Dry hopping with whole leaf hops

[farmskis]

I have dropped in the whole leaf hops and they have spread out on the top of the wort but it does not seem that they are soaking into the wort... Just floating on top. Will they eventually soak in or do I need to find a way to help them soak in? Any one else have this issue? How did you fix it? (They have been in for about 5 hours)

 

[RM-MN]

Whole leaf hops tend to keep floating but they still seem to add a lot of aroma to the beer. They are slow to soak up the beer but eventually will be just about ready to sink. When you rack the beer to bottle it or keg it, use a strainer over the input end of the siphon or the hops will clog everything. I use a 1 gallon paint strainer bag held on with a rubber band. Sometimes even that will clog and break the siphon so be prepared to lift it out to drop the hops off the bag and restart the siphon.

 

[farmskis]

Thanks rm mn! I was expecting a tad more difficult time racking the beer to keg but i was also hoping the better aroma would be worth the little extra hassle. We shall see... Right now it looks kinda cool with the hops spread all over the top! I will just give it time as they gradually soak up and start to sink. I plan on leaving them for at least 10 days so they have time to soak in.

 

[RM-MN]

Some people have reported a vegetal or grassy flavor from leaving the hops in too long. I've left some for 2 weeks without noticing it but take this as a heads up.

It's also been mentioned that you will have extracted all the hop aroma before day 5 and that between 3 and 5 days is the sweet spot. I haven't tried that yet.

 

[youreanimpulse]

I dry hop for 4 days, and it's great. I use pellets. I've heard of folks using sanitized marbles in hop bags to submerge leaf hops.

 

[Bensiff]

Put them in a bag and weigh them down with some stainless steel if you are really concerned. I personally bag them and gently submerge them until they are good and soaked and then let them float. If you have anyone who says you can't make a hoppy enough beer for them, like my wife, squeeze the hops into a glass when you are done dry hopping. That nectar will give you lips, mouth, and throat a good burn.