Second batch (IPA) enters fermentation, couple questions

[imnothardcore]

Hey guys, my second batch an IPA is fermenting away and looks great.

I went for mosaic hops for the 5,0 and dry hop stage. The aroma on these is amazing.

I had a question about dry hopping. First of all when I move to secondary to dry hop do I need to sterilize the hops at all before adding them? They are hop pellets and I would think I should.

Finally, when exactly can I tell its time to switch the beer to secondary fermentation?

Super excited about this beer. Also, I sampled my first batch thats been fermenting for close to 2 weeks, it smells like beer and tastes like beer(flat).

I am super excited about my first couple all grain brews. Lurking here has been a huge help!

 

[jjw5015]

The magic of hops is that they are pretty much the only thing you can add to beer and not sterilize. So go right ahead and toss those bad boys in. You switch to secondary when your FG is stable for 3 consecutive days. Another option is to just dryhop right in the primary. There are plenty of arguments on here about that. Quite entertaining. My current batch is going to be the first time that I dryhop right in primary.

 

[imnothardcore]

so if the gravity is the same for 3 days, secondary doesn't really have any fermentation going on.

right?

 

[Yooper]

so if the gravity is the same for 3 days, secondary doesn't really have any fermentation going on.

right?

Right. Once the gravity is stable, fermentation has ended. Then the beer will start to clear. I dryhop once the beer is clear, or at least clearing, as the suspended yeast will "pull" out the oils from the dryhops as it falls to the bottom as sediment.

The pellet hops will sort of disintegrate in the beer, but some will float and some will sink. If you start your siphon in the middle of the beer when you go to package it, that helps avoid sucking up that pellet hops debris. Alternatively, some people will use a bag for dryhopping to avoid that. That's fine, as long as the bag is sanitized first and the hops are loose in the bag, not packed tightly.

 

[imnothardcore]

yes I have bags I keep sanitized and clean for hopping. They are large enough for the hop pellets to hang out wherever they want too.

Using bags seemed like the way to go to help keep the beer clean.

thanks guys!!!