StophJS
Well-Known Member
Today I bottle the furious IPA clone from midwest, which requires a 3 oz dry hop. I had read all over the place that even pellet hops could simply be thrown into primary, and that they would settle out in a reasonable amount of time. I threw in my pellets at the 10 day mark, and let them sit for 8 days before coming back to bottle.
When I opened the lid today, there was still plenty of hops gunk sitting on top of the beer. I figured it would have settled out after 8 days, given that many people don't recommend dry hopping for more than a week, and some recommend even less time. The gunk on top was my first obstacle. Next came the massive amounts of loose trub on the bottom of the fermenter. I was only able to rack 4.25 gallons at best out of the 5 gallon batch, and only along with a hefty serving of trub and other floaties. I was so pissed about losing so much that I strained the rest of it out and drank it flat as I boiled my next batch. What I drank didn't taste particularly good but that might just be all the crap floating in it. Also looked identical to unfermented apple cider, so I'm all around hoping that what I got in the bottles will be a lot better after carb and fridge time.
In any case, this practice of just throwing pellets directly into primary seems like one big mess. I suppose if you plan on doing this you really do need some kind of strainer on the end of your siphon.
When I opened the lid today, there was still plenty of hops gunk sitting on top of the beer. I figured it would have settled out after 8 days, given that many people don't recommend dry hopping for more than a week, and some recommend even less time. The gunk on top was my first obstacle. Next came the massive amounts of loose trub on the bottom of the fermenter. I was only able to rack 4.25 gallons at best out of the 5 gallon batch, and only along with a hefty serving of trub and other floaties. I was so pissed about losing so much that I strained the rest of it out and drank it flat as I boiled my next batch. What I drank didn't taste particularly good but that might just be all the crap floating in it. Also looked identical to unfermented apple cider, so I'm all around hoping that what I got in the bottles will be a lot better after carb and fridge time.
In any case, this practice of just throwing pellets directly into primary seems like one big mess. I suppose if you plan on doing this you really do need some kind of strainer on the end of your siphon.