Brewing my second brew. Double IPA.

[BoggyBayouBrewer]

I was brewing my second batch ever this time it is midwest's hop head double IPA. Anyways I found out that I had a 7 gallon pot so I did a full 5 gallon boil (first time). I did the full instructions and poured all the wort into my bottling bucket. Which brings me to my fist question. Does filtering the wort reduce the hoppyness of your beer? I want it as hoppy as possible. I figure if you leave it in it might make it a little more hoppy. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
I activated my yeast following the instruction and aerated the wort really well then added the yeast mix. Then I put all of the wort in my 6 gallon primary fermentor. Placed my plug and air lock on and away it went. I ended up having an overactive fermentation and had krausen coming put of my air lock. I made a blow off tube to solve that problem. My fermentation died down so the air lock is back on it. The next problem I'm having is it seems all my hops is sitting on top of the krausen and is all the way up to the plug. Should I leave it or push it down? And would my initial fermentation be less vigorous if I had filtered the wort before hand? Air is still coming out only a lot slower than it was. It's a bubble every 8 seconds.
Thank you for any help.
Jon

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

1. No...filtering the hops won't leave you with a less hoppy beer.

2. No...don't push the krausen and hops back down into the beer. Let it fall on it's own. If it doesn't fall, don't worry about it. If you want to make the beer more hoppy, you can dry hop it to give a little more hop flavor and aroma, but it won't give you any bitterness.

3. Every fermentation acts differently. It really depends on the beer being brewed and the yeast. Filtering the beer pre-fermentation wouldn't really effect it. In fact, filtering an IPA pre-fermentation is usually a good idea. That's my opinion, of course, but I feel it leaves you with a cleaner beer and a beer that's easier to transfer from one stage to the next. You won't have as much trub which means you'll have more beer.

 

[BoggyBayouBrewer]

Thank you for the response.
I kinda knew those were the answers I just wanted to confirm them since this is only my second time brewing.
I am going to dry hop with 2 oz of leaf Centennial. I just wanted to get some tips for my next brew since as I'm sure you hear a lot I am hooked.

 

[BigE]

Quick question Boggy....did you use a yeast starter for this brew? I only ask because my third batch I ever made was a double IPA and I only pitched one wyeast pack. It fermented like crazy but never carbonated in the bottles. Even after 3 years (finally dumped).

 

[unionrdr]

I found out just how good starters are yesterday morning. Upon waking,The yeast starter I pitched at 7:35pm was pushing foam up to the lid by 7:10am! Still is today! After having had a bad experience with dry yeasy pitching on my 1st one,I'll be doing yeast starters from now on. Man,what a difference...!

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I found out just how good starters are yesterday morning. Upon waking,The yeast starter I pitched at 7:35pm was pushing foam up to the lid by 7:10am! Still is today! After having had a bad experience with dry yeasy pitching on my 1st one,I'll be doing yeast starters from now on. Man,what a difference...!

It's not too often anymore that I hear of someone upset with dry yeast. I used to use all liquid, starters for everything. But...it's a hassle. I have to know for sure that I'm going to brew, otherwise I have to stick the starter in the fridge for a few weeks until I can get time. No fun.

I prefer to just rehydrate while I'm cooling the wort and pitch dry. Plus...I almost exclusively use US-05 and S-04 since they're such great yeasts.

 

[amingo]

Quick question Boggy....did you use a yeast starter for this brew? I only ask because my third batch I ever made was a double IPA and I only pitched one wyeast pack. It fermented like crazy but never carbonated in the bottles. Even after 3 years (finally dumped).

I'm a little worried about this. I have an Imperial dry hopping right now that fermented lime crazy and has been stable for over a week (FG was reached in 4 days and hasn't moved since). Is there still enough yeast left to carbonate or did it spend itself in the primary?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

I'm a little worried about this. I have an Imperial dry hopping right now that fermented lime crazy and has been stable for over a week (FG was reached in 4 days and hasn't moved since). Is there still enough yeast left to carbonate or did it spend itself in the primary?

There's plenty of yeast to carbonate. If you're worried (which you shouldn't be) then sprinkle 1/3 of a pack of us-05 in with your priming sugar before you bottle.

 

[amingo]

There's plenty of yeast to carbonate. If you're worried (which you shouldn't be) then sprinkle 1/3 of a pack of us-05 in with your priming sugar before you bottle.

Thanks for the reassurance. Still learning to just have a HB and not worry.

 

[unionrdr]

It's not too often anymore that I hear of someone upset with dry yeast. I used to use all liquid, starters for everything. But...it's a hassle. I have to know for sure that I'm going to brew, otherwise I have to stick the starter in the fridge for a few weeks until I can get time. No fun.

I prefer to just rehydrate while I'm cooling the wort and pitch dry. Plus...I almost exclusively use US-05 and S-04 since they're such great yeasts.

What I do is wait till the day I know I'm going to brew To make up my yeast starter first. Then go about sanitizing,brew kettle,etc. By the time I'm ready to pitch,it's been 3-3 1/2 hours,& I have a nice creamy starter. My Cooper's ale yeast sachet had "32809" on the back. 328th day of 09? I figured I better make a starter for yeast that old. It took it a few mins to get going,but it woke up very nicely. I love starters now!!