dry hopping question - keeping the hops out of the bottling bucket

I know there are several of different techniques to keep the dry hop residue out of the bottling buckets, but I've not found one that works well for me. I tried using a hop bag stuffed into my secondary carboy for dry-hopping and did not like the result - too messy, and I get the feeling the bag restricts my hops from releasing the full flavorful aromatic bounty they have to offer my beer.

A thought occurred to me yesterday - could I can sanitize a large, fine mesh grain bag and place it in my bottling bucket (BIAB-style); siphon the beer into the bag-in-the-bucket and then pull the bag, thereby removing all of the little hop particles and any other trub floaties that are in my beer? I would then add bottling sugar and proceed as normal.

Would this work? Anyone see any downside to this method?

Thanks Homebrewtalk dudes!!

I've done the same thing, but on the other end of the auto-siphon: wrap the grain bag around the end that goes into the carboy. Works great!

Big_Belgian said:

I know there are several of different techniques to keep the dry hop residue out of the bottling buckets, but I've not found one that works well for me. I tried using a hop bag stuffed into my secondary carboy for dry-hopping and did not like the result - too messy, and I get the feeling the bag restricts my hops from releasing the full flavorful aromatic bounty they have to offer my beer.

A thought occurred to me yesterday - could I can sanitize a large, fine mesh grain bag and place it in my bottling bucket (BIAB-style); siphon the beer into the bag-in-the-bucket and then pull the bag, thereby removing all of the little hop particles and any other trub floaties that are in my beer? I would then add bottling sugar and proceed as normal.

Would this work? Anyone see any downside to this method?

Thanks Homebrewtalk dudes!!

Click to expand...

By filtering out the hops you are not decreasing anything because the time spent dry hopping has already infused the beer with the hop oils and aromas. Unless, of course, you like picking hop debris out of you bottled beer.

Do not string a hop bag over the bucket and filter through, this will cause splashing and aeration and you will oxidize your beer.

The suggestion to place a hop bag over the end of the racking cane is ideal and what I do and works great!

Cheers!

I have tried a lot of different methods. The best method (I found) is to toss pellets directly into the carboy and avoid agitation. Agitation is the enemy, which is why I usually dryhop at counter height. This way, I can siphon without moving the carboy and further stirring things up. I always wrap my siphon with a 5-gallon nylon paint strainer bag to avoid clogging and unwanted particles. The pellets usually sink after 7 days (I usually dryhop for 10-12 days) so as long as you keep the racking cane in the middle of the beer and not the bottom, then you're set.

What about using whole leaf instead of pellets?

bleme said:

What about using whole leaf instead of pellets?

Click to expand...

I've used both with equal success. The whole leaf are just a little messier, but it still works great with the strainer bag over the end of the siphon in the carboy.

bleme said:

What about using whole leaf instead of pellets?

Click to expand...

I only dry hop with whole leaf hops as I think they do a better job but be aware, they suck up a lot of beer! You could lose close to a gallon of beer to absorption with 2oz.

duboman said:

I only dry hop with whole leaf hops as I think they do a better job but be aware, they suck up a lot of beer! You could lose close to a gallon of beer to absorption with 2oz.

Click to expand...

Interesting test this guy did:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/leaf-hop-absorption-measured-241469/

bcgpete said:

Interesting test this guy did:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/leaf-hop-absorption-measured-241469/

Click to expand...

That is interesting, thanks for the reference. the only issue I see is this was done n the boil, not dry hopping. It is quite difficult to squeeze excess beer out of leaf hops through the opening of the carboy though. I just let them swim, no hop bag. I tried a hop bag once with 3oz of cascade and spent close to 1/2 hour trying to get that frickin bag out the little hole! Never again!

The biggest advantage of whole leaf hops is that they are "can be" better quality than pellets since the supplier cannot hide things like mold or age as well as they can with pellets.

But pellets have a lot of other advantages, which I feel weigh out leaf for the most part, especially in my IPAs:

*Faster oil release and utilization when used late and in dryhop
*Overall myrcene content (big for IPA aroma) is better in pellets when utilized late and in dryhop.
*1 oz of pellets will bitter more than 1 oz of leaf of the same alpha%.
*They take up less space, both in your beer and the freezer.
*They're less messy since they sink to the bottom and better utilized since they don't absorb as much beer.
*They provide more surface area coverage than leafs which float atop the beer. Weighted bags help, but are less necessary with pellets.
*If using a weighted hop bag, it's easier to add/remove pellets than leaf.
*It's easier and quicker to add them directly to the carboy sans the hop bag.

As to the OPs original idea, it might not be as bad as it seems, at least the way I'm picturing it. You definitely don't want to try to filter your beer going into the bottling bucket through a mesh bag, as that will lead to whole lots of oxidation. But, if you were able to get a big enough (sanitized) bag to completely line up with the bottom and sides of the bucket (which is what it sounds like you're proposing), then there wouldn't be any additional splashing than a regular siphoning. Once the bucket was full there shouldn't be any risk in slowly raising the bag and collecting the larger pieces as you pulled it out. Whether or not it will filter much out I don't know, but I don't see any harm in trying if you're careful.

Another idea I've not seen in this thread but heard mentioned by other people is to dry hop at a slight angle. Move your carboy to siphoning height, add your hops, and put a towel or other soft object under one side so that the carboy sits at a slight angle, making sure that the carboy won't move around on you. Certainly not all but a majority of the settling should occur in the lower edge of the carboy. Once the dryhopping is up, you can either siphon while its tipped and slowly move the siphon down the bottom of the carboy, or slowly straighten the carboy and just try to siphon from the middle.

I dryhop with both leaf and pellets (depending on what's available), and I have no issues. But I am very proficient with racking (I'm an old winemaker) and don't use a bag or anything like that.

Here's a beer I'm going to keg on Sunday:
(Two ounces of leaf, one ounce of pellets in dryhopping in each carboy)



It was clear when I added the dryhops yesterday! But you can see lots of hops debris all over the beer now.
If you're not proficient with racking and keeping debris out, you could try using a bag for the hops or covering the base of the racking cane with a sanitized bag when racking.