Dry hopping in carboy

[Ragman]

Let me start this off by saying I've only brewed twice but with friends who have many times before and showed me how its done.

Both times we added hop pellets straight into the fermenter (carboy) during fermentation. While some hops seem to sit on top, it looks like most settle to the bottom and sit in the trub.

Are these hops actually dissolving? Ive heard of people using bags in their fermenters but I have no idea how I would fit a bag into my carboy.

I just want to make sure I am getting the most out of my dry hops. (anyone ever try grinding hop pellets to help with the dissolving?)

 

[Rob2010SS]

Hi again Ragman.

I've never seen hop pellets sink to the bottom while maintaining the pellet form. You are fine to just dump them in loose in the carboy. If they float on top of the krausen, you can gently swirl the carboy in a circular motion (avoid splashing the beer back and forth) to get them to submerge. No need to grind them.

 

[kirbcheck]

Hey Ragman,

Pellets dissolve into a dust then settle to the bottom of the beer. They mix with yeast, proteins and other particles that might be in your fermenter to produce the trub. When you siphon off the fermented beer for bottling, your goal is to leave most of that behind.

It's the oils from the hops we are infusing into the finished product.

Hope that helps.

 

[Ragman]

Thanks guys - appreciate the info.