Dry Hopping one gallon batches

[Immocles]

Hey folks, I plan on tinkering with a few experimental things in the coming weekends, and I am curious the easiest/cleanest/best way to dry hop in a one gallon fermenter jug. These will be my first non-kit attempts, so starting small. I'm already figuring the yield will be low, so I don't want to lose further bottles to hop schmutz. Do hop bags work well? The grain bags I used for steeping are quite long, and I'm frugal, so I figure I can cut in half and retie the lose ends?
Also, how much hops is too much? In one instance, I plan on using about .75oz of armarillo throughout the boil. Is the leftover ~.5oz that I will have remaining too much for a small batch?
I suppose its mostly in the taste of the beholder...

Thanks!

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

When I dry hop with small batches, I throw the hops in loose. When I ferment in one gallon carboys, I accept that I'm going to get six (maybe seven) bottles. If I want more bottles, I'll make a slightly larger batch of wort and ferment in a two gallon food grade pail. If it's a really hoppy beer, I'll make a little more wort to account for the loses.

 

[RM-MN]

Hey folks, I plan on tinkering with a few experimental things in the coming weekends, and I am curious the easiest/cleanest/best way to dry hop in a one gallon fermenter jug. These will be my first non-kit attempts, so starting small. I'm already figuring the yield will be low, so I don't want to lose further bottles to hop schmutz. Do hop bags work well? The grain bags I used for steeping are quite long, and I'm frugal, so I figure I can cut in half and retie the lose ends?
Also, how much hops is too much? In one instance, I plan on using about .75oz of armarillo throughout the boil. Is the leftover ~.5oz that I will have remaining too much for a small batch?
I suppose its mostly in the taste of the beholder...

Thanks!

You misspelled trub.

Some brewers think you can never have too much hops for dry hopping. I don't think what you have left will be too much. I have not used bags for dry hopping but instead sanitize one and put the siphon inside it when I'm ready to bottle to filter out the hops.

 

[Abbas]

When I dry hop with small batches, I throw the hops in loose. When I ferment in one gallon carboys, I accept that I'm going to get six (maybe seven) bottles. If I want more bottles, I'll make a slightly larger batch of wort and ferment in a two gallon food grade pail. If it's a really hoppy beer, I'll make a little more wort to account for the loses.

I brewed my first 1 gallon batch from a kit that a friend no longer wanted. I added some flaked oats in an attempt to make a NEIPA. I'm used to doing 5 gallon batches so when I only got 7 beers I was a little pissed. Beer tasted good though.

 

[Immocles]

Yeah I'm expecting a lower yield. Ideally I would get closer to 9 per batch but I guess I will see. Its mostly about seeing what types of hops I enjoy personally, and having a little bit of variety at all times. I like the idea of the bag over the siphon as a filter. I might have to try that.

 

[AZBeer]

Depends on what you are fermenting in. If it's a little 1 gallon jug/ carboy with a narrow opening, I would throw them in loose. If it's something with a wide mouth opening like a bucket or something, then you can bag them. I used to use cheesecloth cause you can get it for cheap. Just gotta get creative on how you tie it up.

When I used to do 1.25g batches I would dry hop with 1-1.5oz usually.

Also if you have the ability to cold crash your fermentor down below 40F after fermentation is done a few days before you bottle, that will help getting stuff to settle out.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

... first 1 gallon batch ... so when I only got 7 beers ...

Been there . Bought some two gallon food grade pails .

Probably a rhetorical question (but open for discussion):

Why is it that a five gallon kit is intended to yield five gallons of packaged beer, but one gallon kits measure the volume in the kettle at the end of the boil (assuming 'top-up' water is added)?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Its mostly about seeing what types of hops I enjoy personally, and having a little bit of variety at all times.

Have you heard about Basic Brewing Radio's "Hop Sampler" approach?

 

[Immocles]

Have you heard about Basic Brewing Radio's "Hop Sampler" approach?

I literally just added 2-3 of those podcast episodes to my phone for my drive to work tonight