Dry-hopping in Primary

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jbambuti

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I don't use a secondary when brewing, but do all my ales with longer primary, to good results. I've never attempted dry-hopping because of this, but it was recently suggested that this is something I should try in primary. I'm looking for suggestions and techniques to do this correctly.

1) Should dry-hopping in primary be done with whole hops only, or can I use pellets?

2) How do get the hops out of the primary prior to racking? If I use a straining bag, will this work for pellet hops?

I've got 2 lbs. of pellet hops on the way and am looking forward to trying this if it's feasible.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Jeff
 
1. Doesn't matter- pellets or leaf hops are both fine.

2. Well, you have a couple of choices. One is to use a hops bag to put the dry hops in. It's easiest if your fermenter is a bucket, because getting a hops bag full of hops into a carboy is a pain!

I just toss mine in, and within a week they settle out pretty well and I just use my autosiphon and siphon from the middle of the fermenter to start. You could cover the tip would a paint strainer bag or a sanitized hops bag, though.

If you use a hops bag, don't bag it tightly. They should be very "loose" in the bag, so the beer can contact the hops. They tend to float on the top, which is fine, but some people like to put a few sanitized marbles in the bag, so the bag sinks.

When you dry hop in the primary, do it after fermentation is finished and about a week before you rack the beer. You don't want to leave the beer in contact with the dry hops too long, and you don't want to dryhop while a lot of co2 is still being released because the co2 coming out will "blow off" much of the dryhopping aroma that you're trying to add.
 
I dry hop in primary exclusively. It works fine. Whole is better than pellet IMHO in the carboy because you dont need to strain when racking out. I've used both and find the pellet to be very difficult to exclude when racking without a strainer on the racking cane. I agree with everything Yooper stated as well from personal experience. Hopping in the primary is the way to go. Very simple. I just pour them in loose without any kind of strainer or hop bag.

Oh, and regarding question #2 - you rack the beer from the carboy or bucket and leave the hops behind if hops were added without a bag, etc. No need to take the hops out of the primary before the beer.
 
Thanks for the helpful suggestions. Can I use a nylon grain steeping bag for dry hopping, or is there a special bag that my LHBS might carry? I appreciate all of the information and I'm really looking forward to putting it all together. Will post when I can enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Jeff
 
Thanks for the helpful suggestions. Can I use a nylon grain steeping bag for dry hopping, or is there a special bag that my LHBS might carry? I appreciate all of the information and I'm really looking forward to putting it all together. Will post when I can enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Jeff

That'll work just fine.
 
When you dry hop in the primary, do it after fermentation is finished and about a week before you rack the beer. You don't want to leave the beer in contact with the dry hops too long, and you don't want to dryhop while a lot of co2 is still being released because the co2 coming out will "blow off" much of the dryhopping aroma that you're trying to add.

What happens if you leave the dry hops in too long? I've noticed that some here dry hop for 2 weeks. I've always kind of wondered what the best length of time is.
 
agreed that dh in primary is fine and should be done well after fermentation is complete.

after the pellets sink, i personally don't have any more problem keeping them out of the siphon than i do with trub/yeast. as long as your racking cane has one of those little caps on the end, it's a non-issue. to help getting the pellets to sink, give the fermentor a gentle shake a couple of times a day for the last couple of days of dry hopping.

you can put the pellets in a bag, which is what i used to do, but you won't get as much exposure (still works tho). depending on how much you put in the bag, extracting the swollen bag of pellets after the show is over can be interesting! (if using a glass carboy; not an issue w/a bucket, of course)

lastly, my one experience using a bag over the racking cane to exclude hops bits was a bad one. it excluded the hops bits effectively, but the straining effect caused a lot of CO2 to come out of solution as the beer passed thru the strainer. CO2 kept building up at the top of the racking cane and stopping my siphon. pita.
 
to help getting the pellets to sink, give the fermentor a gentle shake a couple of times a day for the last couple of days of dry hopping.

