Dry hop again?

[stripeyjoe]

Hi all,
I’ve just kegged my mountain IPA, I used a couple of the tea strainer things with the hops in for the dry hop but it didn’t work at all as I put too many hops in each, they were about half full when I put them in but completely stuffed when I took them out. The hops were very compacted and none of the hop aroma has transferred to the beer so it’s a bit of a waste of hops as I can hardly taste the 150g or so I put in.
The beers itself is good, just a bit bland. I have around 16l in the keg.
Just wondering if I could pep it up by buying some more hops and doing another dry hop in the keg, I have two kegs and the one the beer is in has a floating dip tube with a filter in. Was thinking I could raise the keg temp up to 15C, chuck a similar amount of hops in, purge & leave for a day or two before crashing again and transferring to my other keg.
Does this sound like a plausible plan or would I be throwing good money after bad?
Ta!

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I've come to the conclusion that dry hopping is more trouble than it's worth. I now whirlpool/hop stand instead. Reducing the risk of oxidation and sterilises the hops. I hop stand at 85C for 20-30 minutes.

 

[stripeyjoe]

I've come to the conclusion that dry hopping is more trouble than it's worth. I now whirlpool/hop stand instead. Reducing the risk of oxidation and sterilises the hops. I hop stand at 85C for 20-30 minutes.

Did that as well, this was meant to be a very hoppy IPA, in between a west coast and NEIPA.

 

[DocAnna]

Hi all,
I’ve just kegged my mountain IPA, I used a couple of the tea strainer things with the hops in for the dry hop but it didn’t work at all as I put too many hops in each, they were about half full when I put them in but completely stuffed when I took them out. The hops were very compacted and none of the hop aroma has transferred to the beer so it’s a bit of a waste of hops as I can hardly taste the 150g or so I put in.
The beers itself is good, just a bit bland. I have around 16l in the keg.
Just wondering if I could pep it up by buying some more hops and doing another dry hop in the keg, I have two kegs and the one the beer is in has a floating dip tube with a filter in. Was thinking I could raise the keg temp up to 15C, chuck a similar amount of hops in, purge & leave for a day or two before crashing again and transferring to my other keg.
Does this sound like a plausible plan or would I be throwing good money after bad?
Ta!

Yes, you can hop at any stage even after carbonation and in the keg. Several of my kegs have hooks on the underside of the lids to hold a hop basket specifically for this purpose, and it's even possible to use an inline infuser between the keg and the tap. I doubt you'd need quite the same amount of hops again, and if you have the equipment to do closed transfers and temperature control then your plan sounds ideal.

Anna

 

[stripeyjoe]

Thanks @DocAnna! Now to plan my next brew and add the extra hops to the recipe builder!
Rather than going keg to keg I might just transfer it back to my all rounder, easier to see what’s going on and I can just whack the hops into it and purge before transferring the beer over.

 

[The Baron]

I've come to the conclusion that dry hopping is more trouble than it's worth. I now whirlpool/hop stand instead. Reducing the risk of oxidation and sterilises the hops. I hop stand at 85C for 20-30 minutes.

I too try to whirlpool more than dry hop or cut the dry hop down if doing one and put more in the whirlpool.
It also helps with less bittering as I am lead to believe that after your whirlpool has dropped to less than@75c it will hardly add much bitterness but I have found that large dry hops can add quite a bit to the IBU's.
I have only read this in the last year or so after always believing that dry hopping did not add to IBU's but some of the recipe software systems even allow and add this into the IBU units.
Do not take this as gospel but I bet that there are several different views on this.

 

[Brew_DD2]

Thanks @DocAnna! Now to plan my next brew and add the extra hops to the recipe builder!
Rather than going keg to keg I might just transfer it back to my all rounder, easier to see what’s going on and I can just whack the hops into it and purge before transferring the beer over.

If I want a big hop punch from a NEIPA, I hop during fermentation, then transfer into a purged keg with more hops. I love keg hopping.

 

[Brew_DD2]

I've come to the conclusion that dry hopping is more trouble than it's worth. I now whirlpool/hop stand instead. Reducing the risk of oxidation and sterilises the hops. I hop stand at 85C for 20-30 minutes.

I'd have to disagree. You won't get anywhere close to any Hazy IPA style by whirlpooling alone. These styles are so sensitive to oxidation, so it definitely is a case of being very careful on the cold side.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I don’t brew NEIPA cloudy beers don’t appeal

 

[Brew_DD2]

I don’t brew NEIPA cloudy beers don’t appeal

Perhaps a thread where the OP is asking about brewing a beer that has 150g of dry hops isn't really aimed at you then.

 

[ssashton]

I've come to the conclusion that dry hopping is more trouble than it's worth. I now whirlpool/hop stand instead. Reducing the risk of oxidation and sterilises the hops. I hop stand at 85C for 20-30 minutes.

Very interesting. Have you tried using hop aroma oils during kegging / bottling as a substitute? I think they are pretty nice!

Anybody here made a method of releasing a dry hop charge without opening the fermenter? I was thinking hop sock tied to roof of vessel and released by uniting a knot..

