Dry Hopping

[brandonlovesbeer]

If one dry hops post fermentation, why is sanitation not an issue, or maybe it is? I've been dry hopping at "flame-out" (my brew rig is electric so I just turn off the element). I can see where aroma would be lost the way I have been doing it, but I'm concerned with sanitation. My dry hop pellets are contained in a stainless cylinder with a screw on cap. Would I just sanitize the cylinder and cap, insert my hops, then toss into the fermenter?

That's not actually dry hopping. That's just adding hops at flameout to near boiling wort.

Hops are a natural disinfectant which is why they were added to beer in the first place. They prevent spoilage.

So unless you drop them in the dirt before adding them to the post fermented wort (which technically is beer at this point) there should be no worries of infection.