Bulldog, Evil Dog Double IPA

[Kevsan1]

That is what you want

so they just fall to the bottom and mix with the sediment ?

 

[glennturner83]

Not much, no. You can wrap some muslin around the siphon when transferring to bottling bucket to avoid the bits. Or just leave them in your beer and call it character!

By breaking down they release more of the flavour

 

[terrym]

so they just fall to the bottom and mix with the sediment ?

Hop pellets break up and usually drop to the bottom in time. If you can find a cold place or better have a large fridge in which to put your FV at the end of the dry hop period that will help.
Otherwise this might be of use
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/a-newbies-guide-to-dry-hopping-your-beer.61045/

 

[Ale House Rock]

Do they not break up and cause any issues? Seems like they go very mushy

If you browse around the forum, you'll find 3 options. Hop teabag as you describe, putting hops into a large muslin bag or putting loose hops straight into the fermentation bucket. Its really down to what works best for you in terms of convenience and taste of your beer. The object of the exercise is, for most people, to extract as much hop flavour from the hops. The definite advantage of the supplied teabag in your kit or putting loose hops into a muslin bag is that it will make siphoning your beer into a second bucket for bottling easier as you won't have all the hop gunge floating around. The perceived disadvantage of these methods are that you may not extract all the hop flavour that you'd like because hops wrapped up in a teabag or muslin bag won't be in such direct contact with your beer and so less hop flavour is extracted. Unless you weigh the bags down, they tend to float on the surface which also could reduce the hoppiness extracted. You will, IMO, definitely increase the hoppiness of your beer by chucking in loose hop pellets. What I then do over the course of the next 2-3 days is gently rock the bucket to encourage the hops to sink to the bottom. Some kits will provide you with a hop sock to fit over the end of your siphon and again, IMO, equally essential is to use the wire cage from a champagne or prosecco bottle inside the hop sock which prevents the sock being drawn in against your siphon. This seems like a bit of a faff now that I'm writing this down but it really isn't difficult to do - if you have the necessary bits and pieces. When siphoning, you might need to change or remove and rinse the hop sock a few times depending on the quantity of hops added. Enjoy your beer.

 

[Kevsan1]

yes what you are saying makes sense, i really do not get a strong hop smell at all, the teabag seems to have very small perforations, so not much fluid could really pass through, I think next time I might try just throwing it in

 

[illdawg]

I've had better results from the Bulldog teabags by popping a few larger holes in them with a toothpick or something similar. This seems to let more wart pass through and lets more flavor out without getting too much sediment in the brew.

 

[West wind]

I have an Evil Dog DIPA on it's 6th day in the PF (23 litres). Yeast pitched at 21c. The OG was 1.075 and today it's 1.007 and still tastes quite sweet.

I've read through this thread and noted some brewers don't get a strong hoppy taste using the supplied hop T bags. Is there a reason for this or is it just pot luck? I'd like mine to have a distinct hop taste, any tips to achieve this?

 

[Waggy91]

The sweetness should disappear with conditioning providing you dont add to much sugar for carbing, if any , depends on your carb preference.

Regarding the hops, the kit hops is rarly enough for me so i purchase an extra bag. i have experimented with this because like yourself i like a hoppy kick. I use 5L minikegs and ive found putting a tea bag of hop pellets in the keg to be quite efficient at keeping the flavour, you dont need more than half an oz of your preffered tatse but try get it in in a bag to keep bits down. Be careful though as i had one that buckled a mini keg due to some form of secondary fermentation or over carbing kick off in one with extra hops. tasted amazing though i just had to keep venting pressure.

Failing that wait until primary fermentation has finished, and tea bag in the fermenter for 3-4 days. I will say try use disinfected marbles or something to weigh the bag down to ensure maximum contact, and try not to over pack the tea bag, use multiple its all about getting as much hops surface area in contact with your beer and the pellets tend to swell alot when wet.

 

[West wind]

Thanks for the tips, much appreciated.

