First Dry Hop Concern

[Lurkerga]

Greetings,

I have completed the transfer of my IIPA into the secondary and began my 10-day dry hop. This kit provided the hops, all of which were pellets. I opted to use a muslin hop bag which was boiled for 15 minutes as I'm a bit OCD on sterilization. The beer seemed normal for the four days it was in the secondary prior to dry hopping. About 2 days after dry hopping, I noticed a few white rafts forming which has steadily multiplied. The photo is 5 days into dry hopping.

Is this normal? There is no sign of a film, and they resemble yeast rafts that I have encountered in the secondary before. It just seems odd. Any thoughts on if this is normal or if I should go into panic mode?

 

[dozer5454]

Can't totally tell with the pic but I wouldn't go into panic mode just yet. You are careful with your sanitization procedures, which is good. Just keep an eye on it and taste after the dry hop is complete. If it tastes good bottle or keg. Side note, you really don't need to transfer into a secondary to dry hop if you don't want to. Plenty of people on this site including myself just dry hop in the primary and use secondary for fruit additions.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Looks iffy to me. Do you have any clearer/closer photos?

Agreed that you don't need to transfer to secondary, but if that is your preference then go for it! To me, it just increases the chance for contamination or oxidation.

Also, you don't need to use the muslin bags for pellets. The pellets will break apart into little shreds anyway and most likely they will settle out. If they don't settle, then just rack from underneath it.

 

[Lurkerga]

Surprisingly enough it was nothing more than hop particles as by the end of the secondary, all dropped and I was left with a clear, good tasting Plinian. Thanks for the info. I will be going without the bag next time as I've heard quite a bit of folks recommending that.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Glad to hear! I dry hop with pellets and pretty much always have successful brews. I have had some hop particles make their way into a bottle before, but other than the unpleasing aesthetic of having a tiny leaf particle in a beer, there's no harm that I could taste.

 

[Pappers_]

Great, glad it cleared up!