Do you dry hop in the primary or the secondary?

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'Normal DH'
1. About 7 days in the first fermenter
2. 7 to 10 days in the second fermenter. Dry Hop Here.
3. One day cold crash
4. Bottling

'Turbo charged' DH
1. About 7 days in the first fermenter. On day 1, 1/3 of the amount of DH (lets say 8/10 grams per 20 Liters) in alcohol (pellets). Alcohol has a strong extraction power (A.A. too, so you need to include this in IBU calculations)
2. 7 to 10 days in the second fermenter. Dry Hop here. Alcohol down the fermenter (for example 30 millilters in 20 liters = +0,15 ABV)
3. One day cold crash
4. Bottling
 
I do all three (adding another option!), depending on what's going on.

I normally dryhop in the fermenter, about 5 days before packaging. I don't rack to secondary just to dryhop, but sometimes I have some yeast in the fermenter that I want to reuse so I will rack into the carboy on the dryhops so I can rinse and save the yeast.

Sometimes, I just dryhop in the keg. That works well too, as long as I use a fine mesh bag so I don't clog up my diptube.

I like to re-use my yeast as well so thought about doing racking my current batch for dryhopping. But if I were to use a hop bag (sanitized, of course) in the primary would that interfere with me re-using my yeast again?
 
Anyone notice a higher levels oxidation when dry hopping in primary? Each individual pellet that breaks the surface of the beer is also bringing oxygen with it. Using a secondary seems to be a gentler way of introducing hops to the beer to me. But I'm just assuming.
 
a buddy and i fermented a split batch with him dry hopping in the secondary and me dry hopping in the primary. His beer had way more hop aroma. I don't know if the yeast is swallowing up the hops or what as I ferment in a Sanke and can't see in.
 
I've always done either in secondary or in the Keg and had good results. I have heard though that dry hopping when yeast are most active (in primary) will give you an entirely different flavor so I'm going to try it sometime. Maybe split the batch and do both like others have suggested.
 
I have never, ever done a secondary and I only brew IPAs. All my dry hopping is done in primary and I have not been displeased with the results so far. I use koppafloc in the boil and isinglass in the fermenter.
 
On my last few dry hopped beers, I've been cold crashing the primary and dry hopping in the primary after. The idea is that this drops the yeast out of the beer and allows for maximum hop aroma extraction from the hops once they are added.
 
For you primary dry hoppers: do you re-pitch in the same yeast cake and if so is there anything you do to prevent the hops from accumulating in the yeast eg using a hop sock?
 
Question on dry hopping in the keg for first time doing this:
How long before you begin drinking?

I cold crashed a primary and siphoned into a cold keg on the bag of leaf hops and force carbed it with 30 lb charge and it is now in kegerator waiting....when do I get to try the results realistically? Normally I could begin consumption in about 5 days with the force carb.
 
For you primary dry hoppers: do you re-pitch in the same yeast cake and if so is there anything you do to prevent the hops from accumulating in the yeast eg using a hop sock?
I don't pitch on cakes or even wash yeast anymore for that matter, but when I have used a hop sack I still get a good amount of hop debris in the trub. Not a huge amount, but enough that would make it hard to wash the yeast.
Question on dry hopping in the keg for first time doing this:
How long before you begin drinking?

I cold crashed a primary and siphoned into a cold keg on the bag of leaf hops and force carbed it with 30 lb charge and it is now in kegerator waiting....when do I get to try the results realistically? Normally I could begin consumption in about 5 days with the force carb.

I'd say you could drink it at 5 days like normal, but you might notice an improvement in aroma/flavor after a little more time. My keg hops seemed to be at their best after about 2 weeks.
 
Used to dry hop in keg but now at primary a few days before transfer - it's been working out great
 
I am fermenting my first apa currently and am considering dry hopping in the keg. Should I use the keg essentially as a secondary (basement temp and I manually release gas daily) or should I throw the keg in my fridge while dry hopping?
 
I am fermenting my first apa currently and am considering dry hopping in the keg. Should I use the keg essentially as a secondary (basement temp and I manually release gas daily) or should I throw the keg in my fridge while dry hopping?

Leave it at basement temp for a week or so.
 
