Racking/Dry-Hopping Dilimma

[apcoach]

My secondary carboy is now been full of dry-hopped IPA for 7 days. I'm afraid to rack to bottles because the airlock is still bubbling and their is quite a bit of Krausen on top. I'd be comfortable just letting it sit in their awhile except I've read how you don't want those hops in there over a week. Should I just leave it alone or try to fish the hops bag out which won't be easy bc it's full of 2 oz of centennial. Thanks

 

[Hammy71]

That's a lot of foam for a beer in the secondary....even with the dryhop. How long did you leave it in the primary? If your really sure it is done fermenting (checked hydro readings) and you want to get rid of the foam, I'd suggest crash cooling the fermenter for a few days. Should do the trick.

 

[chmarkham]

that is still fermenting i would let it go a bit longer

 

[apcoach]

What are the dangers of leaving the hops in there longer? It was in the primary for 8 days and this is the 8th in the secondary. I probably got more of the trub when I racked to the carboy than usual.

 

[theblaster]

Well, I'd suggest that you moved it to secondary too quickly. 2-3 weeks in primary is very common. Standard, even. Most people would suggest that your beer should be completely done fermenting before dry hopping so that the bubbles don't blow out the benefit provided by dry hopping.

From the picture and that you are still bubbling away, you should not bottle yet.

 

[Hammy71]

An extra week of dry hop won't hurt a thing.

 

[Denny]

well, i'd suggest that you moved it to secondary too quickly. 2-3 weeks in primary is very common. Standard, even. Most people would suggest that your beer should be completely done fermenting before dry hopping so that the bubbles don't blow out the benefit provided by dry hopping.

From the picture and that you are still bubbling away, you should not bottle yet.

this^^^^^^

 

[Darkness]

Your primary was not done. Dry hop can duty for two weeks and not hurt anything. Sounds crazy but give it a shake and most of those hops will start to settle out. Next brew check gravity before you transfer that way you know if fermentation is over. Any beer can sit for a couple weeks and not hurt it give it time to ferment don't lose alcohol.

 

[apcoach]

Your primary was not done. Dry hop can duty for two weeks and not hurt anything. Sounds crazy but give it a shake and most of those hops will start to settle out. Next brew check gravity before you transfer that way you know if fermentation is over. Any beer can sit for a couple weeks and not hurt it give it time to ferment don't lose alcohol.

Shake it, really? Wont that oxidize it?

 

[NoRoom4Error]

Shake it, really? Wont that oxidize it?

A gentle sloshing around in a circular pattern without splash.

 

[apcoach]

I did it. The hops bag is still floating but a lot of debris sank. Should I do it again tomorrow?

 

[porto88]

the bubbles could just be CO2 being released from solution due to the hops giving it more surface air to bubble from, this happens to me all the time

 

[NuclearRich]

Definitely check gravity before dry hopping next time. The extended dry hop will only impart more hopiness. 1 week vs 2 is not an issue of harm, but effect. I do 2 week dy hopping myself. As for this time, I would be careful about shaking it, and instead cold crash it to drop the sediment.

 

[apcoach]

How should I cold crash it, in an ice bath?

 

[NuclearRich]

that would work, if you cant stick the bucket in your fridge!

 

[apcoach]

How long in the fridge? Also, will the priming sugar have less of an effect after cold crashing it?

 

[y6y6y6]

Some thoughts -

- Leaving it longer in the primary doesn't cause problems. Not leaving it long enough can cause problems. Try to wait longer.
- "Slouching" the beer in the fermentor typically won't cause oxidation at all. There shouldn't be much oxygen in there.
- Dry hopping can cause a fermentation to restart. I think. Some think not.
- With all of that bubbling, I'm guessing a lot of the dry hop flavor may have bubbled out as well. In addition to hydrometer readings, try tasting to make sure it's where you want it.
- I cold crash for a week. But that's worthless unless you're 100% sure fermentation has stopped.

