Dry Hopping in primary?

I'm assuming this is not a good idea but thought I would throw it out there. Do you have to rack to a secondary if dry hopping is recquired? Just curious.

Lots of folks dry hop in their primary. In fact, I plan on doing it next week.

Make sure primary fermentation is done and dry hop away, nothing to worry about.

Just did this for the first time and I don't think I will every go back to dry hopping in a secondary again :rockin:

Just like Rushis said though, just make sure primary fermentation is done and maybe a few extra days while some of the dissolved co2 escapes.

as long as the bulk of your fermentation is complete, dry hopping in the primary is no different than in a secondary. any active fermentation will carry out the hop aromas with the CO2

My last two batches I dryhopped in primary on the 14th day for another two weeks. They came out great.

And nowadays as more and more brewers are opting for long primary/no secondary (again you can look around for the discussions) many folks are dry hopping in the primary, after fermentation is finished.

If you dry hop during fermentation, the large amount of co2 that is being produced will drive those volatile aroma esters right out your airlock, instead of in the beer where you want it. So it sort of defeats the purpose of dry hopping for aroma anyway.

So you need to wait til that time period is passed before adding the hops.

If oyu are long primarying for a month and want to hop for a week, then you would add the hops on week three.

Thanks very much guys, I think Im gonna use my carboy as a change receptacle!

Or brew another beer....

The folks at BrewNetwork have convinced me to start the dry hop when the gravity is about 4 points away from finishing. This small activity scrubs out the oxygen from the hops. I really don't know if I need to worry about that, but it does sound like good practice.

I just throw the loose pellets in at about day 7 or so and leave them in for 10-14 days and have had very clear beer. Careful siphoning though.

I have about an OZ of mixed hop pellets (willamette, fuggle, simcoe) left over from a brown ale i brewed 15 days ago. I am thinking about dry hopping with the left over assortment. the pellets have been in a ziplock back in the fridge for 15 days. are these still safe to dry hop with? any precaution i should take before tossing them in?

mixmasterob said:

I have about an OZ of mixed hop pellets (willamette, fuggle, simcoe) left over from a brown ale i brewed 15 days ago. I am thinking about dry hopping with the left over assortment. the pellets have been in a ziplock back in the fridge for 15 days. are these still safe to dry hop with? any precaution i should take before tossing them in?

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they should be totally fine to use for dry hopping. i usually keep my hops in the freezer but whatever. ive never used fuggle or willamette for DH so im not sure what kinda aroma your gonna get. should be ok for a brown i guess. simcoe is the ****...

Revvy said:

If you dry hop during fermentation, the large amount of co2 that is being produced will drive those volatile aroma esters right out your airlock, instead of in the beer where you want it. So it sort of defeats the purpose of dry hopping for aroma anyway.

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NOOOO!!!! Revvy, you just made one of my favorite smells turn into the smell of flavor leaving my beer!

I've actually been debating whether to dry hop into the primary or secondary with a 60-minute IPA that's fermenting right now. I'll try your 2 wk/2 wk in the primary. Thanks!

zodiak3000 said:

they should be totally fine to use for dry hopping. i usually keep my hops in the freezer but whatever. ive never used fuggle or willamette for DH so im not sure what kinda aroma your gonna get. should be ok for a brown i guess. simcoe is the ****...

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Ya well I used the Willamette and Fuggle as bittering and flavor and Simcoe as my finishing. When I was done I just mixed all the pellets together in the same bag. We shall see how it turns out in about a week. I have never dry hopped with more than one hop variety.

Simcoe has double the aroma oils of the other two, so unless they dominate it in amount, I'm guessing Simcoe will dominate the dry hop

Anyone have any experience with Simcoe on a brown ale?