Successful Dry Hopping Techniques?

[meadowstream]

I am thinking that like other items that are soaked, that hops flavor/aroma is probably absorbed pretty quickly into the liquid. Would think that after 3-4 days, with some swirling along the way, that dry hopping is pretty complete... What do you think?

 

[Yooper]

I am thinking that like other items that are soaked, that hops flavor/aroma is probably absorbed pretty quickly into the liquid. Would think that after 3-4 days, with some swirling along the way, that dry hopping is pretty complete... What do you think?

Yes, I'd say that by about 3-4 days, most of the hops goodness is into the beer. I wouldn't swirl or stir, just let them soak. I've left dryhops for as long as 10 days, though, when I didn't have time to rack.

 

[hayabusa]

I just ordered some SS mesh from McMaster Carr - I am going to take Bobby's hop filter idea, but make a cylindrical tube that is SS wire stitched at one end (bottom) and with a paint strainer bag and a zip tie over the “top” to seal it. The mesh tube will fit all the way down into the corny keg (it’s 1” shorter than the keg) and can be easily removed, or left in….

I’ll let you know how it works in a few weeks….

 

[Homercidal]

I made what was supposed to be a Two-hearted clone. Well, I mashed too high (first AG) and it's still too sweet and full-bodies IMO.

Anyway, I dry-hopped with 1 oz cascade pellets for several days before crash-cooling for a couple more and kegging. There is a noticeable lack of hops aroma.

What could be wrong? I thought this was supposed to be a no-brain exercise and that aroma could really improve this beer. As it is, I think I might try and make a hop tea to offset the sweet a bit more.

 

[jaja]

I'll bump this instead of using a new thread.

I made an APA and in the boil it had Cascade and cluster for aroma and after a week it was dry hopped when racked to secondary with Chinook.

If I was to dry hop it in the keg to get a bit more hop flavour as I think I was too far off with my hop weights what hops would I dry hop with?

Should I use Chinook as it was the dry hop choice in the fermenter or can I use Cascade wich I actually have in stock in my hop bank.

What would you choose?

BTW I plan on using a stainless steel tea ball and a marble in it to weigh it down. does this stay in for the life of the beer or should it be removed after a certain time. If removed I'll put fishing line on it and attatch it to the dip tube if I can to make it easier to remove.

 

[jaja]

Anyone?.........

 

[mysteryberto]

I'll bump this instead of using a new thread.

I made an APA and in the boil it had Cascade and cluster for aroma and after a week it was dry hopped when racked to secondary with Chinook.

If I was to dry hop it in the keg to get a bit more hop flavour as I think I was too far off with my hop weights what hops would I dry hop with?

Should I use Chinook as it was the dry hop choice in the fermenter or can I use Cascade wich I actually have in stock in my hop bank.

What would you choose?

BTW I plan on using a stainless steel tea ball and a marble in it to weigh it down. does this stay in for the life of the beer or should it be removed after a certain time. If removed I'll put fishing line on it and attatch it to the dip tube if I can to make it easier to remove.

Cascade would be a good hop to dry hop your beer with. I generally leave my keg hops in for as long as several months. Others don't because it supposedly leaves grassy flavors eventually. Make sure you sanitize your tea ball and marble.

 

[Grizzlybrew]

I'll bump this instead of using a new thread.

I made an APA and in the boil it had Cascade and cluster for aroma and after a week it was dry hopped when racked to secondary with Chinook.

If I was to dry hop it in the keg to get a bit more hop flavour as I think I was too far off with my hop weights what hops would I dry hop with?

Should I use Chinook as it was the dry hop choice in the fermenter or can I use Cascade wich I actually have in stock in my hop bank.

What would you choose?

BTW I plan on using a stainless steel tea ball and a marble in it to weigh it down. does this stay in for the life of the beer or should it be removed after a certain time. If removed I'll put fishing line on it and attatch it to the dip tube if I can to make it easier to remove.

I think it comes down to what aroma you are looking for... If you are going for the spiciness of the chinook, then double it up by adding more to the keg. Cascade definitely tend to have a more pronounced citrus/floral aroma and are the traditional choice for IPA and would probably go well with most APA as well.

