First dry hop - confused by the results

[HopQuest]

Hey all,

This is my second extract brew. I went with Northern Brewer's Dead Ringer, and this time I felt like everything went much smoother than my first time around.

I hit the desired OG at about 1.065, left it in primary for 12 days, measured a FG of about 1.011, then racked to secondary for 7 days before deciding to add the dry hops (1 oz. Centennial ). I did this somewhat early I think, but I thought it would be good to keep an IPA like this young.

So...here's my confusion. 3 days after adding the dry hops, it really looks kinda strange in the fermenter. The hops that haven't sunk to the bottom look dry and crusty, as if I sprinkled breadcrumbs over the top. Some of it is clumping together and turning white-ish. Should I be concerned about infection? Sorry I can't rotate the picture.

 

[unionrdr]

Sometimes dry hopping can produce infections on the floaters exposed to air & what Co2 is left. I use muslin bags sanitized for this. Getting them evenly wetted at first can help. But minimal air space helps more.

 

[mrgrimm101]

How does it smell? Let it go for the full dry hop time, then take a sample to taste when you decide to bottle. You should be able to smell/taste an infection.

I dry hop with pellets..I just toss them in and let them do their thing. They tend to break up and float back to the top for a while. If they don't end up settling, I just make sure to rack from underneath the hop layer.

 

[ericbw]

Shouldn't hops help keep a beer from getting infected? Aren't they added as a preservative?

I think you could get mold on top of them, though. Are you sure it's not bubbles?

 

[unionrdr]

The hops have to get evenly wetted, basically. It's the oils dissolving into the beer that preserve it & add flavor, aroma or bittering. If it looks like broken ice pack on top &/or getting white slimy bubbles, it's infected.

 

[HopQuest]

Thanks for the quick repose guys! Luckily it's not actually bubbly yet, and nothing smells funky. I'll just have to rack to the bottling bucket from below that layer I suppose.

 

[mrgrimm101]

I'll just have to rack to the bottling bucket from below that layer I suppose.

That's what I would do. You can put a sanitized muslin bag over the end of your siphon to try and filter out any hop material from getting into your bottling bucket. I've transferred hop material before, and it doesn't always settle in the bottles..

 

[Rootski]

On my last dry hopped beer I tried the muslin bag over the end of my siphon and didn't like the results. It clogged up after not too long. I had to think quick and decided to line my bottling bucket with a sanitized paint strainer bag and siphon unfiltered into of the bag. When I pulled out the bag there was some hop material, but I must have done a good job racking because it wasn't too bad.

 

[PrinceOfThePoint]

Cold crash for multiple days at refrigerator temps.

 

[mrgrimm101]

On my last dry hopped beer I tried the muslin bag over the end of my siphon and didn't like the results. It clogged up after not too long. I had to think quick and decided to line my bottling bucket with a sanitized paint strainer bag and siphon unfiltered into of the bag. When I pulled out the bag there was some hop material, but I must have done a good job racking because it wasn't too bad.

Good idea. My autosiphon has a little cap that goes on the end that acts as a sort of filter of sorts..it's not 100% effective but it works pretty well.

 

[JimRausch]

On my last dry hopped beer I tried the muslin bag over the end of my siphon and didn't like the results. It clogged up after not too long. I had to think quick and decided to line my bottling bucket with a sanitized paint strainer bag and siphon unfiltered into of the bag. When I pulled out the bag there was some hop material, but I must have done a good job racking because it wasn't too bad.

Rootski- how was the bottle carbonation consistency when you did this? I'm asking because the one time I tried the same, my consistency was poor- some way overcarbonated, some flat, only about 1/3 were perfect. My theory(which could be full of beans) was that with the bag I didn't get the usual swirl when siphoning, so the mix was not good. Granted only one sample size, so maybe there was another reason.

 

[Rootski]

Rootski- how was the bottle carbonation consistency when you did this? I'm asking because the one time I tried the same, my consistency was poor- some way overcarbonated, some flat, only about 1/3 were perfect. My theory(which could be full of beans) was that with the bag I didn't get the usual swirl when siphoning, so the mix was not good. Granted only one sample size, so maybe there was another reason.

