Stainless Conical: Can you dry hop and harvest yeast?

[dermotstratton]

So, I finally decided to invest in a stainless conical and am about to fill it for the first time today.

I've read around on this site about the various options for dumping trub, collecting yeast, etc., but I'm a little confused.

I plan on making a dry-hopped porter today. I will chill my wort with an immersion coil and whirlpool and then transfer into my conical. I'll do my best to leave most of the trub behind in the boil kettle.

My questions are:

1. When do I first dump the trub?

There are two concepts here, I guess:
Should I dump once before pitching yeast or dump after primary fermentation is complete? (I suppose this in part depends on how successful my whirlpool was at separating trub) Also, is the any difference if you dump 3 days into fermentation (when aggressive fermentation ends) or wait until 7-10 days (when primary is ending). I'm thinking that dumping at 3 days is just a waste of time.

2. When do I harvest yeast?

I have a more beer conical and I'm getting the yeast harvester attachement. (yes, I know it's not necessary, but it makes life easier). Since I'm going to dryhop, I think this complicates things a little more. My initial intention was to put yeast harvester on after I dump trub after primary fermentation. I'm assuming that you cannot harvest yeast after you dryhop. Is this correct? Lastly, I'm also assuming I do not need to cold crash at all to harvest yeast. Is this correct?

3. When/how do I dryhop?

This ties into the last question. My current plan is to dryhop after harvesting yeast. Is this correct? Also, can you dry hop directly in the conical? I think I am only going to have access to pellet hops, so I was thinking of putting them in a bag and then just dropping it in the conical. Would it be a bad idea to hold the bag with the triclamp fitting on top of the conical? The only other option I thought about was just to toss the pellet hops straight in and then cold crash and dump new trub before bottling/kegging.

I know there's lots of questions above, but I'd appreciate input on any or all of them.

I'm stoked to try out my new conical, but don't want to make any rookie mistakes on my first use of it.

 

[tchuklobrau]

I dont have a conical so I cant give alot of advice. I do know however that some conicals have a loop on the inside of the lid so you can attach a bag for dryhopping. If yours does not have one I believe it could be modified very easily and make your own hop loop.

 

[dermotstratton]

yeah, that makes sense. that definitely answers one of my questions. thanks!

 

[boo boo]

You can still dry hop and salvage yeast. You just have to be a little careful when harvesting your yeast.

I would harvest yeast before dry hopping as that would be the time to do it anyway, when it finished the primary stage.

 

[Bobby_M]

The concept of a conical is to create a "secondary" environment by letting the majority of the yeast settle and dumping it. Since you'd dry hop in the secondary anyway, wait until you dump the yeast, then dryhop.

 

[dermotstratton]

So, Bobby, any advice on how many time to dump trub before harvesting yeast?

Also, any advice on how to dry hop in conical? Do you recommend using a bag and then removing? or is it okay to cold crash and then dump the hop debris that collects at the bottom?

Thanks!

 

[boo boo]

I would dump a little yeast to start, then collect the yeast I want to use. Don't forget to let the conical breathe by removing the airlock when draining anything from the conical. If you don't you run the risk of getting whatever is in your airlock in your conical.

 

[ChillWill]

When harvesting yeast you just discard the first bit as it'll contain plenty of trub, then keep the rest. If you have any cooling that'd help make denser slurry but not essential.

Using normal hops for dry hopping in a bag should allow yeast to be harvested at anytime, but if you're using pellets just whip the yeast out first.

 

[dermotstratton]

boo boo, i've learned the lesson of removing airlock first the hard way before. thanks for the heads up, though.

ChillWill, I think that is what I'm going to do. Thanks for the advice.

I'm about to turn off the flame and drop start the immersion chiller. Hit my preboil OG spot on for the first time ever. Maiden voyage in the conical is about to commence.