Dry hopping without hops bags?

[McGlothan]

Hi,

I just added 1oz hops pellets to my brew that has been in secondary for a week. The hops are all floating on the top. I was going to use a bag but got much advice to just toss pellets in. Id does not appear as if the layer on top will settle to the bottom. My question is, what is the best possible way to rack to my bottling bucket without transferring hops residuals? Ive heard of muslin bags over the end of the racking cane but will this cause a loss of siphon due to slow stream through mesh? That would be frustrating as I have dealt with siphoning problems in the past due to air getting in between racking cane and tubing causing me to pump siphon the entire time possibly oxidizing the brew. I don't want to run in to this again. Any tips will help. Thank You.

Shawn

 

[wilserbrewer]

With time they will settle. You can use a piece of muslin over the racking cane if you wish. Be patient, they will settle. Even if you get hops in your bottles, they will settle to the bottom. RDWHAHB

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Muslin over the racking cane won't affect the siphon unless it gets clogged.

 

[McGlothan]

What about over the end of the tube in the bottling bucket? And should I have a coarse bag instead of a fine mesh bag? Like a grain bag? I only have a week before bottling it. Will it settle that quickly?

 

[BBL_Brewer]

A course grain bag (muslin) is what you want. If you use a fine mesh it may clog up on you. And yes, you could put some over the bottling spigot. It may not all settle out in a week.

 

[Brew-boy]

Give the carboy a slight giggle each day, they will sink.

 

[McGlothan]

Man, I just BARELY jiggled it and they all immediately started to fall. Didn't know that would do the trick. Thanks. I might still do the mesh bag trick but where have people had the most success putting the bag without clogging? The end of the hose seem like it would be less likely to stop the siphon

 

[NewDecadeBrewery]

What about over the end of the tube in the bottling bucket? And should I have a coarse bag instead of a fine mesh bag? Like a grain bag? I only have a week before bottling it. Will it settle that quickly?

My guess is that they will clog your racking cane and tubing before they get to a muslin bag at the end of the transfer tubing/cane if you suck hop material into it. NB sells a metal sleeve called a "sure screen" that I have dry hopped in the keg with and never had a clog. Maybe you could put one of those on the racking cane that goes into the fermenter if you need to. You have a week the hops may very well settle anyway.

 

[McGlothan]

Thanks for the quick tips everyone! I will use this info and move forward. I am going to just hope they settle in a week. If not, maybe I can just rack from the middle with a muslin bag tightly over the fermenter end of the cane

 

[Wobbegong]

Thanks for the quick tips everyone! I will use this info and move forward. I am going to just hope they settle in a week. If not, maybe I can just rack from the middle with a muslin bag tightly over the fermenter end of the cane

If you have someplace to cold crash at the end of your dry hop, they will go to the bottom nicely in a day or two.

 

[McGlothan]

What do you think about 35-40 degrees? A garage in Colorado

 

[Wobbegong]

What do you think about 35-40 degrees? A garage in Colorado

I use my garage to do this too. A day in that garage and those hops will be at the bottom.

 

[mxpx5678]

I dry hopped my beer for the first time. Didn't filter enough out an it clogged my keg dip tube and valve. So next time I will use bags.

 

[kingmatt]

I just throw my hops (I use pellet) right into my secondary and rack my beer on top, let it dry hop for 7-10 days and then cold crash it for 24-48 hrs. All the hops sink to the bottom and I simply carefully rack my beer to the keg. If you are careful then you won't get any hop debris in your keg.

 

[McGlothan]

Cool. I will cold crash in the garage and THEN use bags. Double tap!

 

[Wobbegong]

Cool. I will cold crash in the garage and THEN use bags. Double tap!

Once you see how well the cold crash works, you wont really want to use the bag.

The bag might be a good idea in the summer when the garage isn't cold....

 

[McGlothan]

OK. Ill go with the cold crash and go from there. I was hoping for warmer weather but not anymore

 

[mrdauber64]

I put a 5 gallon paint strainer bag over my auto-siphon. I have never had a problem holding my siphon or with getting hops in my bottling bucket. It works great!

 

[McGlothan]

Will a cold crash between 30-40 degrees harm the yeast?

 

[kingmatt]

Will a cold crash between 30-40 degrees harm the yeast?

No, they will just go to sleep until you warm them up again.

 

[Spartan1979]

Give the carboy a slight giggle each day, they will sink.

What kind of jokes do hops like?

 

[Yooper]

I don't jiggle my carboy, use bags, or cold crash. The hops debris may float, while some will sink, but it's no problem. I start my siphon in the middle, and just lower the siphon as the level of the beer lowers as well. It's super easy and I don't have any problems at all.

 

[justino411]

So a skeleton walks into a bar. He orders a beer and a mop......nope my hops are still floating too.

 

[PTBYOOJ]

I had a similar concern, used a muslin bag and it works perfectly, I tied it with a sanitized rubber band.

I dry hopped with 4 ounces and didn't have a problem, the siphon will be affected by plant material in the tube, not because of the bag. But 2 ounces, you should be good.