Ahhhh! I will do that next time! When I had tried dry hopping with pellets (no bag) mine all floated and never sank. So then I switched to nylon sack w/marbles but that eventually floated to the top (not enough marbles?) and I didn't get near the hop aroma/flavor as I did before.
 
Do you sanitize your hops bag? If so, can I use my normal Iodophor solution that I use for most of my sanitation, or is something else preferable?
 
Thanks for the helpful suggestions. Can I use a nylon grain steeping bag for dry hopping, or is there a special bag that my LHBS might carry? I appreciate all of the information and I'm really looking forward to putting it all together. Will post when I can enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Jeff

They come in different sizes. Just get one that you think would hold 1 oz of wet (expanded) whole hops and it should work.
 
Thanks, but already have a hops bag. See my above question about sanitation, as that is where I currently am. Appreciate the input.
 
I am always skittish about sanitizing hop bags. Star-san, I think, is a no-no because it will be soaked with it. Boiling is probably sufficient but I don't want to handle a boiling hot bag. What I do is place a fine, handled filter (like a colander), sanitized from the dishwasher or Star-san, in the bottling bucket, such that the bottom is slightly beneath the surface of the wort, allowing the tube to be submerged while still being above the filter so as to avoid oxidizing. This seems to capture a lot of trub as it's always gooey by the time I finish, and I don't have a problem with dry hops ending up in bottles.
 
The Brewing Network Sunday Session recently (9/20/09) did a session on Dry Hopping. The recommendation basically boiled down to dry hop in two stages for 7 days and 14 days near the end of primary fermentation.

For easy math -- say at 0 days you start fermenting, at day 7 (assuming fermentation is near done) you would add 1/2 the hops and on day 14 you would the other half. On day 21 bottle or keg.

...at least, that was my understanding of what was said. You risk some grassy flavors the longer you leave the hops in the beer.

I currently have a pale ale in the primary I put 1 oz of hops in yesterday, I'll give this 7 days. I still haven't decided if i'm going to leave it another 7 or rack to a keg and dry hop the 2nd ounce there.
 
I remember the BN show and Tasty McDole likes to put his hops in just at the tail end of fermentation. This is so the little CO2 that is left coming out of fermentation will scrub out the O2 that are in the hops and any O2 that gets in there when adding hops.
 
Ahoy hoy,
If you are cold crashing, pellets work just fine. I throw them in for dry hopping 3 days before the cold crash, which lasts 4 days. When I rack it to keg or bottle, the hops as well as everything else is a nice semi solid block on the bottom of the carboy. That solves most of it. If going to a keg its easy to support the racking cane above the cake, but if your bottling and do sit it all the way in, it clears rather quick since it is so thick packed. At least thats how its been working for me. Your mileage may vary. Void where prohibited by law. FYI
A great day to all....
 
Updating my post.

I just finished bottling the results of my first dry hopped IPA. I used a nylon straining bag for the 2 oz. of Centennial hops pellets, and put them into the primary for 7 days. Upon opening the primary this morning, my nose was filled with that fruity, citrusy Centennial aroma that I love in so many IPA's. My sample tasted great uncarbonated; clean, balanced and 'hops forward'. My hopes are really high for this one. Thanks to all, especially YooperBrew, for all the good info. :mug:
 
Just a follow up to this thread. I'm getting ready to dry hop for the first time myself, and I'm wondering if there's any risk of contamination by adding the hops directly to the fermenter? I've read that you can steam the hops before adding them...does anyone actually do this or can I assume that the hop pellets are relatively sanitary?
 
Just a follow up to this thread. I'm getting ready to dry hop for the first time myself, and I'm wondering if there's any risk of contamination by adding the hops directly to the fermenter? I've read that you can steam the hops before adding them...does anyone actually do this or can I assume that the hop pellets are relatively sanitary?

Unnecessary, hops contain a natural antimicrobial of sorts and as such we really do not consider infection/contamination a problem when adding hops post boil.
 
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