Filter Dry Hopping before Bottling

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oach

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Hey All,

I like to dry hop with a lot of hops. Hop aroma makes me happy to say the least. I do have one problem: not being able to filter out the hop matter before bottling.

When I dry hop it seems that some of the material stays in the top of the carboy and when I move it to where I want to bottle, more gets in suspension and doesn't drop out so easily. I try to use the screen from my funnel when I rack to primary but some gets past me as there can be so much pellet material at times.

After having my latest DIPA the only thing I can think of is using a throw away hop bag on the end of the tube I have attached to the racking cane.

More or less I just want to gather your input on how to best keep hop material out of the bottle (it seems to add a vegetal taste over time, depending on the amount and duration since bottling).

Thank you for your time and help,
Scot
 
If you are bottling, you gotta filter somehow. I triple filter by a) placing dry hops in a hop bag while dry hopping, b) place a hop bag over the racking cane, and/or c) passing my beer through a funnel and filter while transferring to a bottling bucket. It's helped TREMENDOUSLY!

Additionally, I usually let me IPA's age twice as much as any other beer.
 
Thank you for the input - see you live close by too.

When you place hops in a bag while dry hopping, do you feel that takes away from the amount of aroma your beer pulls out of them? How long do you usually dry hop for?
 
I just bottled me first dryhopped black IPA and I should have put a hop bag on the racking cane. I dryhopped with a hop bag, so that kept some of the particles out, but I can definitely see little green pieces of hop particle floating around in the glass. The taste and smell is amazing, but to some people those particles are not appealing. Hahahaa
 
Thank you for the input - see you live close by too.

When you place hops in a bag while dry hopping, do you feel that takes away from the amount of aroma your beer pulls out of them? How long do you usually dry hop for?

Are you a member of PALE?

Dry hopping is an art form in and of itself. I usually don't dry hop for more than 2-3 weeks depending on the recipe. My next IPA (a Pliney clone) has a bunch of hops for a week in primary and then a bunch of hops for two weeks in secondary.

As for the aroma, I don't think the affects are noticeable. I will say that I do not miss the little chunks of hops that make it into the bottle. I didn't really know what I was doing with my first IPA and each bottle had a lot of little floaters. It made for some careful pouring.
 
Are you a member of PALE?

Dry hopping is an art form in and of itself. I usually don't dry hop for more than 2-3 weeks depending on the recipe. My next IPA (a Pliney clone) has a bunch of hops for a week in primary and then a bunch of hops for two weeks in secondary.

As for the aroma, I don't think the affects are noticeable. I will say that I do not miss the little chunks of hops that make it into the bottle. I didn't really know what I was doing with my first IPA and each bottle had a lot of little floaters. It made for some careful pouring.

Yes I am a member of PALE. Joined up about five months ago. We will have to share a beer at the January meeting.

I will definitely be using some type of filter to get the hop matter out of the beer. I was also curious if the hop matter produces a vegetal sense after a while once it is bottled. I know if you leave them on the hops too long that can happen and possibly having it in there and in the bottle, would that produce the same type of aroma and/or taste over time?
 
Whenever I'm racking after dry hopping, I just slide my racking cane inside a sanitized paint strainer bag (5 gallon) and slide the whole thing into my carboy neck and rack away. I haven't had ANY problems with hops getting through.

Cheers.

BSD
 
Whenever I'm racking after dry hopping, I just slide my racking cane inside a sanitized paint strainer bag (5 gallon) and slide the whole thing into my carboy neck and rack away. I haven't had ANY problems with hops getting through.

Great idea!!!
 
Yes I am a member of PALE. Joined up about five months ago. We will have to share a beer at the January meeting.

I will definitely be using some type of filter to get the hop matter out of the beer. I was also curious if the hop matter produces a vegetal sense after a while once it is bottled. I know if you leave them on the hops too long that can happen and possibly having it in there and in the bottle, would that produce the same type of aroma and/or taste over time?

Cool. I haven't been to a PALE meeting since May or June. Too many personal conflicts because of my wife's involvement with our kids' school. I will definitely be at the Jan meeting as I brewed a Brown Porter and a Dark Lager for competitions.

It's hard to say on the long term hops taste from being in the bottle. The IPA I made was also my first all grain beer... so, results are all a learning experience.
 
Whenever I'm racking after dry hopping, I just slide my racking cane inside a sanitized paint strainer bag (5 gallon) and slide the whole thing into my carboy neck and rack away. I haven't had ANY problems with hops getting through.

Cheers.

BSD

Ah, yes. I have done that technique too. It all depends on how fine your mesh is. I'll do that and the funnel filter with a very fine mesh and also cold crash the fermenter overnight (if my garage is cold enough).
 
Whoops...I bottled my IIPA last week an didn't bother throwing the hops in a bag OR filtering through the racking cane. I'm interested to see how this turns out now..
 
Whoops...I bottled my IIPA last week an didn't bother throwing the hops in a bag OR filtering through the racking cane. I'm interested to see how this turns out now..

Hopefully not as much hop filings as I am experiencing.
 
Hopefully not as much hop filings as I am experiencing.

Doh! :D Well, your post made me a little nervous so I went and checked the bottles...almost crystal clear. Considering the lack of filtration and that I wasn't even too careful when siphoning away from the hops, I'm wondering how I got so lucky.

Also, I'm curious if hop material behaves in a similar way to yeast/cold break and settles out with some extended cold crashing. That could be an easy fix if it works.
 
Also, I'm curious if hop material behaves in a similar way to yeast/cold break and settles out with some extended cold crashing. That could be an easy fix if it works.

I am hoping that it'll settle out some during an extended amount in the fridge...
 
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