Dry Hoping

I am going to try dry hoping for the first time, and was wondering when is the best time to add these hops to my secondary fermentor, i.e. right from the beginning or maybe just the last 2-3 days of the conditioning process?

I usually add them 5-7 days before I'm ready to package.

After a lot of disappointing results I talked to two local pros and got this advise that has worked unbelievably well: wait until your beer is finished to add the dry hops (that way the aromas aren't being blown off with the CO2 from active fermentation). I also started using WAY MORE hops than I had before - like .5 - 1 oz per gallon. You're gonna get a lot of different opinions, just throwing my successful two cents in. Have fun and enjoy!

lpdjshaw said:

After a lot of disappointing results I talked to two local pros and got this advise that has worked unbelievably well: wait until your beer is finished to add the dry hops (that way the aromas aren't being blown off with the CO2 from active fermentation). I also started using WAY MORE hops than I had before - like .5 - 1 oz per gallon. You're gonna get a lot of different opinions, just throwing my successful two cents in. Have fun and enjoy!

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Can you be more spicific when you say finished?

Something that worked great for me was sinking the hops to the bottom instead of just floating them on top. We did two identical batches and the batch we sank the hops in was 100x's better!

dentdr said:

Can you be more spicific when you say finished?

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After the fermentation has fully completed. That is, after there are no visible signs of fermentation (churning beer, bubbling airlock), and the FG isn't dropping any more.

I usually wait at least a few days after that point, to let the yeast finish cleaning up, then dry hop for the last 4-7 days before I rack. I haven't tried the big quantities that lpdjshaw mentioned, that may be something for the future.

I was just watching an interview with Vinnie of RR, and he mentioned that he sometimes does several dry hoppings. So he'll do a charge, wait a few days, drop the hops out the bottom of his conical, and add more for a few more days.

I like to do it at the end of fermentation when I still have a few days of monor activity. This way any O2 that is in the hops will get scrubbed out by the co2. This is the Tasty McDole method.

I add 1-2 oz. usually, for 1-2 weeks. Then, I often add more to the keg.

7 days before bottling.

If kegging, 7 days before I put the keg in the kegorater. Use a bag, and weigh it down with a few stainless steel bolts, cleaned and sanitized first of course.

I usually use 2 oz's of pellets, because thats what my local store packages as and aroma hops don't last long after opened unless you can vacuum bag them and keep the cold.

I need about 3-4 stainless steel nuts to keep the bag down.

ResumeMan said:

After the fermentation has fully completed. That is, after there are no visible signs of fermentation (churning beer, bubbling airlock), and the FG isn't dropping any more.

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Yes

I've contemplated dry hopping in a keg. The idea being to add weighted hops to the keg, flush with CO2 and fill it up. Rack again keg-2-keg when ready (or drink it fast) and you'll have some wonderful dry hop w/o any O2 exposure risk.

bolts said:

I've contemplated dry hopping in a keg. The idea being to add weighted hops to the keg, flush with CO2 and fill it up. Rack again keg-2-keg when ready (or drink it fast) and you'll have some wonderful dry hop w/o any O2 exposure risk.

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Or you can open the lid for the 3 seconds it takes to fish the bag out with a coat hanger.

phoenixs4r said:

Or you can open the lid for the 3 seconds it takes to fish the bag out with a coat hanger.

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Good idea