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Dry hoping

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When fermentation is done, I rack to secondary and dry hop anywhere from 3-14 days. Usually 7 days works for me.
 
When the brew is otherwise ready for bottle/keg, add the dry hops for up to 14 days. I also find that 7 days is a good amount of time for my batches. I don't rack to another vessel to dry hop, they just go into primary.
 
People above have it mostly covered.

Lots of very successful brewers have different methods for dry hopping, so you'll find conflicting advice simply because there is more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to dry hoping.

Some people like to add dry hops when primary fermentation is slowing down. Most people like to add dry hops once primary fermentation is complete, but they don't transfer the beer first. Finally some of us like to dry hop once the beer is off the yeast cake, and transferred into a secondary.

My advice, unless it's an IPA or Imperial IPA, just dry hop right in the primary. If you're using pellets, just toss them straight in once fermentation is complete. If you are brewing an IPA or IIPA, and you want huge hop aroma, I like to rack to a secondary vessel first. The hop oils will stick to the yeast cells, so the less yeast in contact with the beer, the more hop oils you get from the dry hopping. At least that's the theory.
 
Dryhopping with pellots straight in was a mess for me.

I feel like im going to get less out of my pellot dryhopping by them being in a small hop sack, because of the less surface contact,i didnt have marbles to weigh them down, i may end up getting tea-balls.

This last post scottland commented on hop oils sticking to yeast cells is interesting,ive never heard this before.
There are lots of opinions on dry hopping and even in midwests catalog in the hops section it comments that for best results allow for two weeks for best results and up to 6 weeks,some people feel you get grassyness,i like grassy if they are any thing like wet hops,im going for the more time then.Ive only dry hopped a few times also.
 
My standard routine:

  • Wait till fermentation is complete (varies on the recipe).
  • Rack to a secondary clearing vessel (Because I like to harvest my yeast).
  • 10 days.
  • I’ve recently converted to using a 1-gallon paint strainer bag with marbles to hold my hops and use a bucket for dry hopping.
  • I’m a pellet guy.

Works fine for me but opinions are greatly varied.
 
FWIWTY, I always dry-hop my beers in a clarifying tank with leaves/cones, letting them float on top for usually no more than seven days:

dryhop.jpg


I then keg at 12psi for about three weeks thereafter, which usually leaves me with perfectly clear and nicely matured APAs, IPAs, and Double IPAs (my three favorite styles):

homebrewfix.jpg
 
FWIWTY, I always dry-hop my beers in a clarifying tank with leaves/cones, letting them float on top for usually no more than seven days:

dryhop.jpg


I then keg at 12psi for about three weeks thereafter, which usually leaves me with perfectly clear and nicely matured APAs, IPAs, and Double IPAs (my three favorite styles):

homebrewfix.jpg

Perhaps off topic, but what in the heck is Das Weihnachtszeitsbier ? I can't find anything about it w/a search. Search keeps coming back to one of your posts and signature.
 
I dry hop in a secondary (usually a bucket). I put the hops in the bucket first. Just my weird way to make myself believe I'm making sure all the hops get some wetting.....

I followed the same principle yesterday bottling a six pack from a batch that I was kegging...sugar in the bottle first, beer in second.
 
Perhaps off topic, but what in the heck is Das Weihnachtszeitsbier ? I can't find anything about it w/a search. Search keeps coming back to one of your posts and signature.

It is a lightly spiced amber peach ale of my own design that I make for the holidays. The keg is about to kick, as a matter of fact. I hopefully have enough left to partly fill a growler for this weekend's brew club meeting.

:rockin:
 
I'm not a fan of dry hopping. I don't think it's worth it...I'd rather boil hops than soak them and throw them away. Aromatics. The best way to dry hop is the very same day they are picked. That's gonna give you the most aroma...

Sierra Nevada is doing a darn good Wet Hop Beer...Check out the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere beers. I greatly prefer the New Zealand hops.
 
there's potential pros and cons to any method, so you really just have to try things and see what works for you.

1) some people add them after primary fermentation is complete, with the completely logical argument that fermentation produces CO2, which can have the effect of scrubbing out hop aroma as it bubbles out of the beer. Therefore, you want to add hops after the fermentation is done.

2) some people add them with a small amount of fermentation remaining (i.e. 80-90% of the way to final gravity), with the completely logical argument that adding dry hops will introduce some oxygen, so you want to add them at a time when the eyast are still active and therefore most likely to consume the oxygen and prevent oxidation of the finished product.

3) some people like whole hops, with the completely logical argument that they are less processed and have better aromatic properties.

4) some people like to use pellet hops, with the completely logical argument that whole hops absorb a lot of liquid that you can't recover.

I could go on, but hopefully its clear that there's a lot of very logical arguments for a lot of variations on dry hopping.

I will say I can't agree with OldWorld that dry hopping isn't worth it, but that's the beauty of homebrewing. I think its worth it, so I will do it where appropriate, which for me is quiet often. OldWorld thinks it isn't, and therefore won't. :D
 
Im going to "ranch" my yeast but i dryhopped with some pellots in a bag which are floating for about two weeks. Anybody think this will still be ok as long as i wash it, i plan on pulling the hop bag,racking-bottleing then getting about a cup of slurry adding boiled cooled water let it settle a few minutes then pour that off into another jar.This sound good? I havnt done this before and im not about to waste this liquid expensive yeast. Ive already checked out the sticky in the fermentation forum also.
 

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