First time dry hopping with whole leaf

I brewed a SN Celebration Cloneish, it's in primary now. Planning to dry hop with 3 ounces of whole leaf hops.. any tips to get these into a carboy for secondary or should i use a bucket for secondary instead. I would like to use a secondary so i can wash my yeast. just some tips would be appreciated. Thanks

perkins98 said:

I brewed a SN Celebration Cloneish, it's in primary now. Planning to dry hop with 3 ounces of whole leaf hops.. any tips to get these into a carboy for secondary or should i use a bucket for secondary instead. I would like to use a secondary so i can wash my yeast. just some tips would be appreciated. Thanks

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I've had good results just throwing them in the carboy without any type of bag(which can be difficult to get back out). If you intend to use a bag... the bucket might be best. Also consider sanitizing some stainless nuts and anchoring the bag on the bottom instead of letting it float.

I typically toss them all in the carboy and then rack my beer ontop. I like getting my hands into the hops so I don't worry much about the trouble of getting them into the carboy. I don't use a bag, but some do. Be prepared to sacrifice beer for the whole-hop, dry-hop though. Way worth it inmho.

i'm looking for actual techniques for getting them into the carboy... do you use a funnel and something to stab them through... i'm just picturing hops everywhere instead of in the carboy...a ziplock baggie of hops going through a 1 inch hole....

I smash the hops right into the carboy. It makes a mess. You might try sticking them in a bag and then holding the bad around the neck of the carboy and pouring them in...

I also just shove them in. It is a bit messy though. You could just roll a piece of paper into a funnel to catch tje stray stuff as you push them in. I think a funnel would clog up too easily.

The wider opening on the better bottles makes this much easier, but on a glass carboy you'll need a bit of patience. As others have already said, a makeshift paper (or tinfoil if you want to sanitize) funnel will help them drop one at a time.

I don't know how this will work on a glass carboy, but on a better bottle I use the top half of a plastic milk jug as a makeshift funnel. Then just give the hops a good old fashioned finger pokin' to get those tasty little bastards in there before I rack my beer on them.

allright i though I could do this but now i've messed it up. I just transferred to my carboy for secondary and got all 3 ounces of hops in.. great now they are all floating.. so i've realized i should have used a bag.. well to late for that... any suggestions here guys??? man, i wish i wouldn't have bought 3 lbs of leaf hops... next time i'm for sure going with a bucket for secondary....

You expected them to sink?
Diffusion does miraculous things.
RDWHAHB

You didn't mess it up. Hops float, it's their nature. They will saturate over time. 3 oz is a lot for a 6 or 6.5 gal carboy (got 3 oz on my IPA now). Ideally, the larger the surface area of the vessel in which you are dry-hopping the better.

so should i sanitize a spoon or something and stir it OR just wait.

perkins98 said:

so should i sanitize a spoon or something and stir it OR just wait.

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Just wait. Stirring can increase the amount of oxygen that will come in contact with your beer and you don't want that.

Don't worry about them floating, you will still get plenty of dry-hop goodness. I dry hop in the carboy all the time. I put them in a muslin bag and stuff them into the carboy. Your hands get very sticky btw. And I just let them float. For my IPAs it adds the perfect amount of hop flavor and aroma. Getting them out is another story!

perkins98 said:

allright i though I could do this but now i've messed it up. I just transferred to my carboy for secondary and got all 3 ounces of hops in.. great now they are all floating.. so i've realized i should have used a bag.. well to late for that... any suggestions here guys??? man, i wish i wouldn't have bought 3 lbs of leaf hops... next time i'm for sure going with a bucket for secondary....

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Wait a few days, they will sink. Mine always have.

Mine don't sink. I put them in the carboy and they float. To rack into a keg or bottling bucket, I use a leg from a new pair of pantyhose that have been sanitized. I put it over my siphon tube and am able to hold it at the top of the siphon tube. It makes a nice strainer.

Mune always float as well. I tried a few different things as a filter on the bottom of my siphon and they all clogged up. I actually had to pump most of a batch into my bottling bucket. The beer still came out great with no noticeable signs of oxidation after 5 months. The last couple I didn't use any kind of filter and had virtually no debris. The hops themselves seemed to work as a filter bed.

Weird, mine always sink to the bottom, with an occasional straggler or two that is thoroughly saturated in beer and often drops as soon as I start to rack. I have only dry hopped lagers at lower temps, though I can't imagine why that would make the hops sink any eaiser than at ale temps.

my worry is that i've got 3 ounces of leaf hops sitting on top of 5 gallons. Only about an ounce of hops is in contact with the beer, the rest floated up and aren't touching anything. WTF? i guess i have to be patient and wait.