Dry Hopping/Bottling Question

I dry hopped for the first time, and have a couple of questions.

First, I fermented in the primary for 8 days, fermentation was done after about 5 days, I added the hop pellets to the secondary and racked on top of that. It has been in the secondary for 7 days. Normally without dry hopping I rack to the secondary after a week or so, then bottle the following week, so a total of two weeks in primary/secondary. So with dry hopping or without dry hopping is this enough time in the primary/secondary?

Second, after racking to the secondary, the majority of the hops have been floating on top, is this normal? I have read that some people put the pellets into bags, but there was enough hops being added that it would be extremely difficult to get the bag out of the carboy, so I just added them whole, which I also read that some do.

Lastly, based on the first two questions, if it has been in primary/secondary long enough, and the hops floating on top are normal, when siphoning to the bottling bucket, would it be advisable to filter the beer through a fine mesh sieve? I have a funnel with a fine mesh sieve that I could use.

Thanks in advance!

Usually a recommended dry hop time is anywhere from 3-5 days, up to 2 weeks. I generally dry hop for only 1 week. After that, you can get some vegetal flavors from the hops. I know others go longer than 1 week with no problems, but 1 week works fine for me.

As for filtering, you shouldnt have to. After a few days, the hops should settle to the bottom of the secondary. If they havent, try moving the secondary to a colder area, they should settle fine then.

Lasty, you shouldnt need to filter to get the hops out. If you get them to settle, just siphon above them. You may get particles, but only a few shouldnt be a big deal and will settle out in the bottling bucket or while you are aging the bottles. I have also put a hop bag, and others uses cheese cloth, around the end of the siphon. This will keep some out too.

Do you sterilize the hop bag before racking on to it? I'm going to dry hop in a secondary (5g better bottle) but this is my first time..I plan on using whole leaf hops in a muslin bag or cheese cloth tied up.

Or should I just dump the whole leaf hops in loose without a bag and rak directly onto them? Seems like it would be easier to rack off the final beer if they're in a bag or smethign right? My BB does not have a racking adapter or spout so I would be siphoning.

Moose777 said:

Do you sterilize the hop bag before racking on to it? I'm going to dry hop in a secondary (5g better bottle) but this is my first time..I plan on using whole leaf hops in a muslin bag or cheese cloth tied up.

Or should I just dump the whole leaf hops in loose without a bag and rak directly onto them? Seems like it would be easier to rack off the final beer if they're in a bag or smethign right? My BB does not have a racking adapter or spout so I would be siphoning.

Click to expand...

You'll want to sanitize the bag and add something (marbles, bb's, etc) to weigh down the bag a bit so there's more contact area. You could just dump them in and siphon from underneath as well. If its a big add, getting the bag in and out of the bottle can be a pain, so whatever you are more comfortable with.

I do a similar method, but a lot of times I don't even use secondary, just throw the pellets on top of the beer on the primary yeast cake. The only times I move to secondary are if I need to harvest the yeast or I'm doing two dry hops. I use a nylon mesh bag to filter out a lot of the hop particles when I transfer to a bottling bucket.

Always use Leaf hops if you can. Pellets are a pain and leaf hops give you a better flavor.

Boar Beer said:

... leaf hops give you a better flavor.

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I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with this.

I'm glad you asked this question, because I'm dry hopping for the first time too. I racked to second and threw in the pellets. It's been a week and most of the hops has settled but some has not. I'm also worried I'll get some in my bucket when it comes time to bottle.

I was going to use a funnel but am worried that will aerate it too much. So I've decided I'm going to sterilize a coffee filter and zip tie and zip tie the filter on the end of my racking cane when I rack to the bottling bucket. Probably not conventional, but I think it will work.

Dave

I cut the toe section from a pair of knee-high stockings and use a rubber band to attach it to the end of my siphon hose, leaving 2-3 inches hanging past the end of the hose. I had originally attached this filter to the bottom of the racking cane but it clogged too easily. Attached to the end of hose, it forms a "bag" which catches the residual pellets and gunk but allows the wort to flow out into the bottling bucket.

thughes said:

I cut the toe section from a pair of knee-high stockings and use a rubber band to attach it to the end of my siphon hose, leaving 2-3 inches hanging past the end of the hose. I had originally attached this filter to the bottom of the racking cane but it clogged too easily. Attached to the end of hose, it forms a "bag" which catches the residual pellets and gunk but allows the wort to flow out into the bottling bucket.

Click to expand...

Putting it on the discharge of the hose is the way to go. I tried putting on the racking cane and there was too much of a restriction.

Actually, I think the way to go would be to use a hop bag to dry hop in the secondary!

I put hop pellets into a knee-high stocking (sanitized), tie it off at the end with sanitized nylon string, and toss the whole thing into secondary (or into the keg for kegged beers).

Seems to work well, and you get a gazillion stockings for pennies.

SumnerH, I saw the "Ancho Villa Ancho/pasilla/chocolate/cinnamon RIS)" in your signature and am intrigued. It sounds sort of along the lines of New Belgium's Cocoa Mole, which I love. Some time I'd like to try to brew a beer like this. Would you mind sharing your recipe and in particular details about how you used the peppers and cinnamon (how much and how your prepared them)?

Thanks!

BTW, I tried PM'ing you, but it said you've reached your quota. Hopefully you see this.