Dry Hopping my IPA

Hello All, I just brewed up my first IPA, I am planning on racking it into a secondary on an ounce of hops Thursday. I would like some advice on keeping the dry hop sack sanitary. Are there any necessary precautions I should take? Should I sanitize the muslin sack, and if so, how?

Thanks all,
Doll Hizzy

I just dunk the hop bag into some Star San solution before adding the hops.

I boiled my bag before adding the hops. It worked great, no infections or other problems, although getting a bag full of hops back OUT of the carboy is a bit of a pain.

You can also just add the hops directly to the secondary, although it's a bit messier. I still ended up with a great beer, and no hop debris made it to the final stage.

Did you weight it with anything or just let it float?

Drop the hops into the secondary, who needs a frickin hop bag??????

Is there a reason not to? I don't know how much I want bits of hops in my bottles, I would rather keep it clear. Using a bag will help keep from clogs when siphoning and hops from continuing to my bottles. It seems like a good idea to me, but maybe it doesn't work as well as I would like, anyone have any experiences to share?

Did a 90 minute ipa not long ago, racked onto 4 ounces of pellet hops with no problems, just let them settle out then was careful while racking to bottling bucket, no hop residue at all.

I just bottled my IPA last night--1 oz of pelletized hops floating free. Most had sunk by about 10 days into the dryhopping. A few particles got into the bottling bucket, but then they settled out and didn't get into the bottles as far as I know...

I've used a hop bag once. I think that batch got infected, but it may have been the bucket...I don't know.

Anyway, if you decide to use the bag, boil it or dip it in starsan like the others have said. When I dry hop again, I won't use a bag, though.

Monk

If you're using a carboy for your secondary, it might be easier not to use a hop bag, I've found sometimes it tough to get it out of the carboy.

I've dry-hopped twice. The first time I used a bag, which I boiled, but did not weigh down. It worked like a charm. I had no hop particles when I racked, and the beer came out great. Getting the bag out afterward was a major pain, though. I think you could probably slice the bag open to get it out, but that would be a huge mess.

The second time, I said screw it, and just threw the hops in. The only settled a little; quite a bit were still floating when it came to bottling time. Still, I only get a tiny bit into the bottling bucket, and it all seemed to settle out before I actually bottled. So far, both batches have been awesome, with no hop pieces in either one.

I've used this dry hop bag from Seven Bridges:
http://www.breworganic.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=89
It's long and skinny, so I had no problem getting it in or out of the carboy. I used the boiled water sanitizing. I also used sanitized marbles for weight. Use lots of marbles, leaf hops are very buoyant.