid oxidation in your beer when dry hopping, plus most beers that you dry hop you tend to consume young/fresh and not age, before oxidation would become too noticeable.
 
well, I did as I said. one week then added hops for 7 days and 4 days. Not too impressed. Oh well, chalk it up to experience. Beer tastes great, just wanted a hoppier smell. Next time I will wait 2 weeks primary then add.
 
I've had good luck with waiting for fermentation to finish, then dry hopping. I use a secondary for dry hopping too and will often go 3 weeks in primary, a week in secondary to clear, then add dry hops for 5 to 6 days.
 
admittedly, I've only tried dry hopping in the primary once, but I believe I too was a victim of premature dry hopping. The aroma didnt match to the amount of hop dropped in based on previous similar batches transferred to a secondary later on long after fermentation.

I recall an old lecture given by Vinnie from Russian River on his method of dry hopping. He's pretty vehement about dropping all the yeast you can out of the beer before adding the hops, then dry hopping at an elevated temperature. His claim was the same as echoed here, that remaining yeast will sequester a fair amount of the aromatic oils and you lose out on a good deal of aroma and flavor.

has anyone tried this as a homebrew experiment, either in consecutive batches or even better, side by side comparison of the same wort?
 
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