As far as to how long - the achohol content is not really high enough to preserve the hops long term (if they start to breakdown, they could potentially release off flavors/aromas). Plus, a month or two is probably going to extract all the aroma you're going to get.

Good Luck!

 

[flash24]

I am going to dry hop for the first time, a bock. After talking to my local brew store they suggested just dropping the pellets into the secondary and then using a nylon straining bag attached to the siphon when racking from the secondary to the bottling bucket. Hope that helps.

 

[Superdave]

Since the thread was resurrected yesterday...

I dry-hopped for the first time last night, but am pretty excited to drink the beer, as it has aged out very well, but needed some hop aroma. (I know, most people dry hop much sooner than I did, but I was doing some other stuff with the beer too.)

Anyway, I was wondering if the consensus leaned toward 3-4 days is all that is needed to extract what is being extracted? Hoping to finally bottle the beer on Thursday evening.

 

[ILOVEBEER]

I went through all the hassle of buying SS tea balls yada yada...I keg mine. I went to my LHBS and talked to the guys. I mentioned the tea balls and they laughed. He grabbed me by the ear and pulled me over to the "fine" mesh bag area. He GAVE (free of charge) me two that hold two ounces perfectly.

I boil the bags, transfer whole leaf hops, tie them with a regular overhand knot and drop them in. I leave them the whole time.

Sure beats the hell out of messing with all that other stuff. Works for me

 

[Brewinator]

Some LHBS's sell tea balls, so their laughter is unnecessary condescension.

I went through all the hassle of buying SS tea balls yada yada...I keg mine. I went to my LHBS and talked to the guys. I mentioned the tea balls and they laughed. He grabbed me by the ear and pulled me over to the "fine" mesh bag area. He GAVE (free of charge) me two that hold two ounces perfectly.

I boil the bags, transfer whole leaf hops, tie them with a regular overhand knot and drop them in. I leave them the whole time.

Sure beats the hell out of messing with all that other stuff. Works for me

 

[RushN24]

I just tried my first attempt at dry hopping with a rainy day IPA I brewed last week. I simply cut a grain sock down to an appropriate size, threw in 2 sanitized stainless steel washers I had, and added the 1 oz of Fuggles and .25oz of Warrior I had left over, I used pellet hops and that is why I decided to go with a sack. There is almost no hop particles floating around in the beer so the grain sack seems to be working out great. I then threw the sack into the secondary and racked right on top of it. The beer was on day 4 with S-04 (a very fast fermenting yeast) and about .002 away from my expected FG at racking time. The sack floats at the top, but the washers provide just enough weight to keep the sack submerged just under the surface. I have 12 more days in secondary and then 2-3 weeks in the bottle before I can share my result, but I'll tell you it smelled pretty good while racking!

 

[shlap]

Some LHBS's sell tea balls, so their laughter is unnecessary condescension.

Yep! Mine does.... they seriously laughed at you and pulled you by the ear? If that happened to me I'd be ordering all my brew supplies online from that point on! Hah

 

[brendanb]

anybody tried dry hopping with millennium?

i have an apa in primary. plan was to prime for 3 weeks, rack to keg, dry hop with two oz's of millennium right in the keg with hop bag and a cork to float it.

 

[ILOVEBEER]

I don't think you need a cork buddy...all the times I have dry hopped the bag never hits bottom until the keg is empty.

 

[ILOVEBEER]

Yep! Mine does.... they seriously laughed at you and pulled you by the ear? If that happened to me I'd be ordering all my brew supplies online from that point on! Hah

It was a figure of speech. They lured me over to the bags section by offering me a beer they had on tap.:rockin:

 

[brendanb]

all the times I have dry hopped the bag never hits bottom until the keg is empty.

lol....how do you know?

either way, thanks for the advice. i'll skip using the cork. one less thing to sterilize, right?

but yeah...anybody have any experience with millennium hops as a dry hop?

 

[briegg]

Just FYI. The very first batch I made, I dry hopped with a hop bag& 1 oz of pellet hops in the keg, as I was way too worried about sanitation. The bag got sucked into the beer line tube and plugged it about 2/3 of the way through the keg. I had to open the keg and fish out the hop bag with my racking cane.

