Dry hopping with whole leaf techniques?

[Gtrman13]

I typically use hop pellets, but I've come to prefer dry hopping with whole leaf hops lately. I usually dry hop in the keg, so there is plenty of shaking to keg full utilization of the hops. But I just used whole leaf for the first time dry hopping in a carboy. I only used one ounce, but it seemed that some of the hops were still dry floating on the surface. I can't imagine I'll get full utilization of all the hops this way. Also, I'm planning on brewing an IPA and would like to do the same technique except I'll be dry hopping with 2.5 ounces. Is there some trick to dry hopping with larger amounts of leaf hops in a carboy? I'm sure I'm just missing something obvious since it's done all the time. Thanks!

 

[AngerManagement]

I tend to push mine in with a sanitized device of some sort until they're saturated. I used 4 oz. of whole leaf on my last batch of XPA, and the results were simply orgasmic.

 

[DannPM]

Use a hop sack and put a few sanitized nuts in it. It'll sink it to the bottom. Agitate the carboy a few times during the DH and you're good to go!

 

[SwampassJ]

and the results were simply orgasmic.

Use a hop sack and put a few sanitized nuts in it.

 

[SmAsH]

Try giving the carboy a gentle swirl and the hops should moisten right up. As long as the headspace is filled with CO2 you shouldn't have to worry about oxydation.

 

[elpenoso]

With whole leaf you'll want to use buckets for dhopping.