Dry hopping idea

[Pavalijo]

Hi, I am new to home brewing after one brew 30 years ago (which went well but I was too busy). I have done 3 brews and am on the fourth.
The Munton IPA was ruined by brewing in the heatwave (20 litres at 5.5% ish available in Halifax if anyone wants it for distilling). The next, Festival NZ Pilsner is drinking nicely, although I dry hopped as instructed on day 5/6 and fermentation went on almost another 3 weeks. I left the Razorback dry hopping a little later but still the primary fermentation went on another 2 weeks or so, even though I kept temperature at a pretty constant 22c. It tastes great so not complaining, but I read that dry hopping at the end of primary fermentation for 2 or 3 days is the best practice, but also that dry hopping can wake up a slowing fermentation.

I now have a Monterey Jack Pink Grapefruit IPA on the go. It has gone nicely over the first week at a consistent 20c. I am thinking of the following dry hopping method, once the gravity has almost reached the target or bubbling stopped (and dry hopping at this stage might wake up the yeast to get the job finished?):

Using a sterilised Sainsbury’s fruit bag, insert dry hops (pellets in this case) with a few teaspoons. Tie up and suspend on sterilised fishing line just above the trub level and with the fishing line up through the airlock bung hole, held in place with the bung. Twice daily very gentle raising and lowering to increase contact with the ale whilst avoiding aerating (any gas introduced will presumably be CO2 anyway). Remove after 3 days (will have to remove lid to do this). Leave at least 2 days to let anything escaping from the bag to settle before bottling.

I have this type of fermenter rather than my bucket with full width lid which I think is helpful for this method (deeper and also the narrower neck will help to keep mostly co2 in the airspace when introducing the bag).

Any comments?

 

[pms67]

That will work, or, you could just throw them in loose like I do, if you have temp control just lower the temp after 3 days to something like 5 degrees and all the hops will sink, maybe even leave in a shed overnight you can’t control temp, watch it doesn’t freeze mind as it’s heading into that territory.
Good luck whatever you do

 

[Madhouse]

Do whatever works for you. I use a sterilised hop bag but just chuck it in and leave it to do its thing, then it just gets kegged/bottled however many days later.

 

[Pavalijo]

My hops sank in the NZP and Razorback and after using the strainer bag provided with the Festival kits no hops entered the bottle bucket. I get a perfectly clear pint with the Razorback and just a little chill haze with the Pilsner. So this wasn’t as much about straining the hops as ensuring that they didn’t sit in there for too long.
I don’t have a chill facility but putting out in the garden shed for a couple of cold days is no bad idea, thanks

 

[pms67]

I have had hops in for 14 days and never had the grassy flavour a lot of people mention, not to say it can’t happen but anywhere between 2-7 days and I haven’t noticed any difference

 

[TheDaysy]

Why not put the bag and line in the fermenter when you pitch the yeast then lower it in when you are ready without having to open the fermenter?
I think you might be over complicating things a bit though, I just wait until fermentation is finished then dry hop a few days before I plan to bottle, I'm still pretty new to brewing but it's worked for me so far.

 

[Datanode101]

This is great reading! Just getting into "Dry Hopping".....check me out! ..... This will be my 2nd batch of using them with a bag, so, about 20 - 25 grams and wallah....! The very first one was sprinkled on top......

 

[pms67]

This is great reading! Just getting into "Dry Hopping".....check me out! ..... This will be my 2nd batch of using them with a bag, so, about 20 - 25 grams and wallah....! The very first one was sprinkled on top......

Wait a couple of months and you will be saying, I only dry hopped with 100g next time 150

 

[Pavalijo]

I went ahead as described as I read on here several times that it’s good to experiment!

The gravity had reached 1.015 against a target of 1.012, and bubbling had dropped to about every 70 seconds. The instructions say to dry hop after 7 days if gravity is at 1.025 or below. I was not going to do it unless it was much closer to the target gravity after my previous experiences. I thought 1.015 should be near enough to the final gravity that I won’t be waiting another 2plus weeks to finish as experienced previously - however if it does I am able to remove the hop bag.

I lowered the bag in, put the lid back on and very gently raised and lowered the bag 5 or so times, then wedged the fishing line in with the rubber bung.

I went back to gently raise and lower again around 7 hours later and before doing so noted that bubbling frequency had increased and was now at around 35 seconds.

I removed the bung and very gently (and only by a few inches) raised and lowered the bag a few times -the idea obviously being to disperse hop extract through the ale.

This morning before the gentle agitation it was bubbling at 60 seconds but the temperature had fallen by 1c to 19c overnight so I’ve opened the doors into the main living space that is at 21.5c to get it back to 20c by the end of the day hopefully.

So I’m going to do that for 3 days and remove. Hopefully the fermentation will be just about over by then. If not most of the hops will be out and not giving out any unwanted elements.

I‘m about to order a corny keg, regulator and all fittings but even if it arrives in time I won’t use it for this brew - best to try one experiment at a time!

Can anyone recommend best place for CO2 in the West Yorkshire area, ideally Bradford/Halifax/Huddersfield as I live between those areas (I want to pay a one off rental fee for the cylinder, not monthly)?

 

[Edison]

Personally I only ever put the hops straight in. In my experience, pellets always end up at the bottom of the FV and whole cones always float on the top. I figure putting them in a mesh bag will only serve to constrict them (definitely for whole hops, these expand a lot), possibly reduce extraction and add a possible method of infection. If I’m dry hopping I have no objections to a little hop dust in my beer (although it’s been very rare) and I have no objection to a bit of haze in my beer, which I doubt a mesh bag would prevent anyway.
Recent finding have suggested desirable hop flavour extraction happens within hours even at low temperatures, so you could chill your beer a few days after hitting FG and dry hop for a couple of days. That’s what I’ve started doing and tasty beers have resulted!

