Secondary or No

[hoppypete]

I want to dry hop my Pale Ale, but the only secondary container I have is a bottling bucket. Would this be fine for conditioning or should I just throw the hops into the primary (guessing thats not a good idea). This is my first batch I'm kinda over-protective. ha! Thanks!

 

[bradsul]

If your beer has been in the primary for less than a month, just toss them in there. Just be careful when you rack to your bottling bucket to leave as much hops and trub behind as possible. You don't actually need to use a clearing tank (secondary) to dry hop.

 

[Danek]

Yeah, you can throw them in your primary and they'll do the job nicely. You wouldn't want to primary dry-hop until fermentation has calmed down a little, as the CO2 given off during fermentation can drive off a lot of the dry-hop aroma, which would kind of defeat the purpose of dry-hopping. I think it's best to wait a week or ten days and then add the hops in the primary.

 

[beergears]

Danek, I was just reading the same from J. Palmer's book... funny:

"dryhopping is best done late in the fermenting cycle.." page 44!

 

[OblivionsGate]

I have never dry-hopped before, but I was toying around with the idea of doing it (which is why i'm in this thread), but i'm further along....so

Can you dry-hop once the beer is in secondary? What would be best, primary or secondary? How long should they be in there?

 

[bradsul]

I have never dry-hopped before, but I was toying around with the idea of doing it (which is why i'm in this thread), but i'm further along....so

Can you dry-hop once the beer is in secondary? What would be best, primary or secondary? How long should they be in there?

You can dry hop whenever you want, I tend to do mine in secondary only because I usually do a secondary, if you only do primary, wait until fermentation has completely stopped and then dry hop for a week or two.

As for which is best, it doesn't' really matter as long as you wait until fermentation is complete if you're doing it in primary.

I tend to dry hop for the last week of secondary before it hits the keg or bottle. I'm not sure how long you can actually go before you don't get any benefit (and indeed start losing aroma).

 

[Danek]

Danek, I was just reading the same from J. Palmer's book... funny:

"dryhopping is best done late in the fermenting cycle.." page 44!

Er... yeah, but of course... that'll be because I taught Palmer all he knows about making beer

I actually heard it on the Jamil Show podcast, but if both those guys are saying it, then I reckon there may be some truth to it. I'm dry-hopping my Two Hearted clone tomorrow

 

[OblivionsGate]

thank you for the help bradsul! one thing on the general principle though: why dry-hop, i know it adds a richer aroma, but are there restrictions (like only dry-hop these type of beers)?

I have a very hop heavy beer and was thinking of dry-hopping to "go overboard" but i dont want to go too far.

 

[bradsul]

thank you for the help bradsul! one thing on the general principle though: why dry-hop, i know it adds a richer aroma, but are there restrictions (like only dry-hop these type of beers)?

I have a very hop heavy beer and was thinking of dry-hopping to "go overboard" but i dont want to go too far.

The BJCP has restrictions on what styles of beer should or should not have hop aroma. If you like to stick to the guidelines you'll want to review them before you decide whether or not to dry-hop. But it's your beer, dry-hop if you want to.

If you have a really hopped up beer I don't see any reason NOT to dry-hop however. If it has all that great hop flavour and bitterness I think you definitely want a nice strong aroma to go with it. I don't think you can go overboard with dry-hopping - it will start out very strong but the aroma actually dissipates over time so it will get more mellow as it ages anyway.

 

[OblivionsGate]

If you have a really hopped up beer I don't see any reason NOT to dry-hop however.

lol, you just made my day! What is the BJCP though, any links?

 

[Yooper]

Here are the bjcp style guidelines: http://www.bjcp.org/2004_BJCP_Guidelines.pdf

 

[krawdizzle]

I just dry hopped an Chinook IPA. I did mine after I racked to the secondary. I just bottle it about a 3 days ago and it smelled wonderful!! So, I waited till after the fermentation was complete and added my dry hops at the beginning of my secondary stage! Good luck, I'm sure it'll be great!

 

[LS_Grimmy]

I dry hopped for the first time right into the primary before fermentation started and I must say it was a pretty big mess when fermentation kicks in,lol. Learned my lesson and will now dry hop near end fermentation

Cheers,
Grimmy

 

[LS_Grimmy]

I dry hopped for the first time right into the primary before fermentation started and I must say it was a pretty big mess when fermentation kicks in,lol. Learned my lesson and will now dry hop near end fermentation

Cheers,
Grimmy

 

[hoppypete]

Thanks for all the helpful Tips guys. As far as over-hopping, I agree with Bradsul. that taste is great, but it's manified by the aroma. There's nothing better than taking a deep breath and gulp of a hoppy beer! So anyway, the store recommeded to dry hop one ounce with my 5 gal but I'll probably go 1.5!

 

[OblivionsGate]

the store recommeded to dry hop one ounce with my 5 gal but I'll probably go 1.5!

That was what I was assuming as well, is there some "correct" amount?