Dry Hopping Question

[HootHootHoot]

I am getting ready to make my first IPA and it calls for dry hopping in the secondary.

Is it beneficial to use a straining hop bag for this process? Or will it be better to just put the hops in there?

I am worried about stray hops getting into my final product, and thought maybe a straining bag wouldn't take away from the flavor and solve the issue.

Thanks

 

[mashman]

I just drop the pellet hops into my primary after the kareusen begins to fall (about a week or so).....I don't do a secondary....when I keg I just attach a nylon grain bag onto the end of my auto siphon with a rubber band

 

[pwndabear]

When i dry hop, i just throw em right in. if you are doing whole hop flowers or plugs, throw a hop bag over your siphon. pellets generally disintegrate and go into the trub.

 

[GRHunter]

I dry hop in my secondary. But I also run my pellets through a coffee grinder first. Then I just drop the hop dust onto the beer and it settles in to do it's thing.

 

[businesstime]

I just drop the pellet hops into my primary after the kareusen begins to fall (about a week or so).....I don't do a secondary....when I keg I just attach a nylon grain bag onto the end of my auto siphon with a rubber band

+1, though I use a hop sack instead. It collects a pretty good amount. I also dry hop in my primary, just towards the end of the fermentation stage. Introducing hops does add a small amount of O2, so letting the yeast consume it helps. There are some concerns with CO2 "scrubbing" your hop aromas and leaving, but I just counter that with more hops.

 

[seanybubbles]

I usually just drop the pellets right in the secondary and then rack the beer on top. I find pellets work best for dry hopping. Just cold crash and use gelatin for a few days....good luck.

 

[Bentpirate]

For those that simply add the hops to the primary - do you typically wash your yeast or throw everything away. I like to re-use my yeast as often as I can - I can imagine that washing would be more indepth with adding pellets to the primary; thoughts?

 

[rpatton]

I use a straining bag to hold the hops (pellets) in a secondary, after a couple tries without one I find it easier. Straining it during the transfer to a keg or bottling bucket just never worked well for me. I either left too much hop matter in the beer, or oxidized it when the straining bag clogged or stuck to the autosiphon.

 

[CrustyBrau]

Hmmmm... Ideas hatching...

Anybody ever put hops in a blender?

 

[GRHunter]

Hmmmm... Ideas hatching...

Anybody ever put hops in a blender?

Technically a coffee grinder is just a teensy weensy blender ... so yeah, I've put hops in a blender.

 

[CrustyBrau]

Technically a coffee grinder is just a teensy weensy blender ... so yeah, I've put hops in a blender.

Oooh yeah, I guess. We use a bur grinder now, so I was thinking from that angle, and how it would be harder to sanitize.

So uh, nevermind

 

[joel4482]

For those that simply add the hops to the primary - do you typically wash your yeast or throw everything away. I like to re-use my yeast as often as I can - I can imagine that washing would be more indepth with adding pellets to the primary; thoughts?

I dry hop in the secondary and reuse the yeast from the primary. It is way to messy otherwise.