Dry hopping - size of the hop bags

[stdean]

I'm wondering if the size of the hop bags I'm using make much of a difference when I dry hop my beers.

I'll usually dry hop with about 50g/1.7oz for 5-7 days. The hop bags I use are a little on the small size, about 11cm x 10cm (4" x 4") and the pellets usually soak up a lot of wort/beer and inflate the bag a lot.

Would it make more sense to use fewer pellets in more bags? I feel like that would allow for a larger surface area for hops to interact with the beer. Or does it not matter much since they're sitting in there for a couple of days anyway?

 

[GrogNerd]

yeah, I wasn't crazy about the small bag in my last dry hop, so next time will probably be smaller amounts in more bags

of course, I didn't do a postmortem, so can't be sure all the hops had contact with the beer

 

[lumpher]

It does help when there is enough room in the bags for the hops to be loose. It will work if the bags are full, but will take longer. Some people use a 1 gallon paint strainer bag.

 

[kh54s10]

The looser the hops are inside the bag the better. I use 1 gallon paint strainer bags. One ounce max per bag.

 

[stdean]

I've been disappointed with previous brews with the bags packed to the brim so I tried smaller bags in my most recent batch. Which is still bottle conditioning :-(

 

[Tybalthophead]

This is helpful, I just started a thread in the noobie section wondering why my whirlpool and dry hopping additions were not imparting a great hop flavor or aroma. Im going to start trying the paint bags.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I use 6"x9" bags with a draw string. I don't put more than 2 oz in them. When I dry hop I put a sanitized shot glass in the bag so it sinks.

 

[wilserbrewer]

About 5" x 24", I call them "hop socks", they are long enough to simply knot closed and are made out of fine weave polyester voile material.

 

[kombat]

I stopped using bags and screens altogether and noticed a spike in both bitterness and hop flavour/aroma. I just throw my hops directly into the boil, and my dry hops directly into the fermenter. If you can cold crash, they'll mostly sink to the bottom. A few may hang around on the surface, but you can rack beneath them. The main part of the beer will be completely clear of hop flakes.

 

[TheHopfather]

Skip the bags altogether. Just toss the hops in loose and let 'em ride. Like kombat said above, if you cold crash the hops will sink into the trub layer. If you can't cold crash you just rack from under them.

 

[stdean]

Thanks for all the tips.

Decided to go ahead and throw them in direct. They'be been sitting in there for about 5 days.

Bottling on Saturday so I'll start cold crashing tonight (Tuesday).

Should I let them dry hop longer before cold crashing? Or is 4 days long enough for them to drop out during the cold crash?

 

[kombat]

Yep, I'd start the cold crash today and bottle on Saturday.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I don't dry hop but, as other people have said, I toss the pellets directly into the boil. When its cooled and time to transfer to the fermenter I drop the wort through a stainless steel sieve. I have never used finings and never had a beer that fail do clear, excpt when expected by the stye like wheat beers.