What's Dry Hopping

I have a IPA kit that calls for 1 oz. cascade hops for dry hopping but doesn't explain how to go about it.

I have a general idea of how this works, but I need more specific instructions. What should I do?

After your initial ferment in the primary; you then rack to a secondary carboy. You add the dry-hops in the secondary. Don't let em sit longer than 2 weeks before you bottle/keg. It gets messy looking but if using pellets, they'll eventually drop to the bottom like trub.

Thanks for the quick reply. Could, I put them in a nylon hop bag in the secondary fermenter to cut down on mess?

You could I think (I never had) but it might be ugly trying to get it out once it gets all bloated if you're using a carboy. I'd personally just dump them in.

freeballer said:

Thanks for the quick reply. Could, I put them in a nylon hop bag in the secondary fermenter to cut down on mess?

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I never bother; I just drop them in. If you're using pellets, they will eventually drop to the bottom. Whole hops tend to float on the top. I have no problems siphoning either type of hop.

i just attempted my first dry hopping.
i threw in 1/2oz cascade hops and will bottle 4 days after dryhopping.
i'll let you know how it turns out

No probs with even 2 oz of whole hops, they float just tilt the carboy the cane will plug just at the very end of siphon. Good luck

well i bottled my dry hopped cascade pale last night and it was easy
i threw in half an oz of cascade on sunday and bottled thursday. Transfering was simple and the cane/hose didn't clog at all.

If you're worried about sucking dry hopped pellets into your bottling bucket, just cut a small piece of grain bag, and affix it to the end of your racking cane with a piece of sanitized rubber band.

desertBrew said:

You could I think (I never had) but it might be ugly trying to get it out once it gets all bloated if you're using a carboy. I'd personally just dump them in.

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I use hop pellets in an extra fine nylon mesh bag, it really works great. 95% of the of the pellets stay in the bag when you remove it, not ugly at all. I usually leave the hop bag in the secondary for 2 or 3 weeks. The hoppier the IPA the better.

A good explanation on dry hopping:

http://byo.com/departments/1105.html

El^Diablo said:

i just attempted my first dry hopping.
i threw in 1/2oz cascade hops and will bottle 4 days after dryhopping.
i'll let you know how it turns out

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I would recomend bottling based on hydrometer readings instead of days that have past. You might get 100 batches based on time with no problems before you get one that starts turning your beer into glass gernades

Does one need to be concerned about sanitation with hops when dryhopping? I guess that was originally part of the appeal of hops (bacteriostatic), but I'd be kinda leery of putting anything not specifically sanitized in the fermenter.

mezman said:

Does one need to be concerned about sanitation with hops when dryhopping? I guess that was originally part of the appeal of hops (bacteriostatic), but I'd be kinda leery of putting anything not specifically sanitized in the fermenter.

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Naw, just open a fresh bag and dump them in. If you are really concerned about it, you could always sanitize the outside of the bag, and the scissors you use to cut it open with.

mezman said:

Does one need to be concerned about sanitation with hops when dryhopping? I guess that was originally part of the appeal of hops (bacteriostatic), but I'd be kinda leery of putting anything not specifically sanitized in the fermenter.

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The hops themselves no. If you use a grain bag, you'll need to boil the bag and then you can put the hops in them.