Dry Hopping, some float some sink WHY?

[bandt9299]

Ok, so when I dry hop, which is on most beers, usually 2 oz per 5 gallons
some pellet hops sink to the bottom after 10-14 days and I get a nice clean rack to the keg, and other recipes the pellets refuse to sink. This recipe that is refusing to sink is 1 oz simcoe and 1 oz centennial the last 10 gallons I made got 1 oz simcoe and 1 oz amarillo each better bottle and they sank in 5 days.

The only reason its an issue is that when you siphon from better bottle to keg and they are still floating you get a sh@# load of hops in the keg which clogs up the poppet and . Anyone else experience this, any ideas. Thanks

Drinking Edworts wounded knee IPA as I type, wow, I have to say though I used Austrailian ale yeat WLP009 on 5 gallons and Safale 05 on the other 5 and the Australian is unbelievable.

 

[TipsyDragon]

they float because of CO2. sort of like those old toy submarines, you put a little baking soda in them and put them in the water. the baking soda releases CO2 and they float. then they get to the top and the CO2 escapes and they sink back down.

if you notice the hops float to the top and form a mat of green on top and if you watch you can see little bubbles pop from under the hop layer. then you see little bits float back down to the bottom.

to solve your problem i would put a sanitized hops bag over the outlet of your siphon. just be sure to tie it tight or the bag may slip off.

 

[bandt9299]

Thanks for the reply, but still, why some and not others. The brewer at my local brewpub told me to lose the airlock and let it breathe more.

 

[TipsyDragon]

some are more "submarine shaped" than others. the floaty bits can hold enough CO2 to float.

 

[bandt9299]

Oh and the FG of the last batch that sank was 1.012 an IPA and the non sinkers were @ 1.016 an India red ale.
And I mean the whole bunch 2 oz of dry hops will sink in some batches and others the whole batch of dry hops 2 oz swim. Its either sink or swim!

 

[bandt9299]

Figured it out, 6 years and a few hundred gallons, and 6 medals later I got it. Thanks.
Thank god I didn't really need help.