is it ok to dry hop while fermentation is still going on?

[Tobyone]

i've gots a batch of pale ale that has been in the fermenting bucket for a week now and even though I have not taken a hydrometer reading i'm fairly certain fermentation is not complete. That being said should I wait till fermenting has stopped before I dry hop or is it ok to go ahead and do it now? I plan on letting the brew set for another 2-3 weeks

 

[stevo155]

I tend to start my dry hop when it's about 90% done. The remaining 10% won't scrub out the hop aroma and actual helps with the dry hopping process in my opinion. I also tend to raise my temps a few degrees during this time as well.

 

[Revvy]

Since I now dryhop in primary, and do a month long primary, I wait til 7-10 days before I plan on bottling to dryhop.

 

[BierMuncher]

Dry hopping is much more effective on "clean" beer...that is...most of the yeast fallen out. For me...dry hopping takes place at the same point I would normally be ready to rack to a secondary for clearing. That's usually 2-3 weeks.

 

[JLem]

Since I now dryhop in primary, and do a month long primary, I wait til 7-10 days before I plan on bottling to dryhop.

I usually dryhop as Revvy advises here , but just to add some "complexity" to the answer...some brewers advocate dry hopping while there is still some fermentation underway. This way, any oxygen introduced by the hops (assuming whole hops, not pellets, really) will be taken care of by the yeast and not lead to some oxidative degradation in the beer.

Logically, this makes sense, though I do not know how much one has to truly worry about oxygen being introduced during dry hopping. I suppose if you were using a crap load of whole hops this could potentially be an issue.