When to Dry Hop?

[lorne17]

Hello,

I brewed the SMASH pale Session ale from NB last Saturday. It says to dry Hop in secondary after one week. Do you all recommend that timing or should I wait longer?

Thanks,
Lorne

 

[phyllobeddo]

I wouldn't bother with secondary, and I would dry hop 3-5 days before bottling. Just some general advice. YMMV

 

[SilverZero]

+1 on skipping secondary. The high-level dry hopping discussions have shifted lately to the benefits of having some yeast still roaming around in the beer, so they say to try to get it in with 3-5 points to go before terminal gravity. That helps the yeast get rid of the oxygen introduced with the hops and staves off oxidation and staling a bit better. 3-5 days of contact time is perfect. More than that and you're better off doing 2 separate additions, rousing with CO2, etc.

You can see that this gets complicated really quickly.

Since you're 7 days in already, you're probably already fermented out. Drop those hops in today (as gently as possible to avoid splashing) and bottle Wednesday if you can, or certainly by next Saturday. Or, plan on bottling next Saturday and add the hops on Tuesday night.

 

[lorne17]

Thanks for the responses. I should note that I have the FastFerment. So I won't be switching to another vessel for secondary. Just removing the collection ball, cleaning it out and replacing it. Would you say I still add the hops in there? Should I keep it in there longer since the majority of the Yeast Trub will be removed?

Should I remove collection ball this weekend?

Thanks!
Lorne

 

[SilverZero]

I'd leave it. I see no reason to remove it until you're ready to bottle. Yeast are always welcome guests, don't kick them out early.

 

[lorne17]

Hrmmm interesting concept. Why then would the FastFerment even be a benefit to brewing? Now I'm questioning if I should have ever gotten it! I'm also kegging not bottling, fyi. Should I dry hop into my keg with a strainer?

 

[SilverZero]

It gives you the ability to pull yeast and solids off before bottling so you don't have to worry about getting them in the bottle or keg. Plus, you can harvest yeast more easily. And it's way easier to drain from below than to siphon from above. If you were aging for months you'd want the yeast out of there, but I doubt you're going to tie that thing up for 6 months instead of transferring to a secondary (that's when I'd use one anyway).

 

[SilverZero]

Oops, sorry, missed the kegging comment. In that case, I'd certainly consider keg hopping, but it's worth trying both to see which you like. Keg hopping is usually fine for longer periods because you're keeping the beer at 40f or so instead of 70f so extended contact isn't really a concern. I've left hops in the keg for the life of the brew (a month or so) and never noted any grassy flavors.

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

I have no comments about dry hopping but I do have a son named Lorne so hey there Lorne!

 

[lorne17]

Thanks Silver. Yea I likely will finish my keg closer to 2 months so that may be too long. I'll dry Hop into the fastferment and keep yeast in it.

 

[lorne17]

I have no comments about dry hopping but I do have a son named Lorne so hey there Lorne!

That's awesome!!! Lorne is a GREAT name! It's a family name but they are all spelt differently. Starting with my great grandfather: Lorin, Loren, Loran (my father), Lorne (me), and the newest is Lorn (my son).

I love to hear/see more Lorne's out there! Where did you come up with the name?

Lorne

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

I lived in Scotland for about 20 years, met my wife there, and had 2 boys there. I wanted to name my first son after my dad Larry but my wife didn't like the name. So we chose Lorne, which is a beautiful area of the Western Highlands.

 

[lorne17]

That's awesome. Well Lorne is a great name! Good choice

 

[lorne17]

I have one more question in regards to dry hopping. Do I need to make hops sterile by putting them in vodka or something?

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

Hops have astringent/antibacterial properties, which is kinda why they became popular in the 1st place, so no need. Now if you are going to put them in a mesh bag then you'll want to sanitize that.

 

[lorne17]

I just threw them straight in. Thanks!!