Dry hopping

Any advice on best way to dry hop? My plan was to place 1 oz cascade and .5 oz simcoe in secondary (no muslin bag). Anyone have issues with too much expansion in carboy? Should I use a bag? If so, how would I get it out of the carboy when finished?

I use pellets. Put them in first, then rack on top of them. When its time to rack to the keg I put a piece of nylon mesh over the end of my racking cane to keep the hops out. Works like a charm.

Would you recommend sterilizing hops before you dry hop? If so, what's the best way to sterilize them?

brew4allMI said:

Would you recommend sterilizing hops before you dry hop? If so, what's the best way to sterilize them?

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No. I mean, don't roll them around on the floor or anything, but you can just use them right from the package without worry.

I've dry hopped in a muslin bag and it's not hard to remove. Once you rack your finished brew out you can turn the carboy over and just grab the bag. If you think it would be difficult you can use either dental floss or what i use is a cotton string for cooking tied around a knot in the bag. I also have tied some glass "stones" into the bag to keep it weighed down.

Ohh alright. Would you recommend using a Muslin bag or just throwing the pellets in the carboy and rack?

Just throw the pellets in. Heck, I don't even use a secondary. I just throw the pellets in the primary after fermentation is complete. When I go to bottle, I line my bottling bucket with a paint strainer bag - it collects a lot of the stuff that didn't just settle out naturally in the carboy.

I like the muslin bag approach though i'm sue others would disagree. I would use a grain bag sized bag so there is more than enough room for expansion.

Lower 70 degree temps ok for dry hopping? I
Am In an apartment and don't have much to hold cooler temps except the air conditioning unit. Plan only 5 days of dry hopping... Any objections?

smokinj said:

I use pellets. Put them in first, then rack on top of them. When its time to rack to the keg I put a piece of nylon mesh over the end of my racking cane to keep the hops out. Works like a charm.

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What do you use to keep the bag on? Zip-tie?

If you are using a grain bag, the string works. If you are using the disposable socks, I have used a zip tie and it works fine but you could also use a piece of floss, string or be creative,...."sanitized of course".

Could you use a piece of the Muslin bag on the end also ?

justin2001fox said:

Could you use a piece of the Muslin bag on the end also ?

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If you mean muslin over the end of the racking cane, sure!

Just drop those green dudes right on in there!! You don't really need a bag.

Just finished racking from primary to keg with 2 oz of whole hops in primary. Note to self: Dry hopping with no bag really sucks.

HnyBadger said:

Just finished racking from primary to keg with 2 oz of whole hops in primary. Note to self: Dry hopping with no bag really sucks.

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Yep. I did that a couple of times - dry hopping with whole hops and no bag is no fun. I vowed to never do that again.