So I finally got to taste the Pale Ale I made and I had dry hopped in the fermenter after the initial fermentation. I have bits of hops in some of the bottles floating around. I am assuming they aren't harmful to drink. However is there a strainer I should have used before bottling or how bout those hop balls or strainer bags for dry hopping. What do people use when dry hopping in the fermenter?
Well, I have not used the tea balls. They might work, but I have no experience. I only dry hop with pellet hops. Pellet hops expand more than you might think...
I use the following for dry hopping - I dry hop in the primary most of the time, and typically use 2 oz of pellet hops for dry hopping.
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=1054
This works great - since I began using it I don't have problems with hop floaties in my beer.
I keg, and before I used this bageven with cold crashing I had floaties until I used this bag.
I also use a large stainless steel bolt to sink the bag when dry hopping. The nylon is tightly woven, and naturally wants to float. Even four large glass marbles didn't keep it down, or at least suspended. So, I use a large stainless bolt.
I boil the bag and bolt before placing them and the hops in the fermenter.
I use Better Bottles for fermenters. If I'm patient and careful, removing the bag is not hard. Before removing the bag, though, I harvest the yeast for repitching - haven't had any problems.
Works very well. No floaties, and good hop aroma.
Cheers
