Looking for dry hopping techniques?

[redneckbeagle]

Hop bag or not? Crush or not? Leaf hops instead of Pellets? Before or after racking? Weight in the hop bag or just let it float around?

I know all may be possible, but looking for a consensus?

 

[KayaBrew]

Personal preference. I've done all the combinations you named. I like to bag my hops for dry hopping. Reason is that you would typically dry hop for 10 or so days before bottling, so you want a minimum amount of gunk floating around in your bucket/carboy.

 

[beerthirty]

There is no consensus on this subject. Use what works best for you. I have tried many variations and the chosen methods depends on how long I think the keg will last. My favorite way is leaf in a bag tossed into the keg during racking. After one carbonating week, transfer to serving keg leaving the bag behind. Finish carbonating. Results, clear beer, excellent hop aroma without any grassiness from overexposure.

 

[SeamusMac]

I'm on day 8 of a 10 day dry hop of an IPA I'm doing. I threw pelletized Cascade right into the secondary. My plan is to simply cover the end of my auto-siphon with a bit of sanitized nylon stocking. Hopefully the stocking will catch most of the pieces; if a few little bits make it into the bottles I won't be heartbroken.

 

[b767fo]

I'm on day 8 of a 10 day dry hop of an IPA I'm doing. I threw pelletized Cascade right into the secondary. My plan is to simply cover the end of my auto-siphon with a bit of sanitized nylon stocking. Hopefully the stocking will catch most of the pieces; if a few little bits make it into the bottles I won't be heartbroken.

+1
I've done this for several batches of IPA and the results are pretty good. Just make sure to use a good sized piece of nylon otherwise the flow will slowly come to a halt..I use about a 3" (unstretched) section knotted at one end and rubber-banded to the output end of the hose.

 

[seanmac831]

Hi,
On a related note, I just brewed a Rye P.A. yesterday. I'm headed out of town for three weeks on Wednesday and wondering how to approach this...?

A. Rack to secondary before I leave and let the dry hop sit longer than I'd like to.

B. Let it set in primary until I get home and dry hop for a week then.

C. Forget about dry hopping, bottle when I get home, and think ahead before brewing my next batch.

Any advice appreciated.

 

[Hammy71]

I rack the beer to a secondary 5 gallon carboy. I usually dry hop with pellets. I just dump them into the secondary for about a week. Then I cold crash the carboy for about 3 days and then rack to a keg. Works great for me.

 

[Yooper]

Hi,
On a related note, I just brewed a Rye P.A. yesterday. I'm headed out of town for three weeks on Wednesday and wondering how to approach this...?

A. Rack to secondary before I leave and let the dry hop sit longer than I'd like to.

B. Let it set in primary until I get home and dry hop for a week then.

C. Forget about dry hopping, bottle when I get home, and think ahead before brewing my next batch.

Any advice appreciated.

"B" is the better choice. I like to dryhop for only about 5-7 days (sometimes as long as 10 if I have to) right before bottling.

 

[mabrungard]

A nylon steeping sack works very well for dry hopping. You can boil it to sanitize, it has very fine mesh, its big and can hold a good hop charge, and its usually big enough to allow me to just tie off the opening and drop the sack in the fermenter. I adhere to Matt Brynlson's dry hopping approach of relatively short dry hop contact time of about 4 days then rack off the hops into the keg.

 

[HItransplant]

I rack the beer to a secondary 5 gallon carboy. I usually dry hop with pellets. I just dump them into the secondary for about a week. Then I cold crash the carboy for about 3 days and then rack to a keg. Works great for me.

what if you dont have the facilities to cold crash?


ive got a pale ale in primary now that Id like to dry hop. Im going to keg, and the beer is for a party on the 23rd of july.. im thinking that I have enough time to dry hop prior to racking to keg, but if I wanted to dry hop in keg...do I rack to keg without pressure for a few days to dry hop, remove the bag, and then gas the keg up.. or do you just leave the hops in there for serving?

 

[HItransplant]

Anyone?

 

[Montanaandy]

If I dry hop in the keg, I place the pellet or leaf into a paint strainer bag and tie it off with dental floss (I Star San the bag & floss). Tie to the keg post, drop into keg, rack beer into keg. I don't remove it until I have killed the keg. You can weigh the bag down if you like but I find that once the hops get saturated they sink.

 

[HItransplant]

If I dry hop in the keg, I place the pellet or leaf into a paint strainer bag and tie it off with dental floss (I Star San the bag & floss). Tie to the keg post, drop into keg, rack beer into keg. I don't remove it until I have killed the keg. You can weigh the bag down if you like but I find that once the hops get saturated they sink.

Where on the post do you tie the floss?

 

[Montanaandy]

Oh, and I gave up cold crashing long ago. My beer always clears nicely after a few weeks on the gas + I normal use whir floc so CCing became redundant.

 

[Montanaandy]

Where on the post do you tie the floss?

Anywhere below the rubber gromet/gasket on the post. You can also tie it to the handle but this takes more floss.

 

[HItransplant]

Anywhere below the rubber gromet/gasket on the post. You can also tie it to the handle but this takes more floss.

So, the floss goes in thru the lid?

 

[HItransplant]

2 weeks at room temp seems to be too long for dry hopping. Can I start carbing, degas after a week to add hops, and then re-pressurize to finish carbing? (= 2 weeks of co2, one week of dry hopping at the end).

 

[BARBQ]

I dry hop in my serving keg using a nylon fine mesh bag.

 

[HItransplant]

2 weeks at room temp seems to be too long for dry hopping. Can I start carbing, degas after a week to add hops, and then re-pressurize to finish carbing? (= 2 weeks of co2, one week of dry hopping at the end).

anyone?

 

[Yooper]

You can do that if you want.

I wouldn't. I'd just add the hops (in a bag for pellets, or a tea ball for leaf hops), and then rack the beer into it. My hops stay in the keg until the keg is gone. Of course, I keep my kegs in the kegerator. If I was dryhopping at room temperature, I'd dryhop in the fermenter for 3-7 days, and then keg.

 

[samc]

You can use a cable tie to attach fish line or floss to the underside of the lid on the pressure valve bump. Putting it through the gasket is a potential leak point. I'm also a leave it until the keg kicks or I want to freshen the keg with more hops.

 

[BARBQ]

I had a Helles Munich that was a little sweeter than I wanted it, so I dry hopped in the serving keg at 40F for two days in a nylon mesh bag with pellets of Brewers Gold hops. It came out great. I pulled the bag after this then washed in the dishwasher. What an easy way to balance out a beer.

 

[corncob]

I had leaks with the dental floss method. Now I tighten an ALL-STAINLESS (screw included) hose clamp to the popoff valve housing and hang the little bag from that. I soak in starsan and wring out, and add four or five large Stainless bolts to make sure the little bag doesn't float off its hanger. After 7 days (or whatever) dump the overpressure and carefully swap the lid for a new one, then back on the gas. Done. I still find a few ounces of green sludge in the first pour, but that's it.