Intro to dry hopping

[RuckingBrewer]

I'm brewing a Citra pale ale kit from MoreBeer tomorrow and it calls for dry hopping. I intend to leave in fermenter for 3 weeks total, and dry hop the last 4 days. Could somebody give me an overview of their process? I'm really wondering about sanitizing the hops/hop bag before tossing it in.

Thanks!


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[fartinmartin]

I put the dry hops in after just a week.
Sanitise the bag!
Don't do anything with the hops, just put them in the bag.
Add glass marbles or a stainless steel spoon or other weight to the bag.
Tie the bag , chuck em in, and don't open it up again till you are ready to bottle.
Citra is great !

 

[CUrchin]

I use sanitized teaballs. No need to sanitize the hops themselves. Good luck.

 

[Munchkin]

^ basically what i did. Im new to dry hopping as well and just polished off an Amarillo ale. I dry hopped for the last week before bottling in the primary bucket. I sanitized the packages the hops came in but the hops themselves are ok to just throw in the brew. I had them sitting on the surface and stirred them in twice during the 7 day dry hop. The next time i do it I will probably use pellets because I find them easier to deal with.

 

[boydster]

The above advice is all good. I don't bother with a bag. I just toss the pellets in.

 

[mrgrimm101]

When you toss the pellets in without a bag, do you have to remove them before you transfer to the bottling bucket?

 

[jnacey]

I also just toss the pellets right in. After 3-4 days, the majority sink to the bottom. Some of the hop matter still floats on top, but I siphon off to my bottling bucket below the surface so it doesn't really matter. I do tie a paint strainer bag to the end of the hose in my bottling bucket just to filter out any large particles that make it through the siphon.

 

[boydster]

No, most of it settles to the bottom. If there is anything still floating, I just am careful not to siphon it, and it's not that difficult because there isn't much at all left floating. Also, the tip of the siphon will be below the surface where any floaters would be.

 

[scottyb710]

Yeah just toss them in.

 

[MaxStout]

Yeah just toss them in.

Especially if you're using a carboy. Getting a swollen bag full of wet hops out later is an exercise in futility.

 

[boydster]

Especially if you're using a carboy. Getting a swollen bag full of wet hops out later is an exercise in futility.

Especially if there's a stainless steel spoon in that bag as a weight

 

[Queequeg]

I have switched over to a SS tea infuser, approx. 5" diameter