When to Add Dry Hops?

[smyrnaquince]

I am trying my first recipe with dry hopping. (See here or here.)

This recipe has an OG of 1.056 and an expected FG of 1.010. The instructions say to "Add dry hops once fermentation is nearing completion (ie: below 1.015). Dry hop for 7-10 days total."

My question is, does it matter if the fermentation is not yet complete vs. being finished? I usually leave my brews in the fermenter for 3 weeks to give plenty of time for the fermentation to finish and the yeast to clean up. Rather than trying to catch the fermentation when it is almost done, I'd rather just put the hops in at the 2 week mark, which should be plenty of time for the fermentation to finish, then bottle one week later.

Second question: I'm using pellet hops. AFAIK, I just drop them in, but don't need to stir or anything else. If this is true and if I can put them in at the 2 week mark instead of checking the gravity, then I'll just pull the airlock and drop the pellets in through the grommet. Do I need to stir (or anything else)?

 

[pwndabear]

I am going to answer the questions in the order in which they were received.

no.
no.

really though, fermentation does not effect the dry hopping much as aroma is the only thing you're getting from your hops. I personally wait until fermentation is done as I dont want to disrupt it.

i have dry hopped with both pellet and leaf hops. each has its up's and downs to use. leaf are easier to get out of your brew but arepretty messy, take up a lot of space, and will soak up some beer. pellet hops will break apart in your beer over time and create a kind of sludge on the top of it but because they are so fine, they can give you some clarity problems if you dont take care.

either way, dry hopping is not very complicated.

 

[Yooper]

Since you don't want to leave the beer on the dryhops too long, the easiest way to do it is to simply add the dryhops a week before bottling, whenever that is.

Fermentation should be over, and the beer starting to clear pretty well. And then a week before bottling day, gently drop in the dryhops.

 

[Jayhem]

If you wrap a fine mesh straining bag or screen around the tip of your siphon you can transfer to your bottling bucket without picking up the floating dry hop mess.

I'll be dry hopping an IPA this week!

 

[Bmorebrew]

Whatever works best for you - some people like to dry hop when fermentation is almost done but just has a couple of points to go (some on the Brewing Network for example), and some (like me), dry hop when it's convenient. For me this means about a week or so before bottling or kegging, like Yooper says.

 

[pwndabear]

Gah steve buscemi mindf*ck!!!

 

[unionrdr]

I like to dry hop after FG is reached,& the beer has had 3-7 days to settle out clear,or slightly misty. You want most of the yeast settled before dry hopping,as the lupulin oils coat the settling yeast cells & go to the bottom. I get great aroma this way.

 

[smyrnaquince]

Thanks all! It sounds like adding hops at 2 weeks, then letting it go one more week will work well.

If you wrap a fine mesh straining bag or screen around the tip of your siphon you can transfer to your bottling bucket without picking up the floating dry hop mess.

I have a spout on my fermentation bucket, so I don't siphon. I imagine that I could use a rubber band to put a mesh bag on the end of the tube that goes in the bottling bucket. Iodophor (which I use) or Starsan should work on a rubber band, right?