Howdy folks!
Normally I'd dryhop leaf hops in a muslin bag weighed down with marbles.
There seems to be a lot of variety in available pellet hops at the moment, but generally I find that muslin bags are too coarse for pellets and leak a lot out.
Sometimes I'd throw pelelts in loose and let the chips fall where they may (hopefully down into the trub) but sometimes they don't settle cleanly and end up in the bottle.
Anyway. What can people suggest for cleanly dryhopping in FV using pellets?
I saw THESE empty teabags (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Press-N-Brew-DIY-empty-Tea-Bags-large-5-inches-x-3-75-inches-100-bags-fast-sh-/191147626097) but they don't ship to Ireland.
Empty tae bags from China? (http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-100-200pcs-Empty-Teabags-String-Heat-Seal-Filter-Paper-Herb-Loose-Tea-Bags-/400647148254?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item5d486e52de)
i was looking at similar ones and the shipping was rediculous.
those seem to have free shipping but they're tiny. so are their tea balls.
Any other ideas?
Chuck em in and let run free.
Use your autosiphon with tights or in my case micron mesh over the end with a elastic band siphoning from the middle of your fv to secondary after 3 days.
How about these?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/T-Sac-Tea-Filters-Size-Bags/dp/B0082EM3T2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1398886472&sr=8-2&keywords=t+sac
Suki sell them in St George's market too. Maybe not big enough?
Don't the Yanks just throw pellets straight into the fv? How do they get away with it? I tried it myself and ended up with bits of hop in the beer too. It was great for head retention though.
yeah, I've thrown them in loose many times but you just dont know if you'll get away with it or not.
I always end up slapping the FV every time I pass to get more to settle.
@ garry - great for head retention and gushers :D
@ CH : I almost never use a syphon, so filtering there is out. but apart from possible clogging issues it's a good idea. i wonder if there's anything i could put in-line on my hose from the tap as a filter
@joe: those are quite small again, and I think they have a flappy-flap instead of actually sealing.
why do you dislike dryhopping with pellets tube?
I used an old nylon tights in secondary. Make sure you leave plenty of room for expansion and tie a knot. They expand a huge amount.
Wonder about the grassy flavour myself. Or maybe it's just harsher.
I've heard of other people using this too. Does tights material keep all the particles in? is it reuseable? who wore them before you?
And fresh J-cloths, probably best to boil them for a while though.
I never had a problem with it being grassy so long as you don't forget they're in there for a few weeks.
Maybe a little harsher alright if you don't scale the quantities back about 25%
Grassy only comes into it if you go over 5 days, current thinking is full profile comes out after 2-3 days.
It works well yeah. I am selective about who's tights get used. Don't want any foreign yeasts in there.
Now that you mention it I hadn't been dialing back my dry hop pellets. Was wondering why the beers were a bit disappointing.
I have to say, my experience of dry hopping with pellets isnt great.
The hops stay in suspension in some form and the beer isnt as clean.
Dry hopping with leaf a hopbag isnt the end of the world - just boil the bag for 5 minutes.
I find that late hopping never really gets the aroma that dry hopping does, its probably all the yeast activity driving it off.
That's just my experience - everyones system / technique is different.
Vegetal is a bigger descriptive which includes grassy but also nutty and resinous so it's not a better word for this issue.
Gordon Strong hmmm...
I used to be very suspicious about dry hopping (leaf and pellet), but some recent experiments have converted me. There's just no other way to get that unique fresh hop aroma.
I've found that unless you use a filter or cold crash the beer and age it for a few weeks (by which time the main hop impact will be lessened) you will nearly always have some haze in a dry hopped beer.
I don't get any grassy flavours by dry hopping with pellet hops but I think that's because I only ever leave them in there for 4 or 5 days. What I normally do is throw the hops into my corny about 3/4 of the way through fermentation and then once I'm happy with the flavour and aroma I cold crash for 3 days at 0C and then draw the beer gently away through the dip tube (which has been cut short). This usually yields a reasonably clear beer but there is nearly always some level of haze, especially in massively hopped beers.
I plan on getting a proper filter at some stage to see what difference it makes to both the appearance and flavour but I don't think it's essential.
I use pellets to dry hop. I put them in after fermentation has complete but still with the beer still on the yeast. If they don't sink I stir them in then do a secondary with isinglass.
I never get grassy flavours as I only leave them in for 2/3 days. Max 4 if I forget.
I'm a big fan of it. It really gives ipa and pale ales a fresh hoppy kick.
It makes perfect sense that pellets would impart more vegetal/grassy notes. It's chopped up and has a greater surface area and exposes the cell insides to the beer directly and that's where the chlorophyll lives.