I heard an interview from a brewer in Oregon who dry hops "warm" to ensure he doesn't get any grassy notes. If you're brewing an IPA and fermenting in the low 60's to keep the esters out, any ideas what warm is for dry hopping? 70 degrees maybe?
 
I heard an interview from a brewer in Oregon who dry hops "warm" to ensure he doesn't get any grassy notes. If you're brewing an IPA and fermenting in the low 60's to keep the esters out, any ideas what warm is for dry hopping? 70 degrees maybe?

That's interesting. I have dry hopped cold in my keezer and never got any grassy notes. Would you happen to have a link to that interview? I would be interested in listening to it.
 
I don't get grassy or vegetal notes from either hot or cold dry hopping, but I have noticed I get better aroma and flavor if it's on the warm end. It also gets me the flavor and aroma I'm looking for much quicker if it's warmer. When I say warmer I mean about 68-70F, since I usually ferment around 62-66F. I've tried dry hopping in the keg at serving temp, but for me it takes too long and doesn't give the same punch!
 
I dry hop in the secondary while clearing, 7-10 days depending on the brew, both the IPA and the APA's took 7 days real well, a real nice aroma that grabs you as soon as you put the glass to your mouth!
 
Anyone notice a higher levels oxidation when dry hopping in primary? Each individual pellet that breaks the surface of the beer is also bringing oxygen with it. Using a secondary seems to be a gentler way of introducing hops to the beer to me. But I'm just assuming.

I turned to this thread because I'm considering brewing my first IPA, and have never dry-hopped before, so take this for what it's worth...

Yes, I would think that pellets that break the surface are going to bring oxygen with them.

That said, racking to secondary is, I think, likely to introduce some oxygen as well. There is inevitably going to be some small amount of surface agitation in the secondary no matter how gently one racks the beer into it, and unless one is purging the secondary with CO2 beforehand, this is going to lead to some small amount of oxygen being introduced.

That said, I don't think either method is going to introduce enough oxygen to be concerned about, or else nobody would be using them.

Just a newbie's speculation.
 
I would think that dry hopping in the secondary would introduce more oxygen as fermentation should be 100% complete plus some extra time.

I dry hop mostly in the primary near the end of the fermentation. Fermentation's not 100% done so CO2 is still being driving off (a bit). I would think that this outgassing of the fermenter would help drive off any oxygen that was brought in accidentally, no?

I know a lot of commercial brewers with big hoppy beers do it various ways so both probably work well.

My last beer (a clone of Pliny Younger) actually combines it all with 4 stages of dry hopping:

1. Primary dry hop
2. Secondary drop hop
3. Keg #1 dry hop
4. Keg #2 dry hop

Vessels were completely purged with CO2 or topped up with CO2 every time the lid was opened to make sure that oxygen contact is minimized.

Kal
 
I've dry hopped toward the end of primary and directly in the keg. Can't say I've noticed much difference either way and since the latter is easier/safer IMO, I go that route exclusively now. Especially good if you use low and slow (2 week) carb method as it gives the hops time to impart flavor.
 
I have always racked the beer onto dry hops in a secondary which I swirl every couple days until botling.

For those adding dry hops in primary, are you also swirling the hop bag around to get even dry hop flavor through the beer? Are you stirring up the yeast cake as well?
 
From what I've read hop aroma and flavor are better when the yeast has dropped and the beer has cleared, so for that reason I certainly don't stir the yeast cake. I don't use a bag either. I just drop the pellets in the bucket, and after 7 days most of the hops has dropped out. I don't cold crash. I carefully rack to keg or bottle bucket while trying not to pick up much hop debris. A little gets through, but not enough to be concerned about. In my experience I get fantastic aroma and flavor from this method, and it's also super simple.
 
I do both and have done with many batches. I found there is no real difference and if there was, I would say the secondary got the job done better but not by much. Understand that cold crashing can drop out some of the hop oils so I usually cold crash the primary first then add the hops at room temp. Oxidation is really not an issue with either method though, as some are pointing to with concerns.
 