 

[FarmerTed]

What's the recipe, OG, and how much yeast did you pitch? If you pitched plenty of healthy yeast into well-aerated wort at a reasonable temp, this sucker should have been done fermenting long ago. If you under-pitched, then it may have petered out a little early, but then got going again when you transfered it to secondary and gave the yeast a little more air.

In any event, take a sample and measure the gravity. And taste it; that will tell you if you're done.

 

[apcoach]

Some thoughts -

- Leaving it longer in the primary doesn't cause problems. Not leaving it long enough can cause problems. Try to wait longer.
- "Slouching" the beer in the fermentor typically won't cause oxidation at all. There shouldn't be much oxygen in there.
- Dry hopping can cause a fermentation to restart. I think. Some think not.
- With all of that bubbling, I'm guessing a lot of the dry hop flavor may have bubbled out as well. In addition to hydrometer readings, try tasting to make sure it's where you want it.
- I cold crash for a week. But that's worthless unless you're 100% sure fermentation has stopped.

Why would cold crashing be worthless if the ferm had stopped? Isn't stopping the ferm the goal of the cold crash method?

 

[apcoach]

All of that Krausen seems to be stuck on the glass now. The airlock is bubbling every 40 seconds or so.

 

[BetterSense]

Cold crashing will stop fermentation, but it will just start back up again when the beer warms up. Bottom line, you have to be sure the beer is done fermenting before you bottle/keg. So take some gravity readings, give it a swirl every now and then, and let it sit at room temp for however long it takes for the gravity to stabilize. Maybe your dry hops will end up being in there longer than you wanted, but you don't really have a choice.

 

[apcoach]

The beer looks a lot clearer but the airlock is still burping revert 30 seconds. I'm inclined to think the 2oz of hops is what started that big fermentation in the carboy. Thinking about fishing it out somehow and then taking a gravity reading. It does look a lot cleared after 1 1/2 weeks in glass.

 

[Denny]

It's not fermentation, it's CO2 coming out of solution.

 

[apcoach]

Could u explain that? Are you saying that is due to the dry hopping bc it didn't happen in my first three batches and I didn't dry hop them.

 

[Denny]

As beer ferments, some of the CO2 is produces gets absorbed into the beer. When you add hops, it provides nucleation sites for the CO2 and you see bubbles. Obviously, hops have no fermentables, so fermentation isn't actually happening. Also, because cold liquids hold more CO2 tshan warm liquids, if the beer warms up CO2 outgasses.

 

[apcoach]

So, remove the hops and let it stay in the glass or is it safe to bottle?

 

[fifthcircle]

Just wait until this weekend and bottle it. Stop thinking about it, looking at it, and have a beer dude!

 

[BrettFitz]

apcoach,
Thanks for posting the original question and sticking around to follow through with your different questions. For every seasoned brewer that might get annoyed, there are 50 of us rookies that get a lot out of these back-and-forth discussions.

Hope your beer turns out perfectly.
cheers-

 

[Braufessor]

Lots of good advice for you - nothing to add for this beer. In the future, though, a few things that will help.
1.) Use a yeast starter (if you don't already) - this will insure quick start and successful fermentation in shortest time possible.
2.) Leave in primary 14 days.
3.) Then Dry hop for your desired time (5-7 more days).
4.) Then bottle/keg at about day 21.

This should eliminate the worry about whether or not it is "done."

 

[RuffRider]

As beer ferments, some of the CO2 is produces gets absorbed into the beer. When you add hops, it provides nucleation sites for the CO2 and you see bubbles. Obviously, hops have no fermentables, so fermentation isn't actually happening. Also, because cold liquids hold more CO2 tshan warm liquids, if the beer warms up CO2 outgasses.

An interesting discussion for a guy like me. I've dry hopped four of my batches now (all IPA's) and never experienced this phenomenon (that I noticed). The science behind your explaination makes sense to me. However, an airlock that bubbles every 40 seconds seems like a lot if something like this is occurring. It makes me lean towards the side of fermentation is still happening for whatever reason.

I've got a high gravity Imperial IPA I'm planning to dry hop this weekend (I dry hop in primary). I think I'll try and pay closer attention.

Thoughts?