Hop Bags....

[Ragman]

I have read a little and heard about hops bags (cheesecloth or something) that you can put your dry hops in and place the entire bag into the fermenter.
Im thinking of purchasing an Anvil Stainless Fermenter and I am interested in using these bags to help eliminate particles in my beer. I would assume using something like this would help me make a clearer beer.
Am I correct in this thinking?
If I use a bag, wont it sink to the bottom of the kettle once I close the lid?
How do I remove the bag to add different hops at a different stage in my fermentation?

As always, thanks for your advice.

 

[VikeMan]

If I use a bag, wont it sink to the bottom of the kettle once I close the lid?

By kettle, I assume you mean fermenter. Normally, it's the opposite problem, i.e. the bag floats, with some of the hops not making contact with the beer. You can weight the bag with stainless steel nuts/washers/bolts (whatever will fit).

How do I remove the bag to add different hops at a different stage in my fermentation?

You can use plain dental floss to suspend the weighted bag mid-fermenter, and then pull it out whenever you want.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I don't know if you'll necessarily see a difference in beer clarity by using the bags. But it will help keep some of the particulate out of the beer and help avoid some of the hop burn.

As @VikeMan said, use plain UN-flavored dental floss. Tie one end around the hop bag and hang the other end out side of the lid. When it comes time to add the other addition, you can pull out the first addition using the dental floss. However, I'd be more inclined to just leave both additions in. Most people drop their hop additions in loose and don't remove them later.

 

[Ragman]

What is Hop Burn?

 

[Rob2010SS]

You ever drink a heavily hopped IPA and after you take a sip, you get a slight burn in the back of your throat that feels like you just chewed on a hop pellet? That's hop burn.

It's not bitterness. Bitterness is different. It's really like a slight burning sensation in the back of the throat that lasts for a few seconds.

 

[fendersrule]

Never had hop burn, and commando'd drop-hop pellets 3-5 days before racking. The most I've dry-hopped is 2.5oz per 5 gallons.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Never had hop burn, and commando'd drop-hop pellets 3-5 days before racking. The most I've dry-hopped is 2.5oz per 5 gallons.

Yeah, that's a fairly average size dry hop so I wouldn't expect much there. When you go heavier is where I'd expect it, like 1-2 oz per gal.

 

[fendersrule]

Interesting! I've never really experienced 2oz of dry hopping doing a significant amount of aroma enhancement....sure there's "some", but nothing near like some of the craft beers I've had. For some "light" dry hopping I do about 1oz per 5 gallons or so, and I don't really think it imparts much.

I've always attributed it to my open transfer method...but I wonder if I simply need to dry hop more if I want an IPA to really smell dank.

Is the primary source of "hop burn" from the hop particulates that makes it into the bottles and sits with the beer? Therefor, using the "bagged" method helps remove more of the particulate? I typically leave the bottom yeast and hop layer in the fermenter, but I'm sure that some are still suspended.

You've got me thinking about upping my dry hop amounts. I'm fermenting a 6-hop beer right now, and I only planned on using 2Oz of dry hopping. I may consider throwing another 2Oz, but probably not use the bag method since this still sounds like it's close to the "average" amount!

 

[Rob2010SS]

I don't brew a whole lot of standard IPA's. When we brew an IPA, it's a NEIPA and we're still learning. However, our last one, we did 2oz per gallon ((2) 17oz dry hop additions). We also did not do any active fermentation dry hopping. There are some members on here that have gone away from adding dry hops during fermentation as it can contribute to hop burn. I don't recall the logic/science there.

The one thing that others have mentioned is once fermentation is completed, do a light cold crash (~50F or so) to drop out yeast, then warm back up to 60 or so for dry hopping. Still did 2 dry hop additions but the first was 4 days before final cold crash and the second was 2 days before final cold crash. Cold crash for a few and keg it up. I have never had so much aroma on an IPA before. It was fantastic.

No point in going unnecessarily high in dry hop amounts. I get super picky about aroma and wanting a lot of it so I usually go heavier in dry hop amounts than some do.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Interesting! I've never really experienced 2oz of dry hopping doing a significant amount of aroma enhancement....sure there's "some", but nothing near like some of the craft beers I've had. For some "light" dry hopping I do about 1oz per 5 gallons or so, and I don't really think it imparts much.

I've always attributed it to my open transfer method...but I wonder if I simply need to dry hop more if I want an IPA to really smell dank.

Is the primary source of "hop burn" from the hop particulates that makes it into the bottles and sits with the beer? Therefor, using the "bagged" method helps remove more of the particulate? I typically leave the bottom yeast and hop layer in the fermenter, but I'm sure that some are still suspended.

You've got me thinking about upping my dry hop amounts. I'm fermenting a 6-hop beer right now, and I only planned on using 2Oz of dry hopping. I may consider throwing another 2Oz, but probably not use the bag method since this still sounds like it's close to the "average" amount!

Honestly I think the open transfer method will have some effect on it. How much, I don't know. I think the big impact would be after a week or a couple of weeks in the keg, you'll lose that hop aroma a bit.

And yes, I think a majority of the hop burn comes from the particulate that is suspended in the beer.

 

[pvpeacock]

I prefer to just drop pellet hops into my conical fermenters without bags ("free range hops"). If you want clearer beer, I personally think you are better off getting floating dip tubes in your kegs (assuming you are kegging).

 

[ABV Motleybrew]

I add weights in mine so they sink to the bottom and just leave them there until I bottle, so 7-10 days, I've never had any grassy flavours that some people have claimed. The main advantage in my experience to hop bags is you don suck up the hops when you siphon after fermentation.

 

[LostHopper]

I've done commando and bagged dry hops. I can't tell any difference except when siphoning. Maybe it's my Wilser hop bags but they keep the hops suspended nicely in the beer.

After listening to Denny Conn I've started playing around with the timing of my dry hops and the temperature of the beer when dry hopping. That has shown some differences. Right now for PA/IPA , non-NEIPA style, I'm dry hopping less (2-3.5 oz per 5 gallons), for less time (2-3 days) at colder temperatures (38-39F) and I like the results.

 

[UncleD]

I add weights in mine so they sink to the bottom and just leave them there until I bottle, so 7-10 days, I've never had any grassy flavours that some people have claimed. The main advantage in my experience to hop bags is you don suck up the hops when you siphon after fermentation.

This is the reason I started dry hopping in bags! It makes the transfer of the beer so much smoother, no clogs in the filter. Racking used to be a hassle, now I love it.