 

[JBZSTL]

I have read a lot about dry hop methods. It sounds to me a lot of it boils down to personal preference. It appears to me as if the all around easiest method would be to put the hops in a nylon bag. Are there any drawbacks to using the nylon bag? I plan on using pellet hops and will be using a carboy as my second.

 

[lefty913]

Hey Superdave~

I have tried many different ways with the dry hopping, and I think 7-10 days will pretty much do it. My preferred method is to add the dry hops and then I roust the fermenter once a day over the first three days to sink everything. Then I roust it every other day. I have found this to the method that works best for me.

I have tried adding hops just after high krausen and transferring after three days, but it has never worked for me. I never really got the "perfumy" aroma that is supposed to happen with this method.

Really, it is all a matter of preference.

 

[Homer]

Might as well add to this, since I just read all these pages
I've tried dryhopping now a few times, and I never got any good aroma. My last IPA that is now carbing in the keg, I put 2 ounces of pellet cascades for about 2 weeks (wanted to do less time but got busy) in my secondary in a bag. In all my dryhopping experience I've never weighted the bag down at all, Is this my problem, is it just floating at the top and not getting mixed into the brew?

 

[lefty913]

Could be. Have you ever tried not using a bag and just let the pellets marinate free of constraint?

 

[Homer]

Could be. Have you ever tried not using a bag and just let the pellets marinate free of constraint?

No, I have only tried with the bag, so it is easier to transfer the beer out to the keg, then I pull the bag out.

 

[BeantownR6]

i used to use a hop bag. now i just add them to the primary after 3 weeks or rack ontop of them into secondary. when i siphon i just tie a hop bag to the end of the racking cane. i get no hop particles in the beer. some cases ive had the hops sink to the bottom with 2 weeks of dryhopping, sometime with 1 week dryhop not all sink and some of it stays a float.

 

[Homer]

i used to use a hop bag. now i just add them to the primary after 3 weeks or rack ontop of them into secondary. when i siphon i just tie a hop bag to the end of the racking cane. i get no hop particles in the beer. some cases ive had the hops sink to the bottom with 2 weeks of dryhopping, sometime with 1 week dryhop not all sink and some of it stays a float.

Is there a difference between a hop bag, and like a grain sock, I think I'm using a grain sock, like the ones that come with some extract kits.

 

[MVKTR2]

These are the threads that make HBT what it is! I'm a pantyhose fan myself no no no not wearing, using in my bier! Actually it's the grandma style knee highs that I use. I purchase the lightest colored ones I can find, then boil them in water until all the dye is released from them. Do yourself a favor and use natural or some skintoned version as black is a pain in the neck as I had to swap water 4 or 5 times, still real easy though! Okay so that's the hard part I also put marbles in with the hose when boiling. Kills 2 birds with one stone!

I dryhop by putting marbles and pellet hops in a knee high, tying it off, and dropping it in the fermenter. I've done this in the primary after fermentation was done when I wasn't going to rack to a secondary & I've used it in a secondary. Great results both ways and if doing it in the primary you're still able to harvest yeast easily without worrying about so many hop particles.

Schlante,
Phillip

 

[BeantownR6]

Is there a difference between a hop bag, and like a grain sock, I think I'm using a grain sock, like the ones that come with some extract kits.

i believe its called a hop muslin bag

 

[BMoreBeerish]

Greetings all - first time poster here.

I found this thread by searching for dry hopping and have read all the posts. Lots of interesting ideas, but I think Phillip's post above about the pantyhose may be the one I go with.

This is my 2nd batch, first time dry hopping. A DFH 60 minute clone. The hops are still in the bag from the brew store, but I'm pretty sure they are pellets.

I do not plan to use secondary, just primary (in a bucket) for about 3 weeks. The instructions say to add the dry hops on day 5 after brewing, so that would be about 23 days in primary with the add'l hop pellets. Anybody see any problems with this plan?

If I don't use the pantyhose, and just drop them in uncontained, I gather that I should wrap a hop bag around my siphon tube when I rack to the bottling bucket, to avoid hop particles in the beer, correct?

Thanks all.

 

[BMoreBeerish]

I guess I should also say that I bottle as opposed to keg.

I just noticed when I posted my reply that this thread is in the "All Grain and Partial Mash" section; I am using an extract batch, so I apologize if I posted to the wrong forum section.