1st Dry Hop

[Limited Visibility]

I just picked up an oz of Cascade hops for my first ever dry hop. I am going to be doing it in my secondary and I think I was going to attach a fishing line string to the hop bag so I can pull it out.

How long should I dry hop for? Also do I need to make the hops fully submerged in the secondary? I have read around here for the marble trick, is it necessary?

 

[Beerthoven]

I've never used a hop bag to dry hop; I just drop them in and rack the beer on top, so I can't answer to that.

I normally dry hop for 7 to 14 days and am quite happy with the results.

 

[cuinrearview]

Just added my cascade pellets to secondary last night and racked on top. I'm pretty sure the layer they make on top will drop to the bottom of my IPA before I add the second ounce next week, which should drop in enough time to bottle. If it doesn't I'll wait. Just throw 'em in and wait. I did whole bracts a few years ago and I still ended up with leaves in the bottle. Try all the tricks you want, but dry hopping will almost always result in some greenery in the bottle. If you're a true hophead (like me) you'll embrace it!!! RDWHAHB

 

[Limited Visibility]

After reading a little more I think I am just going to toss them right into my secondary and when I siphon to bottling be careful not to suck some up.

Will they fall to the bottom over time?

 

[cuinrearview]

I have seen less of a layer on top every time I look at it. Once they saturate with beer they should drop out.

 

[Danek]

Will they fall to the bottom over time?

I recently dry-hopped an IPA with loose Centennials. After ten days, about one-third of the hops had dropped to the bottom. The remaining two-thirds were still floating on the top. Racking to the bottling bucket was a bit of a pain in the arse, as I had to try to avoid the hops on the top and those on the bottom - as a result I lost more beer than I wanted to. Next time I'm going to use a very very large weighted hop-bag (to increase the beer-to-hop contact) and squeeze it gently when I remove it, to keep beer-loss to a minimum.

That said, I've heard of plenty of other folk on here who are very happy with using loose hops, so if you do go that route I bet it'll be fine. I think the trade-off is that with loose dry-hopping you lose a little more beer, but you get a better hop aroma. You pays your money and takes your choice.

 

[tbone]

I give my secondary a gentle rock every once in a while. This causes most of the hops to settle to the bottom. When racking to the bottling bucket I use a paint strainer over the end of the racking cane - result no hops in the bucket.

 

[Limited Visibility]

Yeah I just went ahead and threw them in my secondary. I figured I can just make some sort of strainer on my siphon to stop the gunk

 

[BierMuncher]

Yeah I just went ahead and threw them in my secondary. I figured I can just make some sort of strainer on my siphon to stop the gunk

Here ya go...


A 1-gallon paint strainer for Lowe's and a small zip tie. Fasten to the end of your racking cane and siphon away.

You'll get much better results letting those hops "run free".

 

[jacksonbrown]

Here ya go...


A 1-gallon paint strainer for Lowe's and a small zip tie. Fasten to the end of your racking cane and siphon away.

You'll get much better results letting those hops "run free".

Now that's just down right clever!