Successful Dry Hopping Techniques?

[HighGravity]

"tits up" APA sounds like a popular brew, I'd like to try it.

A question for those who know gelatin:

I have a massively bitter IPA that has been dryhopped in the secondary for more than a week, and I need to have it ready to drink in 2 weeks for a local homebrewers club. Would you recommend putting gelatin into it immediately to drop the yeast and hops to the bottom, or will this take too long? I was thinking the particles from these whole hops would stay in the final product if I just cold crashed for 1 day then bottle conditioned for 12 days, but it appears that adding glatin is not as simple when dry hopping.

P.S. none of my beers have received accolades yet at the local club

 

[Wayne1]

Very good question.

I have had problems with gelatin and dry hopped beers in the past.

I do have to admit some of the problems were my fault. I over dosed the beer with one tablespoon of gelatin. That amount certainly cleared the beer up very quickly but it stripped out most of the delicious hop aroma.

I recently brewed up a "tribute" to Pliny the Elder with 3 oz of dry hops for 14 days a 1 oz for 3 days. I racked into a tertiary vessel and dropped the temp to 40 F. There still was quite a large amount of suspended material floating about after 3 days.

I then boiled up a cup of water, allowed it to cool to 140 or so and added 1/4 teaspoon of gelatin. I stirred it up and allowed it to blend/cool for about 10 minutes. I added that to the cool beer. It has now been 4 days with the gelatin. The suspended material has mostly settled out. There is still some haze. I will let the beer sit for another couple of days and then keg it with some polyclar to hopefully reduce the haze.

I just pulled a sample. While the flavor is still there, once again the intense aroma has diminished. This may just be my techniques, but be careful with gelatin if you want to keep the massive aroma that dry hopping can give.

I realize that some people have had good luck using tablespoon amounts of gelatin. I do not seem to have their luck.

 

[oldschool]

I can't speak for gelatin since I have not used any myself but I know that Russian river uses gelatin at the pub and filters at the production brewery on Pliny. I would possibly suggest getting a coarse filter like the plate filters for wine. Just my thoughts.

 

[HighGravity]

Thanks for the advice! I'm just going to take the milk and vegetables out of the fridge tonight and crash cool before bottling tomorrow. Having only dry hopped a few time, I always think the floating hops seeds in the glass are cool but somehow its not fashionable.

 

[fc-runner]

Well I had success in getting the beer clear. As suggested used a sanitized paint strainer to move the beer to the secondary. Five days later when the beer was around 1.018 cold-crashed it and now after 5 days at 40 degrees in the fridge its beautiful(nice and clear). Cannot wait to get it into the cornelius keg this weekend.

 

[TheBroonery]

I've got a batch in the secondary right now which I'm dry-hopping, first time trying this method. I put the whole hops in a muslin bag (sanitized the bag in boiling water first) and stuffed it into the neck of the carboy, then racked into it letting the wort flow right onto the hop bag. It's just floating at the top now, I'll be bottling it this weekend.

 

[benharper13]

if you don't have a secondary can you just put the dry hops in your primary? If so how long should I wait to put them in? Or do I need to go spend the money to get a primary

 

[benharper13]

sorry I meant secondary

 

[jbrookeiv]

if you don't have a secondary can you just put the dry hops in your primary? If so how long should I wait to put them in? Or do I need to go spend the money to get a primary

Same question.

 

[devilishprune]

I just drop them into the primary, no bag or anything. As long as fermentation is over (this is key), then you can add them at pretty much any point, except probably in the bottle.

 

[benharper13]

what about if I wanted to do a fruit beer, could I add a fruit extract to the primary after fermentation?

 

[devilishprune]

Fruit extract in what form? The alcohol stuff that they sell in the grocery store, or the syrupy looking stuff that you get from the LHBS?

Either way, I figure you can just dump it in after fermentation. A lot of people put it in at bottling, because that way you can taste and assess how much more you need to add.

I have dumped fruit right into the primary before also, and it worked just fine. I wouldn't do it if you want to reuse the yeast though.

 

[TheBroonery]

what about if I wanted to do a fruit beer, could I add a fruit extract to the primary after fermentation?

I did Midwest's Apple Ale last spring and it came with a bottle of apple extract which I added to the secondary. Turned out great!

 

[Doc Robinson]

I don't secondary because in my opinion, it is an unnecessary & unproven step. Aside from that controversy (emphasis on the "tro"...not the "con"...like the Brits), I put pellet hops in a muslin bag tied off at both ends and dry hop in the primary at 70 degrees for 7 days. What happens at 70 degrees will take about 4 times as long at 40 degrees. The bag floats. Twice a day, I gently get a good swirl going in the carboy. You can actually see microscopic "hop dust" seeping out of the bag, spreading through the beer, and eventually making its way to the bottom. After 7 days, I cold crash at 30 degrees for 2 days. The bag sinks to the bottom during the cold crash.

My beer has been crystal clear (thanks to the whirlfloc during the boil & the cold crashing after dry hopping) and the hop aroma punches you in the face.

