How long will CO2 layer stay in primary once opened?

Hey all,

Going to dryhop today for the first time. I know a lot of people are just dryhopping straight into the primary now, and that's what I plan to do. Got a 10-month old, so I'd love to save the time of cleaning and racking!

I've got my brew in a 6.5 gallon bucket...so a fair amount of headspace which is protected by the CO2 right now. I'm planning to open it up and gently drop the hops in there (1 oz of pellets, 1 oz whole leaf because they were out of pellets for that one). Not planning to bag them or anything.

But I'd also like to steal a sample out with my sanitized measuring cup. I know CO2 is heavier than air, so it's not just going to rush out when I open the lid. But, out of curiosity, anyone know how long you can have the lid off the primary without having to worry about oxidation?

 

You will want to secondary if you plan on dry hopping. I say this because of all the krauesen that will be in your primary. With that said, I would also recommend getting a thief to extract your sample. This will enable you to get a good sample of the beer without disturbing the surface area to much and causing off flavors from oxidation.

As far as how much CO2 will escape, well I do not know. However, as you have said Co2 has a density of 1.87 kg/m3. While o2 has a density of 1.354 kg/m3, so as long as you are not moving,fanning, or keeping it open for an extended amount of time you should be fine.



Read more: The Density of He, O2 & CO2 Gases | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_6823415_density-o2-_amp_amp_-co2-gases.html#ixzz1HijjRXVN

 

It's heaver that air as stated, so without any air movement it would last indefinitely. Unless it's molecules are small enough to escape threw the pet fermenter. In my youth I knew a number of wine makers that used open crocks and only cheese cloth over the top throughout most of the process.

Sneaking a sample of your beer is part of the fun, and helps you understand the process.

 

think of it this way, if you did transfer to secondary, you would lose the co2 blanket anyway. i wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

You can dry hop in your primary with no problem as long as fermentation is done. I would be more worried about wild yeast than oxidation. Turn off anything that moves air. Heat/AC/any fan. You'll be fine as far as oxidation. Move quickly and disturb the surface as little as possible

 

Sweet...figured I have nothing to worry about...but it's always nice to hear that confirmed by others!

 

If you've still got krausen action going on,it's too early to dry hop,loosegoose. I dry hop in primary after FG is reached & the brew is clearing as the yeast has done most of it's house cleaning. Works great so far,so no worries,m8.

 

Definitely no krausen anymore. I've hit my FG...this is day 21. Tossed those guys in there about an hour ago. The leafs just floated on top in a pile, so I sanitized a spoon and gently pushed them down through the top surface a bit.

 

Don't sweat it,man,they all float,regardless of form. My frozen pellets sank til they thawed,then floated to the top. uh huh huh,huh...he's got a floater in his beer...

 

LoL, yeah I guess you are right!

 

This might be of interest to you:

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/co2-those-who-dont-keg-234823/