Dry hopping - contamination not an issue?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Fatabbot

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 24, 2006
Messages
309
Reaction score
1
Location
Dallas, TX
I searched through this board and got tired of sifting through threads containing dry hopping and contamination.

So I went over to Mr. Palmer's howtobrew.com.

In it, he says:

When you are dry hopping there is no reason to worry about adding unboiled hops to the fermenter. Infection from the hops just doesn't happen.

My newb question is: Why? Just curious.
 
Fatabbot said:
My newb question is: Why? Just curious.

Hops have anti-bacterial properties that work in favor of the yeast. They're just nasty-resistant by nature, that's one of the reasons they're in beer. IPA's have such high hops profiles because they needed to remain free of infection on the long trip to India.
 
Cheesefood said:
IPA's have such high hops profiles because they needed to remain free of infection on the long trip to India.

Duh! I knew the story behind IPA's, but didn't make the connection. Thanks Cheesefood.

/thread
 
Hops are so anti-bacterial, that some chicken farmers are using hops in their feed instead of antibiotics.
 
What about adding other things to the secondary like fruit and chocolate nibs? Is there a way to prevent contamination with those?
 
Back
Top