Dry Hopping

[BigDanny84]

*rookie question

I currently have a single hop IPA fermenting and the recipe requires the beer to be dry hopped.
So I'm wondering what works best for ye guys...
Do ye do it in the primary carboy when fermentation has completed or do ye transfer to a secondary?
Do ye use hop bags?
Pellets or cones?

Thanks in advance

[DEMPSEY]

If your dry hopping the rule of thumb is to do it in the fermenter for 3 days. Put the hops in a hop sock unless you have a conical.

[BigDanny84]

Thank Dempsey

[Eoin]

Use cones. Pellets can be too grassy.

[Drum]

Use cones. Pellets can be too grassy.

+1    use cones in a muslin bag with some marbles or stainless steel spoons to weigh it down in the fv. Loose pellets will break up and you'll get green flecks in your beer unless you wait ages for them to drop out.

Boil the sh!t out of the bag and weights (use stainless spoons they are safe to boil, boiling marbles might not be a good idea ) for 15 to 20 mins to sterilise and wash your hands well before handling it to put the hops in. The only infected batch ive made was caused by not boiling a dry hop bag long enough. I ended up with 23 L of very hoppy vinegar.

[BigDanny84]

Thanks guys, will do that.

[Simon_]

Yeah I've been having some bad experiences of late dryhopping with pellets. Little whitish specs I would say. And waiting for them to drop out defeats the purpose of dryhopping. Had never seen any warnings not to do it before this.

[Bubbles]

Would disagree that pellets are unsuitable for dry hopping. The trick is to dry hop for a shorter amount of time, because they give up their oils more easily.

Pellets are certainly not more likely to introduce infections than cones.

[Simon_]

Good stuff. How long then? A day or 2?

[Eoin]

Would disagree that pellets are unsuitable for dry hopping. The trick is to dry hop for a shorter amount of time, because they give up their oils more easily.

Pellets are certainly not more likely to introduce infections than cones.

Less than optimal compared to cones would be the way I'd phrase it, rather than usuitable.

They produce grassy flavours if left too long and the beers can take an age to clear, cones have neither of these issues, YMMV.

[Bubbles]

If you're doing a big dry hop, say 3 or 4 oz, then 3 days will give a good result.

Pellets are particularly suited to dry hopping because the lupulin is pulverised and the oils are ready to be dissolved into your beer. Plus they soak up much less beer than cones.

The trick is attention to detail with your sanitisation - get that bag fully submerged and boiled for 10 mins, with a soak in starsan for good measure. Also the bag must be weighed down - allowing it to bob about on the surface can encourage bugs to take hold.

Don't forget everyone.. The vast majority of commercial hoppy beer we drink has been dry hopped with pellets. Pellets themselves don't give you grassy flavours, you just have to know how to use them correctly.

[nigel_c]

I go pellets all the way. Leaf for me are just too much hassle. Pellets and a cold crash if you can and you will get a great beer.

[Bubbles]

And if you don't have the ability to cold crash, it's even more important that the hops are bagged.

Even when the hops are weighed down you might be able to pull the bag out because a bit of the string is at the surface. Else just rack off the bagged hops and bottle or keg.

[molc]

Tie some dental floss to the top of the bag and you can lift them out whenever you need.

[auralabuse]

Great tips, I am going to try a good hoppy IPA as my next brew. I definitely would have got the dry hopping wrong if it wasn't for this post