What to you guys prefer, dry hop in primary or secondary?

[LarsonLE]

I have an all grain Terrapin Rye Pale Ale Clone that has been fermenting for 5 days now, and I am supposed to dry hop it with 2 oz of amarillo. I have heard you get better results with dry hopping when you transfer to a secondary, which I am yet to do, but I also want to experiment and see how secondary works. I know the new school of thought is to just let it sit in primary, but what do you guys think if I transferred it in 2 days? The airlock has slowed down quite a bit (1 bubble every 15 sec just to give you an idea, I know I am supposed to take a reading), so I hope to not introduce much O2 if I do rack in a couple days.

Any thoughts?

 

[jvlpdillon]

The reason you may not choose to dry hop in primary is dry hopping is mostly aroma. If there is vigorous fermentation underway then the CO2 being released will also be carrying off some of the hop aroma. Since some brewers still use a secondary as a clearing tank and less fermentation is taking place then you also dry hop there too.

 

[samc]

I either do serving keg or primary dry hops. My most recent beer I did secondary because I wanted to harvest the yeast without any pellet sludge, which is also unusual for me as I rarely do pellets.

Point being that I don't think it matters a lot which way you go. Remembering of course that temperature plays a more important role in the equation. Warmer temps = shorter dry hop time needed.

 

[ArcaneXor]

I dry hop in the keg. Since it's a sealed container, there is no loss of aromatics.

 

[nefarious_1_]

I dry hop in Primary with great results.

When adding dry hops to Primary, it is important to remember not to add any hops until you reach FG or most activity has slowed down to a minimum. Due to off-gassing, you will lose aroma if you add the hops while the bulk of fermention is underway.

Also, I add ~20% more hops than the recipe calls for to account for any aroma loss while doing this. The entire process is actually very easy and much less hassle to me than racking to a secondary. The results are just as good.

An added benefit to Primary dry hopping is that you still have the yeast on your side. During the entire time you dry hop, the beer is still benefiting from sitting on the yeast cake and clearing at the same time.

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

Even if you're using a secondary moving the beer there after only 7 days is way too early. Typically you shouldn't move a beer out of primary for any reason for at least 2 weeks or more for best results.

Don't dry hop until fermentation is complete. Fermentation has nothing to do with whether the beer is in a primary or secondary vessel. Wait until you reach FG (or are very close) to begin dry hopping.

I just dry hop in the primary. For a typical pale ale or IPA I will let it ferment two weeks, then put the hops in a nylon bag and throw it in the primary for another week then bottle/keg.

 

[LarsonLE]

Anyone opinions on this matter?

 

[wildwest450]

I never get the same aroma from the primary as I do from the keg/secondary. It seems to suck the aroma up, I think most people do it as a shortcut.

_

 

[AmusedBystander]

I dry hop in the keg. Since it's a sealed container, there is no loss of aromatics.

Don't the hops get clogged in the line? It seems like you would always have hop sludge floating in your beer...

 

[BulldogBrewer]

Here's another vote for in the keg.

Don't the hops get clogged in the line? It seems like you would always have hop sludge floating in your beer...

Never have any problem until the last pint or two. But a glass full of hops is not a bad thing.

 

[HOPCousin]

I add to the primary after 2 weeks of fermentation. Then give it 7 days for dry hopping and my IPA's come out great. Then transfer to bottling bucket while running it through a cheese cloth or nylon bag to get the big bits out and your good to go. I find great aroma from the dryhopping comes through and only go to secondary if I'm adding other additions or want to clarify that particular style of beer further.

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

I add to the primary after 2 weeks of fermentation. Then give it 7 days for dry hopping and my IPA's come out great. Then transfer to bottling bucket while running it through a cheese cloth or nylon bag to get the big bits out and your good to go. I find great aroma from the dryhopping comes through and only go to secondary if I'm adding other additions or want to clarify that particular style of beer further.

Very similar to my process. Have you ever tried putting your dry hops in a nylon bag? I used to put the pellets in directly and try and strain on bottling day however I've found that I get the same aroma from using a very large nylon bag. Much faster/cleaner than straining plus no risk of oxidation.

 

[CidahMastah]

+1 dry hop in the keg

To avoid too much sludge I always use a muslin sack for the hops - fish it out when I am done.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Don't the hops get clogged in the line? It seems like you would always have hop sludge floating in your beer...

I use leaf hops in a nylon grain bag that I pull out when the flavor/aroma is where I want it.

 

[LKABrewer]

+1 to dry hopping in the keg. I crash my primary, rack to keg, and then throw the hops in a hop sock and throw them in the keg for 2 weeks. I find that dry hopping @ 40* for two weeks gets more aroma, and lasts longer, than dry hopping for 3-7 days @ 70*. YMMV.

 

[LarsonLE]

Hey guys quick question. I have a 5 gallon better bottle and kind of want to try experimenting with secondaries. I have about 5.25 gallons of this Terrapin Rye Pale Ale clone, which will probably be exactly around 5 gallons with the loss in the trub. Will I even have to worry all that much about oxidation if there is close to zero headspace in the better bottle? I know during the racking process I will have to be careful, but besides that.