Dry hopping

[Wirk]

I am a bit confused about this issue.

I wanted to try my first beer with dry hopping so I bought one ounce of hops for it, well the thing is I've seen on the internet many guides, but not a single one says the same.

Some say I have to do it 3 weeks before bottling, others a few days, others in the same day of bottling, also some says that I can't use pellet hops but leaves(what?), most of them say that I have to use bag? some people boil the pellets...

Can someone explain me how is normally done?

 

[h22lude]

You can do it whenever you want. The longer they are in the beer the more aroma you will get from them. Doing it the day of, in my opinion, is useless. I say let you beer ferment like normal and then dry hop for a week or two. You can definitely use pellets. Using a bag is a good idea because you can pull the bag out with the hop trub instead of having to worry about it on the bottom. You don't need to boil the hops. You should either boil the bag or spray it with starsan. Then put the hops in that and throw it in your bucket.

 

[jaytizzle]

I've used pellet and leaf. Not much of a difference between the two as far as end result. If you use pellets, a little hop bag is very helpful. I try to dry hop for a week before I keg. I leave the hops in for 6 days, typically, then cold crash the entire carboy for 2-3 days to get everything to settle to the bottom nicely, then keg.

 

[JeffoC6]

I haven't had any problems or issues with pellet or leaf. I dry hop as soon as primary fermentation is over and my beer reaches FG. My process is:

-2 weeks in primary untouched
-FG readings on day 19 and day 21 to assure consistency
-If consistent, I boil a hop bag for about 3 minutes, then soak it in starsan, and shove it into the primary, filling it with the allotted hops
-After 7-10 days, I remove the bag and then cold crash and bottle

Be cautioned that a lot of folks on here say that if you leave the dry hops in for too long, they can cause a "vegetable" flavor to the beer. I don't know if this is accurate or not, as I've only done about 10 days max, so other's may want to chime in on this.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

I use pellets with no bag all the time. I generally ferment for 2-3 weeks then add my dry hops to a secondary and rack on top of that. You don't have to do it that way, but with the secondary I'm getting most of the trub out of there, so I don't worry about a little hop debris when it's time to keg.
I let my dry hop go for 4-7 days. Really just depends on my schedule.

 

[Wirk]

Thank you.

 

[makokiller]

I just ferment until no bubbles, then rack and throw in 1 oz or so of pellets for 10 days, bottle and drink it up.

 

[Beer-lord]

I star sans a hop sack or boil it, drop the pellets in and let it go. I never go less than 7 days and mostly 10-14.

 

[Yooper]

I usually dryhop for 5-7 days before packaging- I find that it gives me the biggest "oomph" in flavor and aroma. I normally go 5-7 days, but have gone as short as three days with good results.

 

[Curtis2010]

...I've seen on the internet many guides, but not a single one says the same.

Some say I have to do it 3 weeks before bottling, others a few days, others in the same day of bottling, also some says that I can't use pellet hops but leaves(what?), most of them say that I have to use bag? some people boil the pellets...

And the cool thing is -- they're all right! Well...except for the boiling the hops part...that's not dry hopping. Much of it depends upon what you are trying to achieve by dry hopping -- for example, are you trying to brew a specific style of beer?

Think about what you want to achieve by dry hopping. Note that dry hopping will add almost no hops bitterness (you need to boil to do that), but will add some hops flavor and aroma.

One potential off-flavor from dry hopping is a "grassy" taste. Choose your flavor/aroma hops carefully and don't over do it and you should avoid this problem.

 

[bobbrews]

There is not one answer that is best for everyone. But "usually", dryhopping is done for IPAs and other hop-forward beers in 5-10 days on average. It's okay to dryhop less or more than this average. Though dryhopping for less than 3 days and/or exceeding 14 days is a bit unnecessary/rare.

I prefer pellets for dryhopping. I like how they sink to the bottom instead of floating like leaf hops, so no bag is necessary. They also take up less room, provide more aroma, and take less time to provide that awesome aroma. More aromatic hop oils are released by pellets vs leaf hops. There are a few varieties that give more aroma than others, such as Citra, Amarillo, Simcoe, Falconers Flight, Centennial, etc. - The amount of dryhops you use is also important. 1 oz per 5 gallon batch is way under what I would personally use for one of my IPAs. I would use a minimum of 2.5 oz. for that volume.

 

[jwalker1140]

My next batch will be my first time dry hopping. I'm planning to tie some fishing line to my hop bag so I can pull it out of my carboy when I'm done. Should I add a marble or something to keep the bag down or will the pellets help it stay submerged? Thanks.

 

[Beer-lord]

Once the pellets get wet, they should bring the bag down. I've done as little as 1/2 an ounce and they've sunk. Leaf hops usually need something to bring them down.
If you use a marble, of course, sanitize it well.

 

[EatWell]

I haven't had any problems or issues with pellet or leaf. I dry hop as soon as primary fermentation is over and my beer reaches FG. My process is:

-2 weeks in primary untouched
-FG readings on day 19 and day 21 to assure consistency
-If consistent, I boil a hop bag for about 3 minutes, then soak it in starsan, and shove it into the primary, filling it with the allotted hops
-After 7-10 days, I remove the bag and then cold crash and bottle

Be cautioned that a lot of folks on here say that if you leave the dry hops in for too long, they can cause a "vegetable" flavor to the beer. I don't know if this is accurate or not, as I've only done about 10 days max, so other's may want to chime in on this.

I have been reading this thread and your process was interesting. Maybe you could help me with a problem I had when I was brewing a barvarian heif. I brewed and cold crashed to clear it out. I removed it from the fridge, primed and bottled it. Let set for a few weeks, NO CARBINATION! Is this because I bottled at a low temp (45*ish) and the yeast was dormant so it wouldn't carb? After the cold crash do you bring it above 55* to restart the yeast?

 

[HeavyKettleBrewing]

I have been reading this thread and your process was interesting. Maybe you could help me with a problem I had when I was brewing a barvarian heif. I brewed and cold crashed to clear it out. I removed it from the fridge, primed and bottled it. Let set for a few weeks, NO CARBINATION! Is this because I bottled at a low temp (45*ish) and the yeast was dormant so it wouldn't carb? After the cold crash do you bring it above 55* to restart the yeast?

I had this problem first time cold crashing. Realized I had my temp set too low in my ferm chamber where I was storing the bottled beer. Moved them to a storage bin and tucked them in the spare bedroom low 70° and waited two weeks. Carbed perfectly. Now, I rack to bucket, let sit covered and bottle the next day. I use saran wrap and a big rubber band to keep stuff out overnight. I add priming sugar to bucket at time of bottling, stirring slowly to incorporate. Cold crashing is geared more for kegging, IMO.