dry hop in primary?

[nchomebrew]

i'm a hophead, so i do alot of dry hopping in my recipe's. i usually dry hop in a secondary. trouble is i still have some hop sediment that get's into my bottling carboy when i rack to bottle. my question is, would i possibly get the same result (taste) if i dry hopped in my primary (after fermentation is done), and then racked into the secondary? so possibly getting more clarity out of my secondary.

 

[cheezydemon]

You would have to wait until fermentation was done in the primary. The gassing off of CO2 removes the Hop aroma that you are wanting to impart, and would defeat the purpose of dry hopping.

I always use a sterilized rubberband and mesh bag to secure a "filter" over the end of my hose when I syphon into my bottling bucket. It works great and I have had tons of hop debris to deal with before.

 

[brewt00l]

While you can dry hop in the primary post ferment, you might want to address why you're picking up so much debris with your racking. There are a few different ways to screen/filter the hops out. Some use cheese cloth or pantyhose on the end of the racking cane or you can get a filter screen for the bottom of the cane. I use some fine mesh window screening over the spigot inlet in my bottling bucket.

 

[nchomebrew]

good info, i think i'll give it a try in the primary next time. which brings up another question. the kits usually come with hop pellets, and after i add them, they expand and sit on top. what i have been doing is giving the carboy a light swirl in the morning and night so the hop matter settles. does this sound like a good idea, or should i just try to rack underneath the matter on top?

 

[StewJo]

I dry hop in the secondary, because I don't want the brew to sit on the yeast for two weeks.

Then I rack to a tertiary and let it mellow for another week. It comes out nice and clear.

 

[Nyxator]

Just curious, but are you using pellet hops for dry hopping? I prefer to dry hop with whole hops for just the reason you described. I keg, but I don't get any hop sediment in my keg. I put a mesh over my racking cane, and it works fine.

I should also mention that I've dry hopped in my primary with no adverse effects.

 

[rflem550]

question for those that filter the hops with a screen or mesh when bottling or racking to bottling bucket -

Does the screen/mesh not get clogged up??? Or do you have to clean it every so often through the process?

 

[TexLaw]

the kits usually come with hop pellets, and after i add them, they expand and sit on top. what i have been doing is giving the carboy a light swirl in the morning and night so the hop matter settles. does this sound like a good idea, or should i just try to rack underneath the matter on top?

I do the same thing with fine results. You should have enough CO2 in your secondary to avoid oxidation (which may not even be a concern with the gentle treatment).

The trick with dry hopping in the primary is exactly what you've already heard: losing hop aroma to outgassing. I usually don't add my dry hops until after the beer has been in the secondary for about a week, to prevent more loss. I didn't do that in my last batch, and I regretted the loss.

Just be a little more careful with your racking. Or, if you're that much of a hophead, what's the problem with hop bits in the bottle? Just tell your buddies what it is and that's it's cool.


TL

 

[cheezydemon]

question for those that filter the hops with a screen or mesh when bottling or racking to bottling bucket -

Does the screen/mesh not get clogged up??? Or do you have to clean it every so often through the process?

That's why I use the bag over the END of the tube secured with a rubber band. It takes a lot to fill the bag, and it settles to the bottom of the bag with out clogging. You would have to have 6-7 ounces (dry) of hops to fill that bag up.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I suppose that you could, but since you have to wait until fermentation is complete to do so it's pretty much the same thing as dry hopping in secondary - you're just leaving your beer on the primary yeast cake longer.

I haven't been very pleased with the amound of beer that I've lost to absorbtion (I use pellets) the last couple of times that I dry hopped. I'm thinking of increasing my late boil hop additions to achieve the increased levels in aroma that I'm looking for per Jamil's latest article.

 

[rflem550]

That's why I use the bag over the END of the tube secured with a rubber band. It takes a lot to fill the bag, and it settles to the bottom of the bag with out clogging. You would have to have 6-7 ounces (dry) of hops to fill that bag up.

so you put the bag on the exiting end of the hose going into your bottling bucket? and just let the bag hang off the end and beer flows through and the bag collects the hops?

 

[brunswickbrewer]

Another reason not the dry hop in the primary, the gas can push up the dry hops and block the stopper, thus creating a carboy bomb. Gotta be careful with that. Made that mistake already, luckily I caught it before anything too bad happened.