 

[Waggy91]

Thanks for the tips, much appreciated.

No worries, let us know how you get on.

 

[Barley Rubble]

The OG was 1.075

WOW! And I don't mean "Worzel's Orange Wine!"
1075!

I brewed this kit back on 08/07/20 also to 23 litres and was only able to achieve an OG of 1060! My FG only went down to 1010 so an ABV of 6.56%. Still strong, but yours will be around 8.8%!!!!

Did you add anything to the kit to get these figures?

 

[Barley Rubble]

Incidentally, I also brewed their Bad Cat Imperial Red kit, and that too only came out at 6.56% ABV, although it is also supposed to be in the 7.5 range.

 

[West wind]

Did you add anything to the kit to get these figures?

I didn't but I also had an unusually high OG on a recent Woodfordes Wherry kit so I calibrated the hydrometer and it's good. The only thing I've done different is used bottled mineral water splashed into the FV to aerate the wort. I've no idea if that would effect the OG or hydrometer reading. It stuck at 1.010 for a couple of days but started again when temps went above 20c.

 

[lupinehorror]

i have only made kilju up until now but this kit is on the way.
the previous 26 pages have been an informative read.
thanks all for the info.

 

[West wind]

No worries, let us know how you get on.

I dry hopped it for three days with 50 grams of Cascade pellets in a weighted bag. On bottling day the plan was to add a hop tea made from the supplied T bags. I made a mess of it and dumped the tea Then batched primed with hopped light spray malt.

I couldn't resist a sample so opened a bottle after only nine days. Pretty good so far and no strong alcohol taste

 

[Adrianp]

Hi there all. I'm new to the brewing game, only my second...so please forgive any silly questions. I'm wondering what has happened/infection/should I wait....

Everything sanitised...og of 1.072....bubbling like mad for 6 days.... Sg of 1.013. after 7 days...tasted quite fruity and not bad....i have added the hops... Now on day 12....it is still bubbling every few seconds. Sg of 1.010...the problem is it tastes very bad! quite sour/bitter. Almost burning. I'm wondering if it has become infected...

Any thoughts? My first brew (different kit) worked fine.

 

[Victor Churchill]

Can't help you with your sour/off taste, sorry Adrianp...

On the hopping topic, I found with The Range's old MYO kits (which come with hops for dry-hopping packed in a foil sachet) that if I tipped the hops in as instructed then I had trouble with bits of hop getting intothe bottles. (Did not try a hop-sock).

I found that I got a good hop aroma if I stabbed the foil sachet repeatedly with a long thin pointy kitchen knfe - really perforated it well - the wort got in and circlated but the hop bits stayed in the pouch not in the bottles!

 

[stevea76]

Hi,

I am a total newbie to home-brewing. Thought I would give it a go and started with Evil Dog double IPA kit.

I am on day 12 of fermenting now there is little bubble activity in the airlock (bubbling every 2 to 3 minutes or so) I have taken hydrometer reading 2 days ago and today and they are the same, so I assume I can move on to bottling.

My question is do I need to Syphon to a bottling bucket or can I bottle straight from the fermenter bucket?

I ordered a bottling bucket and syphon but not due to be delivered for a few more days, so it will more than likely in the fermenter for up to 15/16 days.

Worried leaving it in the fermenter with no activity may affect it?

 

[Satellitemark]

Hi Steve,

Wait for your Syphon to come, the beer will come to no harm if left in the bucket.

Take your time with this high abv beer and leave it in the bottle at least a month and preferably longer. The longer you leave it the better it will be ( within reason ) keep the bottles in a warm place for a week then move to somewhere colder for the rest of the time.


Mark

 

[stevea76]

Hi Steve,

Wait for your Syphon to come, the beer will come to no harm if left in the bucket.

Take your time with this high abv beer and leave it in the bottle at least a month and preferably longer. The longer you leave it the better it will be ( within reason ) keep the bottles in a warm place for a week then move to somewhere colder for the rest of the time.


Mark

Many Thanks Mark