I normally put priming sugar in the bottling bucket right as I start my siphon and make sure it swirls like you said. That time I made sure to stir it with a long sanitized spoon carefully after pulling the bag out. The carbonation has been very consistent on that batch.

 

[JimRausch]

Thanks for the reply Rootski. Ever since that batch, I do take time every 12 bottles to gently stir. Have been consistent ever since.

 

[HopQuest]

Cold crash for multiple days at refrigerator temps.

This is something I was considering. My fridge only gets down into the low 40s though- would that be low enough? Also if infection is still a possibility, would sinking anything infected ruin the potentially good beer below the hop layer? Thanks guys.

 

[mrgrimm101]

It's better than nothing. I've read that the colder the better, as long as it stays a degree or few above freezing. I'm not 100%, but I would imagine that if there was an infection on the top hop layer, the whole thing will be infected anyway, so it shouldn't matter if it sinks.

 

[Clonefan94]

On my last dry hopped beer I tried the muslin bag over the end of my siphon and didn't like the results. It clogged up after not too long. I had to think quick and decided to line my bottling bucket with a sanitized paint strainer bag and siphon unfiltered into of the bag. When I pulled out the bag there was some hop material, but I must have done a good job racking because it wasn't too bad.

Did you cold crash first? I use the bag over siphon as well and have never had an issue as long as I don't push it to the bottom I slowly move the end of the siphon down as the fermenter empties.

To the OP. Almost every time I dry hop I half convince myself it got infected. Between the oils from the hops and co2 bubbles that come out of solution, it always looks a little funny. I've dry hopped over 15 beers and haven't had one real infection yet. Those hop pellets really make things look nasty at times. Every once in a while, if the hops are staying on top, I give it a gentle nudge to break them up and get them to sink. Be careful though, no splashing, just get the beer to move a little and they should start to sink.

I think the co2 grabs on to the hop particles and float them. Your beer looks similar to what I see when dry hopping.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[RmikeVT]

Hey all,

This is my second extract brew. I went with Northern Brewer's Dead Ringer, and this time I felt like everything went much smoother than my first time around.

I hit the desired OG at about 1.065, left it in primary for 12 days, measured a FG of about 1.011, then racked to secondary for 7 days before deciding to add the dry hops (1 oz. Centennial ). I did this somewhat early I think, but I thought it would be good to keep an IPA like this young.

So...here's my confusion. 3 days after adding the dry hops, it really looks kinda strange in the fermenter. The hops that haven't sunk to the bottom look dry and crusty, as if I sprinkled breadcrumbs over the top. Some of it is clumping together and turning white-ish. Should I be concerned about infection? Sorry I can't rotate the picture.

Just FYI -- this is exactly what my dry hopped beers look like a few days after adding a few ounces of dry hop pellets. They swell up, expand into a green sludge that covers the top of the wort, then they take a week to sink to the bottom.

When you rack, rack from the middle, in between the bottom hop sludge layer sitting on top of the trub and the top of the wort will there will surely by hops floating around.

 

[d3track]

This is something I was considering. My fridge only gets down into the low 40s though- would that be low enough? Also if infection is still a possibility, would sinking anything infected ruin the potentially good beer below the hop layer? Thanks guys.

That should be good, I'd give it a solid 48 hours crashing and it will make transfer much more clean.

 

[DarthCitra]

I use a pretty small micron nylon bag over my siphon and have never had a problem the beer. There will always be some clogging towards the end since i dry hop with around 4oz and it sticks to the bag but nothing terrible.

In response to the original post, just throw your dry hops in and dont look at it until its been dry hopped for 5-6 days, fermenting in a bucket does help you not freak out. Once its finished and take your FG taste your sample and see. You're already balls deep in the process so bottle and take it as a learning lesson if by some chance there was an infection.

 

[HopQuest]

Cloneman94 and RmikeVT-- Thanks for the insight, that makes me feel better. I'm hoping that a little shaking and a cold crash will allow the beer to clear out for bottling on Sunday.

So you can just start bottling right after the cold crash? Never done this before.