First Time Dry-Hopping - Is it Ready to Bottle?

[Beese]

Hi everyone,

Wondered if I could get some feedback on whether my beer is ready to be bottled yet.

I brewed a 1 gallon batch of Black IPA from a recipe from BeerCraftr. This is my first time having dry-hopped a beer, and I used pellets, rather than whole hops.

It's been dry-hopping for 5 days, as per the recipe, and I was intending to bottle today, but I'm not sure whether I should wait longer.

Obviously, the beer is dark, so it's not super easy to see, but from shining a light through it, the beer appears to be totally opaque and there's what I believe are bits of the hop pellets floating about.

Should I wait longer before I bottle, in the hope that it will clear somewhat? Or could I perhaps filter the beer through (sanitised) muslin when I syphon it into the 'bottling bucket' to mix it with the brewing sugar solution, before I put it into bottles? Or is this liable to remove too much yeast and prevent a secondary fermentation in the bottle?

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

Ed

 

[Immocles]

Do you have a cool area of the house to lower the temp a bit? That might help some particles to settle out. When I dry hop in those types of 1G jugs, I just try my best to siphon from the middle and slowly work my way down to the cake. You should see a greenish layer of hop particles just above the yeast cake. I nearly always end up transferring a few pieces here and there, but I'm pretty careful when I pour my bottles into my glass, and they fall out and settle on the bottom of the bottle during carbonation/cold conditioning in the fridge.

FWIW I generally dry hop for 3-4 days. If the beer is done fermenting, you're good to bottle.

Should I wait longer before I bottle, in the hope that it will clear somewhat? Or could I perhaps filter the beer through (sanitised) muslin when I syphon it into the 'bottling bucket' to mix it with the brewing sugar solution, before I put it into bottles? Or is this liable to remove too much yeast and prevent a secondary fermentation in the bottle?

I've had terrible luck with the filter over the siphon, but I really, really suck with a siphon. It definitely will not remove too mjuch yeast to carbonate your beer, though. No worries there.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

Granted, it's too late for this brew, but I recommend this siphon filter from BrewHardware.com. It has worked great for me.

 

[IslandLizard]

Since it's a gallon jug, you can easily put it into your fridge (e.g., on the milk shelf) to cold crash for a few days to a week until it's much less hazy. The cold crashing should settle out pretty much anything that can be precipitated, such as most suspended yeast and hop bits. Adding a little dissolved gelatin as a fining agent will help that process.

The only issue is, there's gonna be to be some shrinkage of the beer and gas (CO2) in the headspace, due to lowering temps. That will cause air (containing 21% oxygen) and possibly sanitizer from your airlock, being sucked back. Not much, because it's a small volume, but some will occur.

Beware: You cannot put a solid bung or tightly closed screw cap on it or you may get bigger problems. I recommend a loosely screwed on growler lid, or some Aluminum foil crimped over the mouth, so some air can enter.

There are ways to prevent air from entering but all are well outside beginning brewer domain.

Alternatively, bottle as is, let carbonate and when carbonated (2-3 weeks) put in the fridge for a week (or longer) to let all suspended material compact on the bottom. A semi-solid cake should be forming on the bottom of the bottles. When pouring out to be enjoyed, pour in a slow and steady stream, along the side of a tilted glass, without hesitation and "glucking," until you see sediment appear in the neck of the bottle. Then tilt back quickly, to prevent the sediment ending up in the glass.

Oh, I see you have clear glass bottles ready... Uhm...
Beer should be fermented and stored in the dark, shielded from light as much as possible. Especially hoppier beers, as hop components will turn skunky in the presence of light. The brighter and bluer the light the quicker it will skunk. That's one of the reasons beer is usually packaged in brown bottles. So keep those pretty clear bottles filled with beer well away from light, in the dark.

 

[IslandLizard]

When you siphon the beer into your bottling bucket or transfer otherwise, start siphoning from the middle of the jug/fermenter. Then lower the siphon slowly as the beer level recedes. Toward the end, tilt the fermenter slowly and carefully, to keep the well you're siphoning from as deep as possible. As soon as you see trub being transferred, stop the siphon.

Having another set of hands around comes in handy at those times.

 

[ArizonaGoalie]

Back when I bottled (whew...glad those days are over), I followed some of the advice given above:
1. Siphon carefully, starting at the middle and when you start to get towards much, stop
2. Poor your bottles very slowly with great care as to not disturb the settlement at the bottom
3. It appears you are using bigger bottles - I liked that when I was bottling hoppy beers, as it allows you to get more settlement-free brew out of the bottle before you run into the mud
4. Cold really does allow the floaties to all settle, especially after 7-10 days chilled. You may find your hoppy beers really hit their stride around 14-21 days chilled.

 

[mashpaddled]

I think a lot of what you're seeing is a dirty exterior to the glass and yeast stuck to the sides where there are imperfections in the glass. If you wanted to drop more of whatever is in suspension you could stick it in your fridge for a day or two before bottling. Honestly I think you'll be fine bottling it as it is and just pour carefully to leave behind any sediment that accrues in the bottle.

 

[Beese]

Oh, I see you have clear glass bottles ready... Uhm...
Beer should be fermented and stored in the dark, shielded from light as much as possible. Especially hoppier beers, as hop components will turn skunky in the presence of light. The brighter and bluer the light the quicker it will skunk. That's one of the reasons beer is usually packaged in brown bottles. So keep those pretty clear bottles filled with beer well away from light, in the dark.

Thanks for the advice! Yes, I realise clear glass isn't the best, but I was having a hard time tracking down brown glass swing-top bottles that didn't ultimately cost more than a full bottle of Hacker Pschorr... then I couldn't find Hacker Pschorr beers anywhere (I'm gonna blame Brexit for that one).

However, I don't brew huge amounts, and the bottles are kept in the same cupboard as the fermenters, which is always closed when not in use, until they're going to the fridge. I figured that there was very little light exposure, but I will try to get more brown bottles (I do have some recycled ones, but not enough).

 

[Beese]

Many thanks for the suggestions and tips, guys. I think I'll go straight to bottling, and then bide my time with cooling the beers down in the bottles and carefully pouring them.

 

[IslandLizard]

the bottles are kept in the same cupboard as the fermenters, which is always closed when not in use, until they're going to the fridge.

That's usually fine. As long as they're kept in the dark, away from light. Especially sunlight, certain fluorescent tubes, etc. can skunk the beer within minutes.
I had a glass with a freshly poured IPA, outside in direct sunlight, turn on me in 5-10 minutes. I could clearly smell the change.
Even beer in brown bottles in a beer store's cooler on the top shelf (directly under the fluorescent tubes) can be affected with time, like 3-12 weeks, 24/7. Lower shelf ones were generally fine.

Re: Flip top bottles:
Flip the washer each time between uses, to help keep them sealing better and longer. Especially after longer closed storage, a (semi) permanent indentation develops on the bottle lip's side. Be consistent, flip when either cleaning or sanitizing (directly before refilling), to prevent double flips.
Always store empties unlatched.

 

[Beese]

Re: Flip top bottles:
Flip the washer each time between uses, to help keep them sealing better and longer. Especially after longer closed storage, a (semi) permanent indentation develops on the bottle lip's side. Be consistent, flip when either cleaning or sanitizing (directly before refilling), to prevent double flips.
Always store empties unlatched.

Ahh, cheers. Didn't consider that with the seals. I'll make sure to flip them next time.