Too much dry hops in secondary

[slyjeremybrewer]

My recipe called for 7 oz of hops in secondary. It's a 6 1/2 gal carboy, so only about 1/2 the hops are in contact with the beer. Should I try to give it a gentle stir or just leave it alone and not risk the contamination?

 

[Yooper]

Holy cow! 7 ounces? I just added three ounces, and I thought that was a lot! I've never seen a recipe for 7 ounces of dryhopping, so I'd say that's overkill. I've done a few where a couple of ounces are used, then another ounce or two a couple of weeks later, but never 7 ounces at one time!

 

[slyjeremybrewer]

it's a pliney clone

 

[RumRiverBrewer]

STOP - take a closer look at the recipe!

 

[bootsbier]

I say sanitize a spoon and stir.. I'm pretty sure that it is difficult to get an infection once the beer has alcohol in it. Just curious, did you use leaf hops or pellets..?

 

[northernlad]

7oz has got to be leaf. Either way what a waste of about 4oz of hops.
Plus its really hard to get a spoon in a carboy neck...

 

[Ultima]

It sounds like you need multiple weighted hop-socks. It also sounds like a hoppy MF of a beer!

 

[toestothesun]

It sounds like you need multiple weighted hop-socks. It also sounds like a hoppy MF of a beer!

Yes, it does sound like a hoppy beer

 

[neko]

it's a pliney clone

Hmm. I just made a Pliny clone and the dry hopping is about half that.

 

[TomOliver]

My Surly Furious recipe has 8.5 oz of dry hop pellets. I'll be using a bag with a weight.

Tom

 

[Houblon]

it's a pliney clone

http://beerdujour.com/Recipes/1Pliny the Elder clone PDF.pdf

 

[Yooper]

When I've done a Pliny clone, I've added the hops in stages, not all at once.

I added three ounces, waited a week, added three ounces, etc. But I do love hops, and I especially love Pliny!

 

[hatfieldenator]

Yeah, anything over 3 oz. I'd be using a weighted bag. I've never had to do this yet as my IPAs usually only use 3 oz. max for the dry hops. Even with 3 oz in seperate bags I still worry that a significant portion of the hops aren't actually in the beer. I wouldn't stir it though because even though you can easily avoid contamination, you can't avoid stirring in excess oxygen, which is certainly a bad thing for a finished beer.

 

[slyjeremybrewer]

I used loose leaf, I've never used pellets for dry hopping. I'll give the weighted socks a try next time. If it makes you all feel better, I got the hops on a great buy @ $ 3.00 per 2 oz so I'm not shedding too many tears on wasting some of the dry hops. In total, I've got 18 oz of total hops in the beer and it already tastes pretty damn good!!!

 

[slyjeremybrewer]

Oh yeah, I've decided to just let it sit. I don't think the risk is worth the reward. I agree with not wanting the oxygen in the beer. Nothing worse than a great beer with a cardboard aftertaste.

 

[dantheman13]

Let us know how that beer comes out!

 

[l1ranger]

speaking sternly to the hops and make them feel low, and maybe they'll sink

 

[samc]

I'd go with a stir if it was mine. Nothing worse than tossing in a bunch of hops and having half of them never make contact with the wort. I've had that happen once, never again.

Never really sure why if you ask about stirring hops half the people need to jump on the guy for dry hopping with so many hops?

Enjoy your brew! - it is Portland after all.

 

[bootsbier]

Never really sure why if you ask about stirring hops half the people need to jump on the guy for dry hopping with so many hops?

I know, right..? lol