Dry Hopping - quick question

[MountainGoatBrewing]

Stuck a 1/2 oz bag of Cascade whole leaf hops in today, but it just seemed to float...I didn't have the presence of mind to sanitize something so I could push it down under the surface so as to soak all the hops...

Will the bag eventually get saturated on its own over the next few days or should I open it back up and forcibly submerge it???

Thanks!

 

[hercher]

It should sink eventually, but are you dryhopping in a keg or a secondary? If a keg, I would just let it be. If a secondary, you might want to forcibly submerge it.

 

[Captain Damage]

It will sink to just below/on the surface and all the hops will get wet. I weight my dry hop bags with sanitized marbles and use a string on the other end so can position them about in the middle of the carboy. The string makes it easier to pull them out at bottling time.

 

[MountainGoatBrewing]

dry hopping in the primary...no secondary on this one

 

[Yooper]

They tend to float, but that's fine. The wort will still saturate them. The only thing you don't want to do is pack them tightly in a bag, as then the wort can't really permeate them. If they are fairly loose in the bag, it'll be fine!

 

[unionrdr]

I gotta get some more muslin grain bags for the whole leaf hops. They take up a lot more space than pellets. The grain bags seem to work well with the whole leaf though. They float sorta like an iceberg,90% of it will be below the surface when they all get wet. Works for me...& happy Thanksgiving y'all!

 

[Jester]

I use pellet hops for dry hopping and even after weighing them down with marbles, they still float and move around. I'll look one day and it'll be at the top of the fermenter and then it'll disappear for a few days. Guess it is bobbing around in there.... hahah

 

[MountainGoatBrewing]

sounds good either way, I suppose!

 

[dextryn]

Question about sanitation. Do you do anything to the hops before you put them in? How do you ensure that you're not contaminating your beer?

 

[badhabit]

Question about sanitation. Do you do anything to the hops before you put them in? How do you ensure that you're not contaminating your beer?

The hops are fine, if you use the bag and weight, make sure to sanitize that before using.

 

[hercher]

Question about sanitation. Do you do anything to the hops before you put them in? How do you ensure that you're not contaminating your beer?

I believe hops are naturally bacteriocidal (is that a word?), so you don't need to worry about that.

 

[Pdeezy]

I believe hops are naturally bacteriocidal (is that a word?), so you don't need to worry about that.

Yes, they are antiseptic i believe.

 

[MountainGoatBrewing]

The hops are fine, if you use the bag and weight, make sure to sanitize that before using.

wait, how do you sanitize a hop bag?? I did not do that at all...

 

[hercher]

wait, how do you sanitize a hop bag?? I did not do that at all...

You'll still be OK. I dry hop in the keg, so when I'm sanitizing my keg, I throw my "hop bag" (I use women's nylon stockings -- they're cheaper) into the sanitizer.

 

[Pdeezy]

wait, how do you sanitize a hop bag?? I did not do that at all...

I just boil mine for like 10-15 mins.

 

[copyright1997]

wait, how do you sanitize a hop bag?? I did not do that at all...

I've forgotten to do that and the beer has been fine.

But, you should either put the bag in sanitizer for a couple of minutes (to sanitize it) or even better in boiling water for 10-15 minutes (to sterilize it).

 

[MountainGoatBrewing]

ha - never even thought of any of those options...live and learn and next time I'll definitely remember to take care that!