Dry Hopping

[Bubbles]

Anything like the bags are a risky thing to use again and again as the risk of contamination is there . What about the paint strainer bags and only use them once then throw away.

It's probably a good idea to replace the bags regularly alright, but I can't say I've ever had an issue with the extended use of them.

Bacteria don't have a hope after 10 mins in boiling water, and a quick soak in StarSan for good measure.

[molc]

I'm going to do an ipa for the nationals with only late kettle hopping to see how it compares. Also I just won't have enough time to dry hop properly while packaging.

[Bubbles]

encourage the hops to form into a ball which can reduce the contact with the beer.

You do need a good sized bag, depending on how much hops you're using, to encourage full exposure of the hops. In the past I've put too big an amount of hops into too small a bag and probably didn't get the full effect.

use a stainless steal hop filter that can be gently agitated every day to keep the hops in constant c - assuming you use fresh hops 

Have you got a link to one of these doo-dads?

[Bubbles]

I'm going to do an ipa for the nationals with only late kettle hopping to see how it compares.

jeez man, you're cutting it fine. Mine's bottled..

Just kidding! I'm not even entering an IPA this year!)

[Dr Jacoby]

Have you got a link to one of these doo-dads?

I do 

And here's another option.

[craiclad]

I'm going to do an ipa for the nationals with only late kettle hopping to see how it compares. Also I just won't have enough time to dry hop properly while packaging.

Have you ever considered dry hopping during active fermentation? I've heard it's used by commercial brewers frequently, and helps reduce oxygenation.

[molc]

I'm going to do an ipa for the nationals with only late kettle hopping to see how it compares.

jeez man, you're cutting it fine. Mine's bottled..

Just kidding! I'm not even entering an IPA this year!)

Well they say it should be fresh; hopefully it won't be still fermenting when I submit
Kind of cocked up my entries for this year as I wasn't happy with anything I made, so doing last minute rebrews trying to get something that I think will be up to standard.
Next year I'm just going to have pick a style and brew it again and again and...

[molc]

I'm going to do an ipa for the nationals with only late kettle hopping to see how it compares. Also I just won't have enough time to dry hop properly while packaging.

Have you ever considered dry hopping during active fermentation? I've heard it's used by commercial brewers frequently, and helps reduce oxygenation.

Yeah I've read about it, but never tried tbh. Then again, I've only ever brewed maybe 3 ipas in my life, so haven't had enough time to really experiment.

[Dr Jacoby]

One good approach if you want to try multiple dry hop additions is to add some dry hops to primary when fermentation slows down and then transfer to a corny (or secondary vessel if bottling) for a second or third dry hop addition.

[Bubbles]

Have you got a link to one of these doo-dads?

I do 

And here's another option.

Thank you, sir!

(have the "Thank" links been removed, mods??)

[Bubbles]

I'm going to do an ipa for the nationals with only late kettle hopping to see how it compares. Also I just won't have enough time to dry hop properly while packaging.

Have you ever considered dry hopping during active fermentation? I've heard it's used by commercial brewers frequently, and helps reduce oxygenation.

It is used by commercial brewers to some extent. But commercial brewers are more concerned with shelf-life than a home brewer would be. We have the ability to make hoppy beers and drink them when they're really fresh, and know exactly how fresh they are and how they're being stored and served.

Dry-hopping in secondary will introduce minimal oxygen, so don't be worried about that. If you are dry hopping in primary, do so after 3 or 4 days when the bulk of fermentation has been done, so as not to scrub out some of the volatile aromas. Of course, you can always compensate for this by simply adding more hops. Hth.

[Garry]

(have the "Thank" links been removed, mods??)

Well spotted. It was turned off on some boards for some reason. Fixed now.

[banjobrew]

Okay time for a case study...

23 litres of 1.042 OG and 50g mix of pellet and leaf for dry hopping. I have a 5 gallon carboy for secondary and no available muslin bags. I would like to save the yeast cake.

My original plan was to rack after a week and then 2 weeks in secondary with the last 4 days bagless dry hopping.

My main concern is giving the yeast enough time to eat up those off-flavours.

[craiclad]

Okay time for a case study...

23 litres of 1.042 OG and 50g mix of pellet and leaf for dry hopping. I have a 5 gallon carboy for secondary and no available muslin bags. I would like to save the yeast cake.

My original plan was to rack after a week and then 2 weeks in secondary with the last 4 days bagless dry hopping.

My main concern is giving the yeast enough time to eat up those off-flavours.

Pale ale I'm assuming? I would say your plan is spot on - rack to secondary after initial fermentation, harvest the yeast cake, and then dry hop with loose hops for however long you want.

[banjobrew]

Okay time for a case study...

23 litres of 1.042 OG and 50g mix of pellet and leaf for dry hopping. I have a 5 gallon carboy for secondary and no available muslin bags. I would like to save the yeast cake.

My original plan was to rack after a week and then 2 weeks in secondary with the last 4 days bagless dry hopping.

My main concern is giving the yeast enough time to eat up those off-flavours.

Pale ale I'm assuming? I would say your plan is spot on - rack to secondary after initial fermentation, harvest the yeast cake, and then dry hop with loose hops for however long you want.

Well that's good enough for me! Yeah a session IPA. I'm working on my 'house' IPA so the idea is that this will be tweaked brew by brew.