Understand that cold crashing can drop out some of the hop oils . . .
Interesting. Source please.




edit:
From what I've read, hop oils can cling to the yeast in suspension and drop out with it, but I don't see cold crashing as contributing any more loss than refrigerating your bottles or kegs. Seems like, unless you're drinking your beer warm there is a certain amount of unavoidable loss due to chilling. The challenge is to use enough hops at the right time to get your desired aroma and flavor at serving.
 
From what I've read hop aroma and flavor are better when the yeast has dropped and the beer has cleared, so for that reason I certainly don't stir the yeast cake. I don't use a bag either. I just drop the pellets in the bucket, and after 7 days most of the hops has dropped out. I don't cold crash. I carefully rack to keg or bottle bucket while trying not to pick up much hop debris. A little gets through, but not enough to be concerned about. In my experience I get fantastic aroma and flavor from this method, and it's also super simple.

That's what I do too.

I normally dryhop for 5 days, right before packaging the beer.
 
Interesting. Source please.




edit:
From what I've read, hop oils can cling to the yeast in suspension and drop out with it, but I don't see cold crashing as contributing any more loss than refrigerating your bottles or kegs. Seems like, unless you're drinking your beer warm there is a certain amount of unavoidable loss due to chilling. The challenge is to use enough hops at the right time to get your desired aroma and flavor at serving.

I am at work so I can't find the source but its exactly what you are saying...they cling to the yeast then drop out. You then rake away the beer and leave it behind. I want to avoid this as much as possible so I simply crash first then add the hops...still gets crystal clear. I'm not saying its a HUGE difference but it seems logical so I do it.

There is stuff over at probrewer on this topic along with filtering beer having the same affect and there was an article in Zymurgy by Stan Hieronymus talking about attenuation and dry hopping as well. Don't recall if it was exactly science or just his own reasoning on it
 
Generally I just dryhop in the keg. 1-2 weeks primary, transfer to keg, tie the hop bag to the lid and place in kegerator. 1-2 weeks later the beer is ready. I even spot welded an attachment point to my lids, but you can buy lids with them installed online. I *think* Morebeer has them.

Previous to that I have dryhopped in secondary and primary and it didn't seem to make much difference in hop flavor and aroma either way. I preferred to dry hop in secondary, though, cause I disliked having to rack under the hops with all of the yeast mixed in with it.
 
I noticed while reading this thread that those who dry hop in the secondary do it mostly cause they want to save the yeast. A suggestion and something I've just started doing is top cropping to save the yeast. Its actually really easy and you get the best viable yeast you can. Once this is done let it finish out and then dry hop in the primary. You get the best of both worlds.
 
For the first few years of brewing I always dry hopped in secondary. From what I remember this is "what was done" and I didn't question it. Recently I've started brewing bigger batches (>15 gal) and don't want to deal with the extra cleaning of secondary vessels. If I'm kegging into 1/2 bbl sankes I'll just toss the pellets into the primary and filter them before kegging. If I'm going to age something like a barley wine, I'll spend the time and put them in secondary carboys, then add the dry hops a week or two before kegging.
 
I use to ALWAYS dry hop in secondary.

I just did a 11 gallon batch of the Blonde Ale, let it ferment out, so after 10 days, I just added hops to both fermenting buckets in primary. So much easier than going into secondary, hopefully it turns out great.
 
For you primary dry hoppers: do you re-pitch in the same yeast cake and if so is there anything you do to prevent the hops from accumulating in the yeast eg using a hop sock?
I have repitched the same yeast cake and kept the dry hops in a mesh bag. Some hops particles get out and end up in the yeast cake, but I'm not worrying about them. There are still plenty of things that are more important and not fully under control, such as my mash and fermentation temperatures. Only when I have those down to perfection will I start worrying about a few particles of hops.
 
Secondary. Especially for a big hoppy Imperial IPA. Much greater chance of plugging the big blow tube with all the hops present in the primary. I like nice clear brews.... part of the experience is enjoying the beauty of the brew... even if it looks like used diesel engine oil... :D or like this:

1426484_359048660899183_1248099179_n.jpg
 
What about cold crashing? Before or after dry hopping?

I've tried everything and have personally had the best results with cold crashing before dry hopping, then transferring to a keg and hopping there. If you don't keg I'd try crashing primary before the dry hop, then warming it back to room temp for dryhopping, and crash again after. Good luck!
 
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