Simple physics.
More than one way to skin a cat. I dry hop with pellets in the corny keg. 3 or 4 days in a stainless dry hopper tube (stainlessbrewing.com) I have just lobbed them naked into the corny too & auto syphon the beer off the hop gunk into a clean co2 purged corny & then cold crash. Worked very well also but its another keg to clean & sanitize. I dont get any particles in my pints but the kegs do get to sit in the keggerator for a few days at 3 or 4c. The first pint is cloudy then everything is lovely after that one.
I have tried it many times myself and never had any problem with grassy flavors. Sometimes resinous, but that's to be expected if putting in too much. After all, the pellets keep the oils better.
The reason for this thread is to find solutions for the debris/particle problem.
Teabags/tights seem to be the right direction for simplicity and ease of use.
Or maybe a drawstring fine mesh bag or something similar if they can get a good seal.
@HopBomb - you mean the 'dryhopper with twist cap? http://www.stainlessbrewing.com/Dry-Hopper-with-twist-cap_p_155.html (http://www.stainlessbrewing.com/Dry-Hopper-with-twist-cap_p_155.html)
That looks the business alright. Any idea if you can get shorter ones that'd fit in an FV?
Quote from: LordEoin on May 01, 2014, 10:18:11 AM
@HopBomb - you mean the 'dryhopper with twist cap? http://www.stainlessbrewing.com/Dry-Hopper-with-twist-cap_p_155.html (http://www.stainlessbrewing.com/Dry-Hopper-with-twist-cap_p_155.html)
That looks the business alright. Any idea if you can get shorter ones that'd fit in an FV?
You can get something very similar in kitchen shops, it's basically a big salt shaker with a mesh lid that restaurants. I'd imagine it'd keep the pellets in.
@lordeoin: Im sure they'd make one to your spec.
Only time I had grassy vegetal flavours from dry hop pellets was my summer session beer last year. Tried to dry hop the shite out of it several times & left the hops in waaaaaay too long. I was new to pellets at the time & pretty much turned poor Kevco5 off Mosaic for life haha.
I dry hopped for the first time on a 5% historic pale ale on Monday. I put a handful(roughly 20g or so) into the bottom of the secondary and transferred in on top. I forgot to transfer into a corney last night and wont get a chance now till Tuesday. Will the beer be fuked grassiness wise?? Should I be ringing the missus and giving her step by step transferring & sanitising instructions on the phone?!?! EEEEPP
Quote from: CARA on May 01, 2014, 10:58:57 AM
I dry hopped for the first time on a 5% historic pale ale on Monday. I put a handful(roughly 20g or so) into the bottom of the secondary and transferred in on top. I forgot to transfer into a corney last night and wont get a chance now till Tuesday. Will the beer be fuked grassiness wise?? Should I be ringing the missus and giving her step by step transferring & sanitising instructions on the phone?!?! EEEEPP
It'll be fine, my 46/50 APA was dryhopped with a shit load of pellets for 8-9 days.
irish_goat's post got me thinking :)
Get a Stainless Steel Shaker/Duster (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stainless-Steel-Chocolate-Shaker-Duster-8-x-Cappuccino-Coffee-Barista-Stencils-/310825822689?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item485ea9a9e1).
Separate the lid from the "cup" and wrap some stainless mesh (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Woven-Wire-40-Mesh-30cm-x-30cm-x0-4mm-Vivarium-Vent-Stainless-Steel-/261141009192?pt=UK_BOI_Medical_Lab_Equipment_Lab_Supplies_ET&hash=item3ccd379328) around both.
Fix the mesh with stainless jubilee clips.
Garry, I was thinking the same, cut the cylinder in half and then there is a natural closed bottom, top with a lid, and something to keep the form.
Ikea anybody:
http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/catalog/products/80102919/
Is it important to weigh down the muslin bag for dry hopping or will you get the same effect by allowing it float at the top?
better to have them submerged so that they're completely surrounded by beer.
i like this shaker idea. nice cheap version of the stainlessbrewing product.
No one has commented on the difference between dry hopping with pettets and dry hopping with whole hops in a hop bag.
Personally I have found whole hops in a bag floating at the top works well - causes less 'cloudyness'.
I do give it a little stir to ensure the hops are all wet. Generally it floats at the top imparting its goodness from there.
However, whole leaf hops dont seem to be trendy anymore,everything seems to be in pellets these days. :(
More of a convenience thing than a trend thing. If Tube was selling fresh leaf citra & simcoe we'd all have that Im sure.
I suppose it's a trend caused by increased quality, convenience and storage life.