do i really need a secondary?

after reading and studying quite a bit i decided not to transfer the wort to a secondary (since i dont see great advantages i stick to simple and unoxidating and uncontaminating way) and had great results. But at my 4th batch i decided is time to dry hop my babies, and i ended up confused.
-when it comes to dryhopping what are the clear advantages of turning the wort to a secondary? harvest the yeast?

oh, btw im talking about 10 to 15 days of fermentation in the primary...

and i also have a parallel question: do you use high alfa acid hops for bittering, or maybe a lot of medium alfa acid? i was using Magnum for that matter, and found the bitterness to be too raw, unbalanced. now im gonna give it a try using lighter hops in bigger amounts. any thoughts on that?

cheers!!!!

I dryhop right in the primary, if I"m not harvesting the yeast. I simply add the dryhops 5-7 days before packaging the beer, and then rack off the hops (and the trub) when I bottle/keg/

I generally use a neutral, relatively high AAU hop for bittering my IPAs and American pale ales (like magnum or even warrior). But you can use whatever hops you like for bittering, flavor and aroma.

If you're getting a harsh bitterness from a neutral variety like magnum, I"d suggest that you are using too much or have some water chemistry issues (like high alkalinity in the brewing water).

Asprilla said:

when it comes to dryhopping what are the clear advantages of turning the wort to a secondary? harvest the yeast?

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Harvesting yeast with less non-yeast material is the only benefit I can see. I've even harvested yeast from a primary that I've dry hopped in. This was lazy, and it worked fine. However, I try not to do it, since it's much harder to gauge how much yeast you're actually pitching.

Asprilla said:

do you use high alfa acid hops for bittering, or maybe a lot of medium alfa acid? i was using Magnum for that matter, and found the bitterness to be too raw, unbalanced. now im gonna give it a try using lighter hops in bigger amounts. any thoughts on that?

Click to expand...

I almost always bitter with cheap, high alpha acid bittering hops (Galena, recently). I only make an exception for low IBU beers (like around 20 IBU).

Magnum is known for being a clean bittering hop, so I doubt that's the source of the flavor you're describing as "raw, unbalanced" bittering.

thanks to you both for the feedback. about the magnum hops: that was exactly what i was told, that the magnum was classy bitter. the water seemed a possible issue on that matter. but maybe i was fooled with really old hops since i bought them from a store where they pack it and label on site. thats why i'm ordering hops from hopsdirect next harvest...

Yooper said:

I dryhop right in the primary, if I"m not harvesting the yeast. I simply add the dryhops 5-7 days before packaging the beer, and then rack off the hops (and the trub) when I bottle/keg/

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I'm assuming here that harvesting when you dryhop at primary is a no-no.
to hack the trub and hops you must have an conic fermentator, is that right? i only know the concept of hacking the beer itself through siphoning to a bottling bucket or whatever, leaving the trub behind.
i hope im not being annoying.

Asprilla said:

I'm assuming here that harvesting when you dryhop at primary is a no-no.
to hack the trub and hops you must have an conic fermentator, is that right? i only know the concept of hacking the beer itself through siphoning to a bottling bucket or whatever, leaving the trub behind.
i hope im not being annoying.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't say it's a "no-no", just that it's harder to get pure yeast if you've got a lot of hop debris clinging to the yeast. I rack the beer, and then rinse what is left (see the yeast washing illustrated in the sticky in this forum) with clean boiled water and save the pure yeast with a little water on top.

You're not annoying! The reason we are all here is to talk about beer, and brewing, and this is all part of it.

Yooper said:

I wouldn't say it's a "no-no", just that it's harder to get pure yeast if you've got a lot of hop debris clinging to the yeast. I rack the beer, and then rinse what is left (see the yeast washing illustrated in the sticky in this forum) with clean boiled water and save the pure yeast with a little water on top.

You're not annoying! The reason we are all here is to talk about beer, and brewing, and this is all part of it.

Click to expand...

ok, thanks, i get it. it will be my first yeast harvesting experience (they are quite expensive around her, and i want to be able to re use it before i purchase the liquid real deal).