 

[The Baron]

HI
I think a few brewers on here have experimented with hop release that have been put in the fermenter/keg for dry hopping and if you search the forum you may find some good advice of how to do it.
1. I have tried hop oils and was not over impressed with them however I am sure as regards homebrewers they are in their infancy and will hopefully improve with further development.

2. I still dry hop but as I have said have reduced the amounts and added it to the whirlpool to reduce IBU contribution as with large ones it can make your beers too bitter if you are more susceptible to bitterness or just do not like over bitter beers.

3. If you are doing Neipa's a lot it may be worth looking at getting a sealed transfer system set up but if you have a good regime and a bit of experience you do not always need it as many Neipa's have been done by homebrewers without closed transfer systems so it's your choice. Personally I have never had a problem with oxidation so do not use one and I have done big dry hops in the past although as explained I have reduced them for other reasons.
You will get much different advice with people saying you have to do a closed transfer with Neipa's but I am not going to say they are wrong just that some of the brewers have not got a good enough regime and enough experience to carry this off (please do not take this the wrong way) so use modern technology to eradicate this and why not if that floats your boat and helps the outcome odds in your favour
Hope this helps but at the end do what suits your routine

 

[ssashton]

I do not want to de-rail this thread but my current position is doing NEIPA with high temp Kveik and getting oxidation. I do have closed transfer but I've been storing for conditioning at 20C and I think that is too hot so encourages oxidation even further.

 

[Brew_DD2]

I do not want to de-rail this thread but my current position is doing NEIPA with high temp Kveik and getting oxidation. I do have closed transfer but I've been storing for conditioning at 20C and I think that is too hot so encourages oxidation even further.

The warmer temps will definitely speed up oxidative reactions. Whenever I've brewed NEIPAs with Kveik, I've always brought temps down for dry-hopping because I got really poor results dry-hopping in the 30s.

No matter what methods or tech you use (in my opinion closed transfers and CO2 purging is part and parcel of good process) you're going to have some level of oxidation. If you keep the beer cold and/or drink it quickly, you'll get these hoppy styles at their best.

 

[stripeyjoe]

I think I’m going to stick the keg back into my fermentation fridge and raise the temp back to 15, do a closed transfer back to my pre-hopped and purged All Rounder, leave it for a day and then crash back down to 0C for a couple of days then transfer back to the keg. I’ll keep it at 10-15psi to maintain carbonation.
Just need to order the hops in.
I should have just chucked the contents of the hop strainers back into the keg, would have saved me £15, wasn’t really thinking at the time.
Thanks all

 

[stripeyjoe]

Anybody here made a method of releasing a dry hop charge without opening the fermenter? I was thinking hop sock tied to roof of vessel and released by uniting a knot..

I‘ve tried bags and magnets, it was a failure! Also, I think the hops get damp in the FV, not sure if that’s an issue or not. Now I just release the pressure, open the lid and chuck them in. Will be doing this loose in future to prevent the same mess up.

 

[Brew_DD2]

I think I’m going to stick the keg back into my fermentation fridge and raise the temp back to 15, do a closed transfer back to my pre-hopped and purged All Rounder, leave it for a day and then crash back down to 0C for a couple of days then transfer back to the keg. I’ll keep it at 10-15psi to maintain carbonation.
Just need to order the hops in.
I should have just chucked the contents of the hop strainers back into the keg, would have saved me £15, wasn’t really thinking at the time.
Thanks all

If you have some muslin bags, I'd consider filling them with hops and chucking them in your keg, then purging the headspace.

 

[moto748]

I usually go no further with dry-hopping, than dangling a small muslin bag of pellets into a demi-john (secondary FV). This is for bottling, of course. As noted above, if you're kegging, a similar approach would seem good.

 

[stripeyjoe]

Hops arrived today so whacked them into my All Rounder, purged a few times and transferred the beer from the keg back into the FV.

I've just left the keg attached via the gas in post of the FV, it can act as a 'ballon' when I crash and saves me cleaning it! Currently at around 12psi and 15C. Will hold for today then crash for a couple of days and transfer back on Saturday. Will then hopefully have a lovely hoppy beer as intended.

Next up is a proper job clone, just got it at the same time as the dry hops to save on postage, might see if I can get that done this week and straight into the FV after a quick swill around to get rid of the hop gunk.

 

[Griff097]

Hops arrived today so whacked them into my All Rounder, purged a few times and transferred the beer from the keg back into the FV.
View attachment 53319View attachment 53318

I've just left the keg attached via the gas in post of the FV, it can act as a 'ballon' when I crash and saves me cleaning it! Currently at around 12psi and 15C. Will hold for today then crash for a couple of days and transfer back on Saturday. Will then hopefully have a lovely hoppy beer as intended.

Next up is a proper job clone, just got it at the same time as the dry hops to save on postage, might see if I can get that done this week and straight into the FV after a quick swill around to get rid of the hop gunk.

Be very interested in how your PJ clone turns out, what yeast is in the kit?