kerant
Well-Known Member
Anything I need to do to sterilize hops when i pull them from freezer and rack over them?
first time dry hopping
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Nope. Just don't rub them on the floor or stick m in your mouth before putting in the carboy
. I'm about to do my first dry hopping too but there are a bunch of threads on here that talk about it... They are antibacterial themselves so you don't need to steralize hops
. I'm about to do my first dry hopping too but there are a bunch of threads on here that talk about it... They are antibacterial themselves so you don't need to steralize hops
I now use hops loose in the boil & strain everything into the fermenter. But when dry hopping,I use muslin hop sacks. I soak'em in Starsan & wring them out a little before filling with hop pellets & tiying them off. Then drop'em into the beer & re-seal. So just the bag needs sanitizing,not the hops themselves. That's one of the things they help do in the beer. But they also aren't a cure-all.
I do the same thing with the muslin bag and hops but i have added a few marbles to make it sink down into the beer. Although this past batch I didn't add enough marlbels, need like 5 or so to make sure it sinks.
Hops themselves are perfectly fine to add. If you put them in a bag, then the bag itself should be sanitized. If you put any weights in, those should be sanitized too.
Oh - and you don't even need to rack the beer if you don't want. You can toss the dry hops right in the primary once fermentation is complete.
Oh - and you don't even need to rack the beer if you don't want. You can toss the dry hops right in the primary once fermentation is complete.
Nummey
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How do you get the bag out after youre done dry hopping?....Id imagine it sinks to the bottom once the hops suck up all the beer
It will sink to the bottom if you weigh it down with marbles. That's the reason for weighing the bag down, though it's really fine if the hops float on top. I've done both.
Most of us just rack the beer to a keg or bottling bucket after 7-10 days of dry hopping and then fish the bag out of the empty fermenter/carboy.
If you want to take the bag out without racking the beer off, you can sanitize some fishing line and tie that to the bag, then leave one end out or tied to your airlock. Then pull the bag out whenever you want. But be aware that dry hop aroma fades with time, so you get best results from dry hopping immediately before kegging/bottling.
Most of us just rack the beer to a keg or bottling bucket after 7-10 days of dry hopping and then fish the bag out of the empty fermenter/carboy.
If you want to take the bag out without racking the beer off, you can sanitize some fishing line and tie that to the bag, then leave one end out or tied to your airlock. Then pull the bag out whenever you want. But be aware that dry hop aroma fades with time, so you get best results from dry hopping immediately before kegging/bottling.
Upthewazzu
Well-Known Member
Is it even worth it to dry hop a beer that you plan on bottling (and thus can't drink for at least a couple of weeks)?
Absolutely. Don't even worry about it. I find dry hopped beers still have great hop aroma for up to 2-3 months before it starts to decline, and even then it's okay for a while longer.
But I don't see any good reason to start the clock a week (or whatever) before bottling by dry hopping early and taking the hops out.
I recently read an article (I think it was on the Hop Union site, but not certain), that showed that hops added to beers in bags (dry hopping specifically) did not impart as much hop oil to the beer as those where the hops were allowed to swim free. It was a huge difference.
Something to do with the hops towards the middle saw very little of the beer, and so did not transfer their oils to the beer well.
I always just toss the hops on the top, let them sink, and when I rack I place a mesh bag around the inlet of the racking cane to keep hops out of the transfer tube.
Something to do with the hops towards the middle saw very little of the beer, and so did not transfer their oils to the beer well.
I always just toss the hops on the top, let them sink, and when I rack I place a mesh bag around the inlet of the racking cane to keep hops out of the transfer tube.
I tried that with this foid grade filter yhat looked a lot like a small engine gas filter. Thing glogged up after about a gallon.
How big is the mesh on that bag and hiw do you secure it to your racking cane?
I just dry hopped an 10gallon ipa with 6oz of pellet hops and crikies.. about 1/2 gallon or more of trub. Was a pain since it was very lose. Downside to follwing the new science regarding shorter dryhop times i suppose.
I still use muslin hop sacks to dry hop. It keeps things cleaner & easier to manage. At 7 days dry hopping time,there's plenty of aroma & more beer bottled. But in the boil,they're tossed in loose to get more edge to the hop flavors.
I use a 5 gallon paint straining bag (sanitized of course). Just put the end of the cane (inlet side) at the bottom of the bag and pull the bag up the cane. It will reach a couple of feet. If you want to secure it, you can use a twist tie; just keep the tie above the liquid level.
I prefer loose hops and cold crashing a day or three. Although you can get suckback from the airlock possibly. Ive had zero luck ever trying to filter over a racking cane. It clogges up and adds air or loses its flow. Ideally with using a hop bag you would want one thats fairly big so the hops can expand and get good contact with the beer.
kerant
Well-Known Member
Getting back to my original post. Beer is dry hopping now. After 1 week would it be a good idea to pull hops and rack again for a few days so any fine debris settles out before bottling. The hops are in a muslin bag now.
I wouldnt rack again-youd prolly be better off cold crashing if you can-but better yet do nothing, the aroma clock starts ticking when you lose the hops. Best bet is to let it clear in the bottle by refrigerating after bottle carb/conditioning.
Shred
Former Microbrewery Founder & Pro Brewer
I use this method as well but sanitize a length of unwaxed dental floss that I tie around the bag and close in the bucket lid for easy removal.
I've never been able to find those locally. Even got blank looks at paint stores. I don't get it.
Maybe I'll ebay some.
I don't know what you get in Canada. I can get them at both Lowes and Home Depot; both large hardware stores.
No lowes nearby and homedepot paint people looked at me like i was nuts.
I just went to Home Depot Canada ...... and they don't have them! That's really surprising.
Shred
Former Microbrewery Founder & Pro Brewer
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I live in Montreal and it took me forever to find paint strainers. Also, the only one I could find was a 1 gallon bag. Nobody heard of bigger bags than that. Weird. I went to home depot and found them for around 4$ each. I used them a couple times then finally bought 2 more on hopdawgs for about the same price. Don't waste your time searching. Internet IS the solution
I live in Montreal and it took me forever to find paint strainers. Also, the only one I could find was a 1 gallon bag. Nobody heard of bigger bags than that. Weird. I went to home depot and found them for around 4$ each. I used them a couple times then finally bought 2 more on hopdawgs for about the same price. Don't waste your time searching. Internet IS the solution
I have to get a few things from Chris (hopdawgs) when I'm in Vernon next so I will have to grab some off him. When I last went seeking these, he didn't have as store yet!
sedmondson
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I painted for 5 years. Strainer bags (1 and 5 gallon) should be available at any major paint store (color your world, cloverdale, general paint - my fav). Don't waste your time in any hardware store, make sure to hit up sole paint stores. I have never had a problem finding them, unless for whatever reason, they happen to be out of stock. :cross:
