Dry hopping w/ hop plugs

Hey, all. I'm going to be dry hopping an American Amber with Cascade hop plugs next week, and was wondering if anyone had any words o' wisdom about how "best" to do this. I've dry hopped with pellets several times (been homebrewing for about a year) but never with plugs. Wasn't sure if I should use a hop bag or not, or how much I should break apart the plug.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Plugs should work great providing they fit through the neck of your carboy. I wouldn't break them up. Just toss them in. Actually, I would put them in a hop bag weighted with marbles so the whole thing sinks to the bottom. Makes much less mess that way.

Use a bag and marbles. Plugs might be easier than whole hops, provided the plugs are small. Just an opinion, as I don't use carboys. Buckets are SO easy to dry hop.

RichBrewer said:

Plugs should work great providing they fit through the neck of your carboy. I wouldn't break them up. Just toss them in. Actually, I would put them in a hop bag weighted with marbles so the whole thing sinks to the bottom. Makes much less mess that way.

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Bear in mind that plugs will swell many times the size they are when they are dry, so if you bag them then throw them into the carboy you may have a tough time getting them back out afterwards.

I've only used plugs as flavoring hops during the last few minutes of the boil, or in my primary bucket. I've never used them in a carboy.

When I dry hop with plugs, I keep it to 1oz/sock. Well, when I dry hop in general I try to follow that. I find that any more than 1oz/sock is a real pain to remove. 1oz/sock generally slides out pretty easy. I find it necessary to tear the plug in half or quarters for simplified insertion.

I havent ever tried putting a marble in the sock, but it sounds like a great idea, I am going to try it next chance I get! I can just see myself cracking the bottom of my carboy when I put the sock in though