Dry hopping in secondary. Hops not falling sinking.

[maximus4444]

So I'm not really sure what's supposed to happen. Do the hops always stay on top of the fermented beer? Or do the sink to the bottom?

 

[Hello]

Pellet or whole leaf?
Pellets will actually sink eventually, but if they don't then there is no need to worry. Leaf has never sunk for me. I just rack from underneath.

 

[maximus4444]

Whole leaf. I wasn't sure what they're supposed to do.

Just curious but if half of the leafs are in contact with the beer, then how do they impart flavor?

 

[maximus4444]

5 gallon batch. 3 oz. of citra whole leaf.

 

[theseeker4]

Weigh them down with something. Put something heavy, like sanitized stainless steel washers, into a hop sock with the hops, and they will hold them under the surface

 

[TungstenBeer]

Weigh them down with something. Put something heavy, like sanitized stainless steel washers, into a hop sock with the hops, and they will hold them under the surface

Yup. Just remember if the washers/nuts or whatever aren't easy to get in there, they'll be tough get out (speaking from experience).

Glass marbles are another choice.

 

[maximus4444]

I don't have them in any type of container/bag. They're just free floating.

Is it wise to use some sort of sterilized bag?

 

[thegreatmaibockaddict]

I don't have them in any type of container/bag. They're just free floating.

Is it wise to use some sort of sterilized bag?

I assume you are using a bucket and not a carboy? Bags are a nightmare for carboys. You are fine with free floating hops. I assume that you are kegging. If you keg, then placing the hops in a sanitized bag then into the keg is what all the pros do for that fresh hop flavor.

If you are bottle conditioning save yourself the trouble and bottle hop. Use your dry hop as a flame off charge for the priming sugar, let steep with the lid on for at least 10 mins. All those hop oils get trapped in the DME solution and go right to the beer for instant dry hop. It works!!!!!

 

[maximus4444]

I assume you are using a bucket and not a carboy? Bags are a nightmare for carboys. You are fine with free floating hops. I assume that you are kegging. If you keg, then placing the hops in a sanitized bag then into the keg is what all the pros do for that fresh hop flavor.

If you are bottle conditioning save yourself the trouble and bottle hop. Use your dry hop as a flame off charge for the priming sugar, let steep with the lid on for at least 10 mins. All those hop oils get trapped in the DME solution and go right to the beer for instant dry hop. It works!!!!!

I'm not kegging. And I am using a carboy. I haven't heard of your perspective on bottle hopping. (In my short time frame of home brewing) But I think it's really interesting.

So I would place the leaf hops in a steeping bag. Steep, at flame off, for 10 minutes. During this 10 minutes would I just let the wort cool based on the ambient temperature of the room, or would I begin using my wort chiller at that point?

I'll have to try that sometime.

 

[DrankGoodness]

when i dry hop with that much hops, i check it on the second day and if some are still dry I gently swirl the carboy until they're all in contact with the beer.

 

[thegreatmaibockaddict]

I'm not kegging. And I am using a carboy. I haven't heard of your perspective on bottle hopping. (In my short time frame of home brewing) But I think it's really interesting.

So I would place the leaf hops in a steeping bag. Steep, at flame off, for 10 minutes. During this 10 minutes would I just let the wort cool based on the ambient temperature of the room, or would I begin using my wort chiller at that point?

I'll have to try that sometime.

If you want to bottle hop, no need for a bag, find yourself a nice decent sized SS strainer to pour the hot wort through. You are not waiting for the wort to cool, rather just for the hop oils to dissolve into the wort. 10 minutes seems to do the trick, and even the pros will think you dry hopped.

Use high hop oil hops for best results. Here is a chart for reference (I add new hops when opportunity arises)

http://www.thegreatmaibockaddict.com/hop-oil-chart.shtml