How to lose less beer when dry hopping IPAs?

[linusstick]

So my last dry hopped IPA I lost a ton of beer due to the hop residue. I only do 1.5 gallon batches so losing some beer at that size is a lot different than losing some in a five gallon batch. My last heavily hopped (and dry hopped) IPA ended up with less than a gallon going into the bottle bucket and .25 gallons of trub/residue left behind in the fermenter. Is using hops bags the answer? I usually hit my OG and pretty close to my FG I just have a lot less beer that I was hoping for. I do BIAB beers and am on my 9th one. The beers I've done that weren't dry hopped I've ended up a lot closer to my desired volume. Thanks

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I'm not sure hop bags will help that much, unless you find a way to squeeze the liquid back out of the hops before you transfer to the bottling bucket. The simple fact is that hops will soak up liquid like a sponge. The more hops you use, the more they'll pick up.

Are you limited to 1.5 gallon due to equipment size, or due to target batch size? Would it be possible to start with a little more wort just to be sure that you get the target volume? That's what I do. I have a 15.5 gal fermenter and I brew "10 gallon" batches (enough for 2 corny kegs), but I actually set up my recipes to target 11 gallons into the fermenter. I'd rather lose a little beer being left in the fermenter than not fill my kegs, given all the work that goes into a brew day. That extra 10% generally ensures that even with a hoppy beer like an IPA, I still hit my target batch volume...

 

[dyqik]

Cryo hop extract is designed for exactly this problem, although the varieties are limited.

 

[Smellyglove]

Hop bags are diminishing returns. You get less hop extraction using bags since what's in the center will not get good extraction, so you'd want to add more, meaning more is exposed, but also more is inside the bags, and the ball starts to roll, and you'll end up with a tonne of hop bags to get surface area... Don't use hop bags, use technique, and cold temperatures to crash the beer. And also, do a bigger batch. No hop bags, and a bigger batch and you will be able to package the amount you're after.

 

[isomerization]

I'm not sure what a hop bag is exactly, but I keg hop with 1 gallon paint strainer bags from HD/Lowes. When I clean out the keg, the hops (up to 4-5 oz) are all always wet and well dispersed (i.e. Not a tight douhball). I haven't done a true SxS, but the aroma seems as expected. Additionally, you get some of the absorbed liquid back, once the keg level drops below the suspended hop bag in the keg.

 

[FVillatoro]

If I were you, and if the equipment allows it, I would brew 2 gallons and see how much I end up after dry-hopping. It's it's too much wort left over, then lower to 1.75 gallons, etc.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I may get some flack for this, but I use a hop bag and wring it into the fermentor when kegging. For all those who are about to say "BuT WhhAt aBOut INfeeeCTion??!!". Probably never going to happen. Clean hands and alcohol make a bad environment for infectious baddies.

 

[Shade]

I also do that