Dry Hopping Question...

[Pelikan]

I'm surprised I didn't think of this sooner....

When dry hopping, does one need to be concerned about the sanitation of the hops, given that they aren't going to be boiled, or will the alcohol in the beer and the general antiseptic properties of hops overrule any nasties?

 

[blacklab]

No worries. Just toss 'em in there. If I use a cheesecloth bag, sometimes I will boil it before putting the hops in and putting it in the secondary, sometimes not. The hops themselves are antiseptic in nature anyway(as you mention).

By the time you're dryhopping, fermentation has completed and there's 5-7% alcohol in there anyway. Much tougher to contaminate at that point.

 

[s3n8]

I was at a brew/bike function recently and a guy from Troegs was there and brought a couple big baggies of Amarillo, Palisade, and Chinook. People were grabbing handfulls and filling small baggies. I got a baggie of Amarillo, and was having second thoughts about using these for dry hopping an IPA i have in primary right now.

cascades from a foil pack, or Amarillo from a baggie of sweaty mountain bikers?

PS, Troegs FTW

 

[hopsalot]

I never thought of it like that but RDWHAHB, toss them in there the more the better

 

[Alamo_Beer]

Hops are naturally antibacterial..........what CAN'T hops do?

 

[Revvy]

This is from a BYO article on Dry Hopping that I posed in another thread earlier.

The secondary fermenter is generally considered the best place for dry hopping for a couple of reasons. First, the beer has already mostly fermented so, as mentioned above, the alcohol and low pH helps to ward off any bacteria on the un-sanitized hops.

 

[TeleTwanger]

All I do is clean and sanitize the bag the hops are in before opening and removing with gloved hands. THe hops themselves aren't a worry but depending on where the bags have been, you never know. I rinse the bag with water and spritz it with starsan.

 

[Bob]

I don't bother to bag them. If using whole or plugs (my preferred method), in they go. If using pellets, I make hops sludge my mixing them with close-to-boiling water to break up the pellets. I find this releases the yumminess more quickly than waiting for the pellets to break apart on their own. By the passage of seven days, the vast majority of the vegetative matter settles, and I'm clear to rack and fine.

Bob

 

[jklotz]

in how to brew, palmer says (pg 44)

"don't worry about adding unboiled hops to the fermenter when you are dry hopping. infection and beer spoilage from the hops just doesn't happen."

 

[jsullivan02130]

Is there a beer question that John Palmer has not already answered in HTB?

No, there is not.

This book to me is like a Shakespeare play. Every time I read it I find something that I had not noticed before.

"What a piece of work is a beer, how noble in hops,
how infinite in taste, in form and moving how express and admirable,
in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god!
The beauty of the world, the paragon of beverages."

in how to brew, palmer says (pg 44)

"don't worry about adding unboiled hops to the fermenter when you are dry hopping. infection and beer spoilage from the hops just doesn't happen."

 

[cefmel]

If you brew beer long enough like I have, you eventually get an infection from dry hopping. I now sanitize all hops in 180 degree water before adding to the secondary.

 

[Revvy]

If you brew beer long enough like I have, you eventually get an infection from dry hopping. I now sanitize all hops in 180 degree water before adding to the secondary.

How were you able to isolate the fact that it was the hops, and not an infection from some other contaminant like a scratch in something or a small bit of organic matter lodged someplace? How do you know specifically it was from the hops?

 

[Pelikan]

How were you able to isolate the fact that it was the hops, and not an infection from some other contaminant like a scratch in something or a small bit of organic matter lodged someplace? How do you know specifically it was from the hops?

That's a good question.

 

[TeleTwanger]

If you brew beer long enough like I have, you eventually get an infection from dry hopping. I now sanitize all hops in 180 degree water before adding to the secondary.

I'm sure it wasn't the hops but even if it was its an anomaly..There's breweries that have been dry hopping for some 150 years.

 

[Revvy]

I'm sure it wasn't the hops.

I doubt it too.....

More than likey the infection came from long use of your gear, there was a scratch, or a microparticle of organic material stuck somewhere...that's why it is more than likely an experienced brewer is going to have an infection that a newb on their first or 10th batch....

but from hops in secondary added to alcohol...I doubt it..