Dry hopping in secondary or now in primary

[thomas5451]

Fellas, I would like an opinion on dry hopping! I have a Sierra Nevada pale ale clone (5 gallons) that has been fermenting in primary for almost a week and a half now. I was going to rack into secondary and just throw in dry hops(pellets) but after reading that is probably not the best thing to do. Should I just dry hop in the primary up until a full 2 weeks then transfer into secondary? Not really into using the bags into carboy nor have I ever used them before. Or maybe I transfer in the bottling bucket now and dry hop? Appreciate any thoughts!

 

[Hammy71]

There's something wrong with just throwing the pellets in? Nah.... I (and many others) do it all the time. I've dry hop in a secondary, but many just use the primary. For my process it's just easier to let the beer stay in the primary for 3 weeks, then transfer to a secondary vessel and dry hop for an additional week. I seem to get clearer beer that way, but your results may vary.

 

[CA_Mouse]

I used to transfer to a secondary for dry hopping, but started dry hopping in my kegs instead. After having way too much hop material (despite using a hop bag), I dry hopped in my primary for the first time a week ago. IIPA dry hopped with 9oz of hops I just dropped them loose into the primary bucket closed the lid and racked into a keg 6 days later. Carbonating in my fridge right now and the smell when bleeding the keg to reduce pressure was just as great as it was the last time I dry hopped with this combination of hops.

 

[krackin]

Unless you have a specific need to rack to a secondary it generally isn't worth doing. That would include yeast harvest, another batch needing your primary, special additions and a few other reasons. If just to dry hop, not important.

 

[thomas5451]

Mouse, at what point did you throw the dry hops in the primary?

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[thomas5451]

Would you guys say a week before bottling?

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[BeerLoverHere]

I've done both. Straight into primary after fermentation is done and also into a bag in secondary. I prefer straight into primary hands down. The pellets break up more and expose more surface area to the aroma that we all want. When I use hops in a bag, I never get as much aroma as I would for using the same amount of hops as I would when I just drop them loosely into the primary. I don't let them sit in primary for much more than a week tops. I cold crash for a few days, then bottle. Beer is clear as can be!

 

[CA_Mouse]

Mouse, at what point did you throw the dry hops in the primary?

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I checked gravity on day 13 and again on day 15, dry hops went in on day 15 right after I confirmed the reading had not changed in the 2 days.

 

[BeerLoverHere]

Would you guys say a week before bottling?

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Yes, 1 week before bottling is perfect/what I do and I am happy with my results.

 

[CA_Mouse]

Would you guys say a week before bottling?

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There is a lot of debate on how long to dry hop. A recent BYO article by Brad Smith mentions 4 days. I tend to go between 5 and 10 days, dependant on if there are other things besides hops (fruit, wood chips, spices). This last one was 6 days before I racked to a keg.

 

[krackin]

I try to hit 5 to 7 days before bottling. If that looks like a problem due to life, a little more wait before addition isn't a bad thing.

 

[thomas5451]

Nice! I believe I got the answers I need, appreciate fellas!

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