Dry Hop Sanitization

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Virginia_Ranger

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I looked around a bit and was reading that yes the dry hop bag should be sanitized but what about pre-package ones? In my case the pellets are sealed in the bag already and I’m not sure if it’s ok to spray the whole bag, hops included with starsans or if I need to find a way to break it open, sanitize the bag and then reseal it. Any thoughts?

Thanks!
 
The hop pellets in a sealed foil bag are sanitary. Just sanitize the outside of the bag and the scissors used to cut the corner off the bag for pouring into the fermentor. Don't forget to sanitize the top of the fermentor when getting ready to add the pellets.
 
I looked around a bit and was reading that yes the dry hop bag should be sanitized but what about pre-package ones? In my case the pellets are sealed in the bag already and I’m not sure if it’s ok to spray the whole bag, hops included with starsans or if I need to find a way to break it open, sanitize the bag and then reseal it. Any thoughts?

You have hops prepackaged in the hop sock? Or are you talking about the mylar or foil bags that the hops come in? Any mesh hop sock going in the fermentner should be sanitized. Otherwise I have never bothered sanitizing hop storage bags or worry about an infection from the hops themselves. I measure them out into small unsanitized tupperware and dump directly into the fermenter, then repackage them in unsanitized vacuum seal bags.
 
I don't really bother with much sanitation when dry hopping. The alcohol in the beer will kill any bugs. I've never had an issue.
 
You have hops prepackaged in the hop sock? Or are you talking about the mylar or foil bags that the hops come in? Any mesh hop sock going in the fermentner should be sanitized. Otherwise I have never bothered sanitizing hop storage bags or worry about an infection from the hops themselves. I measure them out into small unsanitized tupperware and dump directly into the fermenter, then repackage them in unsanitized vacuum seal bags.

Pretty much this for me except I use glass custard cups to measure them into. I posted here the first time I dry hopped asking if I needed to do anything with the custard cup or the hops and pretty much everyone said it was a non-issue. So far they've been right.
 
Thanks for the replies! So its from a kit and came with a vacuumed seal bag that contains a hop baggie with hops already in it. So my question is once removing it from the vacuum sealed bag do I sanitize the sealed hop baggie even though the hops are inside?
 
Thanks for the replies! So its from a kit and came with a vacuumed seal bag that contains a hop baggie with hops already in it. So my question is once removing it from the vacuum sealed bag do I sanitize the sealed hop baggie even though the hops are inside?
That's interesting. You could (if possible) take the hops out of the mesh, sanitize it and put the hops back in. But if it were me, and If it came packaged this way I would just toss it in. I have to presume they took some steps to sanitize the bag before hand. That plus the hops themselves, the alcohol in the beer and the hops already added previously in the boil all have anti microbial properties and I would be comfortable just tossing it in.
If it's from a kit, it might be worth reaching out to the company and just confirming that it's ok to add them without sanitizing. It's in their interest to not haven't people make infected beer right?
Let us know how it goes either way.
EDIT: Sorry , clarification, I assumed by sealed hop baggie you're referring to some type of mesh bag that is meant to be used for dryhopping, is that accurate?
 
I've never seen that before. Like r4dyce said if they packaged it that way you'd think they would have used a sanitized bag. Personally I'd just ditch the bag and drop them in loose.
 
So its from a kit and came with a vacuumed seal bag that contains a hop baggie with hops already in it.
According to the quote:
{[(Hops)in a hop-bag] in a sealed bag}.
Given the above formula, I might sanitize the outside of the sealed bag and scissors/blade for opening the bag. Then with a clean hand, remove the hop-bag (presumably mesh) filled with hops and insert directly unto the fermentation vessel.
 
Do the kit instructions say anything?

It would be strange to put hops in a mesh bag (like they're ready to go) that wasn't sanitized. If that were the case and I were doing the kit, I'd include the mesh bag separately with instructions to sanitize the mesh bag, put hops in it and add it to the fermentor.

All that being said, I dry hop loose pellets directly into the fermenter, so if it were my kit, I'd open it up and dump the loose pellets into my fermenter.
 
I'd be far more concerned about the hops being oxidized than picking up any type of infection from a non-sanitized mesh bag. Like I said earlier, the alcohol in the beer will kill pretty much any bugs.
 
Please stop sanitizing scissors. Who is responsible for this madness? What are you all afraid of? Yeast is not a concern with already fermenting/fermented beer, lactic is sensitive to hops (that’s why we use them...), and everything else is controlled with proper oxygen management. Tales of infection from dry hopping are red herrings- it’s leaving the beer in a bucket and opening the lid every day that causes problems.
 
I sanitize the scissors because I dont have a dedicated pair just for brewing, and if I did, i doubt they would stay put for long. My wife uses any scissors she can find for whatever she needs at the time. This includes the ones from my grooming kit, kitchen shears, camp gear, first aid or garage. Uses include anything you can imagine and probably a few things you would never think. I don't trust their cleanliness unless I just washed them myself.
 
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