Please help with dry-hop technique.

[p_p]

Hi all, I am planning my next beer and I would like to dry-hop it. I've never dry hopped before so I am looking for some advice on a method that would suit my system.

I ferment in a 8 gallon bucket which is fitted with a spigot. I bottle directly from primary and add a carbonation drop to each bottle. It would be a bottling day disaster if the spigot gets clogged, so I think I must bag the hops.

Should I just toss the bag in and leave it floating or should I add some weight to the bag to sink them? (yeast cake still there)

I have heard brewers talk about floating the hops after some time, is that something to consider?

And finally and most importantly, considering that I will bottle directly from primary, would the essential oils be fairly well distributed or should I consider carefully stirring at the end of the dry hop schedule? EDIT - just to clarify, I plan to remove the hops bag prior cold crashing so hopefully a gentle stir will not result in extra gunk in the bottles.

Thanks!
p_p

 

[unionrdr]

I started using 2 gallon nylon, fine mesh paint strainer bags for dry hopping. I also add a clean, sanitized heavy shot glass to the bag to weigh it down. Sinking the bag seems to help prevent any air that got into the fermenter from opening it from infecting floating bags, in my experiences.

 

[andy6026]

Definitely sink the bag. If you "gently" stir then I can't imagine you're not going to get a pile of gunk in your bottles.

Being in the minority, I'm a fan of secondary vessles, especially in cases like this.

 

[Twotaureanbrewing]

I've been dry hopping in a secondary last few batches. Not sure where the worry of infection comes in when the alcohol is present. Beers been much clearer than in the past.

 

[TheMadKing]

I usually prefer pellet hops for dry hopping and just dump them in loose, they settle out with the yeast cake and won't clog anything.

Out of curiosity how do you bottling from primary with a spigot without sucking a bunch of yeast?

When I bottled, I always siphoned to a new bucket and then used the spigot.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

I usually prefer pellet hops for dry hopping and just dump them in loose, they settle out with the yeast cake and won't clog anything.

Out of curiosity how do you bottling from primary with a spigot without sucking a bunch of yeast?

When I bottled, I always siphoned to a new bucket and then used the spigot.

The spigot is usually high enough to avoid the trub/yeast cake. That said, I always stick 1.5" hunk of wood under the spigot side so the layer is thinner there. the same piece of wood ends up opposite the spigot when packaging to get the last drop of beer out.

I bottle a couple of bottles of each beer with carb drops before filling the kegs.

 

[ArthurDigbySellers]

I use a fine mesh bag with pellet hops and weigh it down with sanitized stainless steel measuring spoons. I tie sanitized twine to the bag and hang it into the beer.

 

[p_p]

I usually prefer pellet hops for dry hopping and just dump them in loose, they settle out with the yeast cake and won't clog anything.

Out of curiosity how do you bottling from primary with a spigot without sucking a bunch of yeast?

When I bottled, I always siphoned to a new bucket and then used the spigot.

The spigot is usually high enough to avoid the trub/yeast cake. That said, I always stick 1.5" hunk of wood under the spigot side so the layer is thinner there. the same piece of wood ends up opposite the spigot when packaging to get the last drop of beer out.

I bottle a couple of bottles of each beer with carb drops before filling the kegs.

Exactly what Onkel_Udo said.
In some cases the first couple of bottles do get extra yeast, I make sure to mark these so I don't give them away.
I usually end up with no more than 1mm of layer at the bottom and clear beer.

 

[schatzke]

I put a glass marble or 2 in the nylon bag to weigh it down but also tie it off with some fishing line to keep the whole thing suspended. Just be sure to boil your bag, fishing line, and marbles to sterilize before you add the hops and drop it in.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

You are not going to be sorry you started dry hopping. I did it for the first time on my last beer (3rd ever) and both my wife and I agree that it is in the top 2 beers we each have ever had!

I'm switching to a bottling bucket on the batch I have in the fermenters right now. The reason is to solve some of the problems that you mention when bottling directly from the primary i.e. mixing and avoiding trub. BTW cold crashing my beer sunk all the hop floaties to the bottom of my primary. I use the last gunky bit of beer for my final FG hydrometer reading. Also, after I use up the last of the conditioning tablets I have, I will be able to prime by the batch and experiment with some other sugars.

 

[p_p]

Thank you everybody for your advice and opinions.