Dry Hopping

[pyrocyz]

Getting ready to do my first Double IPA and am reading up on Dry Hopping.

Why don't the hops have to be sanitary? Is there anything special that I should do with my hop bag?

Just looking for some pointers. Planning on letting the beer ferment in a carboy first then either dropping the hops into the carboy or putting the hop bag in a bucket and transferring the beer.

Can I just leave it in the carboy?

 

[BierMuncher]

Hops don't need to be sanitized if they are handled correctly out of their packaging. One common mistake is measuring hops on a scale that was used to measure specialty grains and then not sanitized. (Grain dust and fermenting beer do NOT go together)

Unless you're planning to harvest your yeast cake, I'd toss them in loose after the beer has fermented for at least 2 weeks. I prefer three weeks for big beers like IIPA's. The further along the fermentation and the cleaner the beer is of yeast...the more efficient the dry hopping process. So my process for my Tits-Up IIPA:

Primary fermenter for three weeks.
Toss in loose hops and let sit for 10 days.
Rack to secondary clearing vessel with a piece of cheesecloth over the racking cane.
Let clear for 5-6 days and then bottle/keg.

 

[BigJoeBrews]

First off, I see you are experienced with ipas and hops so I am NOT questioning your techniques, I am only curious about them.
- Do you suppose DHing in your primary for awhile then transferring, has a benefit over transferring first and using that time in the secondary to clear?
- I am now leaning towards longer primaries I.E. 2.5-3.5 weeks, but many books, instruction manuals, etc. say 4-5 days, for one reason or another? What I am really asking is do you feel 4+ weeks is nearing too long? Have you ever overdone it in the primary?
- I am a little curious if you just tried that and it worked, or was that advice from some other source? Do you use this method for all your beers or just the tits-up IPA?
- can I steal the name Tits-up? I will ONLY use it with my friends, no entries or labels....

 

[Calder]

First off, I see you are experienced with ipas and hops so I am NOT questioning your techniques, I am only curious about them.
- Do you suppose DHing in your primary for awhile then transferring, has a benefit over transferring first and using that time in the secondary to clear?
- I am now leaning towards longer primaries I.E. 2.5-3.5 weeks, but many books, instruction manuals, etc. say 4-5 days, for one reason or another? What I am really asking is do you feel 4+ weeks is nearing too long? Have you ever overdone it in the primary?
- I am a little curious if you just tried that and it worked, or was that advice from some other source? Do you use this method for all your beers or just the tits-up IPA?
- can I steal the name Tits-up? I will ONLY use it with my friends, no entries or labels....

It should make no difference if you DH in Pri or Sec. Providing main fermentation is over, most yeast will have flocculated out. You want to wait until fermentation is over otherwise the yeast action will drive off the hop aromatics.

I do about 2 weeks in primary, but I have 2 right now that are at 4. I usually secondary, but not going to with these. They will be in there for a couple more weeks waiting for empty bottles.

I think he stole 'Tits-Up' from papazian. I would say he has no claim to it, and you would be free to use it.

 

[BreckBastion]

The only thing left out was yes sanitize your hop bag if you use one.

 

[pyrocyz]

The only thing left out was yes sanitize your hop bag if you use one.

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks

 

[MikeGottsch]

From my own experience, I would recommend not using a bag. If you use one, the hops could end up just floating on top the whole time. I have done both ways. No bag worked great. When I used a bag, even though I weighed it down by putting about ten sanitized knuck marbles in the bag, it went immediately to the top and stayed there. Did not really get any noticeable hop flavor in the beer.

 

[BierMuncher]

It should make no difference if you DH in Pri or Sec. Providing main fermentation is over, most yeast will have flocculated out. You want to wait until fermentation is over otherwise the yeast action will drive off the hop aromatics.

Unless the intent of using the secondary is to clear the beer. Dry hopping and and clarification are counter productive. If you dry hop in the primary and then rack with a cheese cloth (or other "filtering" mechanism) into a clearing tank, you'll be weeks ahead in the process of serving clear, hoppy beer.

I think he stole 'Tits-Up' from papazian. I would say he has no claim to it, and you would be free to use it.

Uh... wrong. Nothing more spineless than "stealing" an idea from someone else. If Uncle Charlie had a recipe dubbed "Tits Up" then it's news to me. Having only read the first half of his "Joy" book, I certainly didn't come across any reference. Everything that goes into my recipes including the name is done from a point of originality and the help of a few homebrews. In many cases (like this one) I even include the reason for naming a beer the way I do:

As my taste for bigger, hoppier beers grows, I’m afraid that these big IPA’s and RIS’s are going to be the death of my wallet, or the death of me (at 8+%).

In honor of that which will likely be my demise, I dub thee:

Tits-Up IIPA

 

[rjwhite41]

I would advise against using whole hops to dry hop if you are fermenting in carboys. It is a PITA to get them out. Other than that, the rest of the advice seems solid.