Dry hopping question

[Big10Seaner]

Hello fellow brewers,

First of all let me introduce myself. I've been checking out the forum for a few months now and reading some topics to get a better overall idea of the whole brewing process. I have to say this forum is full of great information!

I'm currently on my 4th batch of brew, an IPA. It requires that I dry hop 1.5 oz of Cascade hops in the secondary. What are some recommended methods for dry hopping? Do any problems arise with just throwing in the hops?

 

[tagz]

I dry hopped for the first time on my last batch. Was planning on using a hop bag, but after I bagged it up I took a look at the opening on the glass carboy and realized there was no way it was going to get in there. So, I ended up just dumping them in. You loose a bit of the beer when you siphon but otherwise no problems.

I wonder though - with the hops floating on top, how much can the flavoring seep out? It just doesn't seem like the flavors and aroma would penetrate the whole batch. I've heard of people putting a marble in the hop sack to sink it, but if you're using loose hops, what do you do?

 

[brewt00l]

 

[IndyPABrewGuy]

I wonder though - with the hops floating on top, how much can the flavoring seep out? It just doesn't seem like the flavors and aroma would penetrate the whole batch. I've heard of people putting a marble in the hop sack to sink it, but if you're using loose hops, what do you do?

I have had no issue with nose/flavor when DHing with loose leaf hops. First time, I added them to secondary after racking. Second time, racked onto them. Same thing, they float.

Cheers,

 

[b767fo]

I just dump the pellets into the secondary. Over a couple of weeks the green mass shifts from the top to the bottom. Then I use a piece of sanitized nylon over the downstream side of the transfer hose when kegging/bottling; I end up losing almost no beer and the result is as clear as any other.

 

[ShortSnoutBrewing]

If you keg, you can tie a hop bag to the dip tube or add some weights to the bag to hold the hops down.

 

[Brewing Clamper]

What I do:

For pellets, just dump them in the carboy. For whole, put them in a bag with a couple of big marbles...

 

[San_Diego_Matt]

I dry hopped my first batch and was set on using a bag for them. I used a good sized hop bag, put 10 or so sanitized marbles into it, used a zip tie to divide the bag into 2 compartments, added the hops to the top compartment and tied the bag off. My idea behind this was that the marbles would sit on the bottom of the carboy and the hops would float above it and distribute the aroma/flavor better than if they just floated on top before sinking to the bottom.

I stuffed the bag into the carboy and a day later it was floating on top of the wort. When I went to bottle it took about a half an hour to get that stpid bag out of there without ripping it. I had my first taste of the beer yesterday and it's good, but could have used a few more hops.

I brewed my 2nd batch yesterday and it too calls for dry hopping. This time I'm just chucking the pellets into the secondary and they can do whatever they want in there for the 2ish weeks before I bottle.