 

[jgreasy]

I dry hopped an IPA with Cascade pellets, and it has been in the fermenter for a week. I can see that the fermentation is still going because of the bubbles, but i also noticed that ll the hops are at the top of the carboy. QUESTION: Can I expect these to fall to the bottom once the fermentation gets the FG low enough?

 

[jgreasy]

just wondering...

 

[devilishprune]

Yes, they will fall.

Also, fermentation isn't going on (probably); adding dry hops gives the CO2 that's already in solution a place to nucleate and come out of the beer and come out of the air lock.

 

[-TH-]

I dry hopped an IPA with Cascade pellets, and it has been in the fermenter for a week. I can see that the fermentation is still going because of the bubbles, but i also noticed that ll the hops are at the top of the carboy. QUESTION: Can I expect these to fall to the bottom once the fermentation gets the FG low enough?

I have dry-hopped more than 20 batches and for me the hops never fall unless I cold crash it in a fridge. I have even tried a light swirl of the fermenter every day and that didn't do much at all. But now that I'm cold-crashing, everything drops to the bottom within a day. That's not to say that you must do that, I never really had any problem with the hops remaining on top.

 

[jaginger]

I have dry-hopped more than 20 batches and for me the hops never fall unless I cold crash it in a fridge. I have even tried a light swirl of the fermenter every day and that didn't do much at all. But now that I'm cold-crashing, everything drops to the bottom within a day. That's not to say that you must do that, I never really had any problem with the hops remaining on top.

my dry hops don't fall either.

 

[mrbubbly]

+1 on HBT. this post makes this thread over 6 years old!!!!

just sayin...

 

[mrbubbly]

...i just threw 1oz of cascade pellets in the primary after an initial 10 day ferment, will rack to secondary early next week and add another 1oz cascade pellets for maybe another week. i might just slip the ol' bazooka tube over the cane when racking, hopefully that will eliminate any floaties..we shall see

either way im drinkin that $h!t

 

[80mcgyver]

I dry hopped an Irish Red Ale with one ounce of Cascade in a mesh bag to keep the wort neat. Seemed like I expected more hop flavor to come through than what I got. A week in the primary and a week in the secondary should have been enough, but next time I'll try adding it right in the mix, and screen it out later.

 

[nefarious_1_]

I also dry hop in the primary. I rarely secondary: there's no point unless you're doing some extended aging where racking off the yeast is important. The beer clears itself once it's bottled and in the fridge or if you cold crash. I just popped open an IPA I dry hopped with 1.2 oz. of Cascade and it's oh so nice!
When dry hopping in primary, remember to wait until fermentation is complete. I use a 1 gallon paint strainer bag with some fishing line tied to the neck of the carboy for easy removal and add ~20% more dry hops than the recipe calls for to account for aroma loss through offgassing. I go about 7 - 10 days and I like my results (so do others.) In the past, I've had issues with racking cane clogs, even with whole hops, so I always go the way of the sanitized bag now. I'll be dry hopping an ESB shortly, my first time dry hopping with EKG so I'll let you know how it turns out!

 

[emit31]

i am on the same page as nefarious 1 , i use a strainer bag, with whatever amount of hops you prefer, but i also throw a couple sanitized glass marbles in there to sink the bag. this keeps the hops fully saturated the whole time. I also prefer to dry hop after seven days, and let them sit for 14 days. All in a primary.

 

[Gargon]

whole hops for the win witha nice swirl every couple days to get all the good oils of course in the secondary. don't want the co2 carrying away that wonderful smell. as for hops 2 OZ. of citra to a ipa smells like a dream!

 

[cyclonite]

I soak a hop bag in StarSan for a few minutes, then add the hop pellets and a few sanitized marbles to sink it, tie it up with some sanitized twine with the top of the bag doubled over. Works great in the primary (I almost never secondary unless adding flavorings).

Oh yeah, mostly Cascade, Citra, or Amarillo for dry hopping.

 

[stonecrazybrewer]

Cut the edge of a/several teabags, dump the tea, add hop pellets, sew up the bag, toss in secondary. Also works if you wanna toss a bandy but only have long-cut or snuff. Homemade bandits yah buddaayyy

 

[Brewitt]

I just added 4 oz of leaf hops (2 amarillo; 2 simcoe) to 4.5 gal of IPA in the secondary. Man, that is a lot of stuff floating in that carboy. Probably over an inch thick. I gave it a swirl and am hoping that come bottling time I don't regret not putting them in a bag. Do I need to worry about them not getting fully wet or can I just forget about them now?

 

[Brewitt]

I just added 4 oz of leaf hops (2 amarillo; 2 simcoe) to 4.5 gal of IPA in the secondary. ...... I gave it a swirl and am hoping that come bottling time I don't regret not putting them in a bag.

Well, its bottling time and I have about a three inch thick layer of swollen leaf hops on top and some hop trub on the bottom. Seems like if I siphon until the hops get down to the tube I will leave a lot of beer behind. What do I do? Put a mesh bag or cheese cloth over the end, something else? Otherwise I will end up loosing about a gallon of brew.

Any help is welcome.

 

[Brewitt]

Ended up putting a mesh bag over the siphon. Still lost a lot. Nevertheless the brew tastes amazing. I'm a happy guy.