 

[terrym]

How you dry hop is almost entirely down to personal preference. The quantity of any one hop to suit the style and how hoppy you like your beer. Pellets or cones? Whether you use one hop or several in the batch. Whether you use a bag or not, and if you do whether its nylon mesh or muslin, how big the bag is, and whether you weigh it down or not with cutlery, marbles or whatever, and then how long you leave it in the beer whether its two days to seven or more and whether you chill at the end or not. So there's all sorts of ways used, no right or wrong way, just what suits you best. And the chances are, whatever method you use, the outcome will be prettty much the same.

 

[Pavalijo]

I did read the article about the short time needed for flavour extraction and I read that leaving hops in there too long can lead to undesirable flavours - these both being factors in designing this idea.
The bag will reduce contact with the ale but hopefully the occasional gentle agitation over 3 days will be a good compromise.
I wouldn’t do this with a wide lidded bucket for fear of infection.
It‘s smelling great so hopefully it’s working!

 

[dad_of_jon]

Hi, I am new to home brewing after one brew 30 years ago (which went well but I was too busy). I have done 3 brews and am on the fourth.
The Munton IPA was ruined by brewing in the heatwave (20 litres at 5.5% ish available in Halifax if anyone wants it for distilling). The next, Festival NZ Pilsner is drinking nicely, although I dry hopped as instructed on day 5/6 and fermentation went on almost another 3 weeks. I left the Razorback dry hopping a little later but still the primary fermentation went on another 2 weeks or so, even though I kept temperature at a pretty constant 22c. It tastes great so not complaining, but I read that dry hopping at the end of primary fermentation for 2 or 3 days is the best practice, but also that dry hopping can wake up a slowing fermentation.

I now have a Monterey Jack Pink Grapefruit IPA on the go. It has gone nicely over the first week at a consistent 20c. I am thinking of the following dry hopping method, once the gravity has almost reached the target or bubbling stopped (and dry hopping at this stage might wake up the yeast to get the job finished?):

Using a sterilised Sainsbury’s fruit bag, insert dry hops (pellets in this case) with a few teaspoons. Tie up and suspend on sterilised fishing line just above the trub level and with the fishing line up through the airlock bung hole, held in place with the bung. Twice daily very gentle raising and lowering to increase contact with the ale whilst avoiding aerating (any gas introduced will presumably be CO2 anyway). Remove after 3 days (will have to remove lid to do this). Leave at least 2 days to let anything escaping from the bag to settle before bottling.

I have this type of fermenter rather than my bucket with full width lid which I think is helpful for this method (deeper and also the narrower neck will help to keep mostly co2 in the airspace when introducing the bag).

Any comments?

View attachment 31905

perhaps use more than one bag. I use giant marbles from the Marble King to get full contact. plus IMO if you're going to DH go big

 

[Datanode101]

Wait a couple of months and you will be saying, I only dry hopped with 100g next time 150

I'm dead excited now to try! I'm going to try what I done when I first got them and that's just sprinkle them on the top and allow them to do there thing...How much is too much? and I just thought I can experiment with mixing hops as well? so maybe 10 grams of A and 10 grams if B ?

Isn't this just the best hobby in the world!

 

[pms67]

Too much is not a thing!
Hop addiction starts slow then boom!

 

[terrym]

I'm dead excited now to try! I'm going to try what I done when I first got them and that's just sprinkle them on the top and allow them to do there thing...How much is too much? and I just thought I can experiment with mixing hops as well? so maybe 10 grams of A and 10 grams if B ?

Quantity of hops is a personal thing. Person A think x gm of hops is not enough, Person B thinks its just right, person C thinks its too much. You only find out out what suits you best by trying something out and going from there.
And if you have not used a particular hop before its always best to try it on its own before mixing it with something else. That way you know what it brings to a beer.

 

[Datanode101]

Quantity of hops is a personal thing. Person A think x gm of hops is not enough, Person B thinks its just right, person C thinks its too much. You only find out out what suits you best by trying something out and going from there.
And if you have not used a particular hop before its always best to try it on its own before mixing it with something else. That way you know what it brings to a beer.

I agree! Can you imagine coming up with something like "Hope house 13" and your the only one that know's the mix....(KFC in the brewing world!)

This is what really impressed me about the £24.99 kit,(extra bag of hops) it turned a normal brew into a brew that not only tasted delicious but also had aromas I could have only imagined....

I'm really enjoying this thread!

 

[Datanode101]

went and added 25 grams of hops to the fermenter and just sprinkled them on top, within a matter of minutes the yeast had started to get to work, looking forward to this, I was going to use the fine bag that came with it, but since the beer the last time I done this came out great then I thought why not!

I also found this....

infusion tube....

and a good post on hoping....HERE

 

[Pavalijo]

That’s a good post you linked to - thanks.
I removed the hop bag after 3 1/2 days having gently agitated it 2 or 3 times a day with a few inches of rise and fall.
When I removed the bag the hop pellets had swelled more than I expected and I thought that they would have been better in two bags to increase contact with the ale. The fine Sainsbury’s vegetable bag had done a good job of retaining the hops so hopefully if the fermentation keeps on going for a long time I won’t get the grassy flavours mentioned here and there.
Fermentation was still ongoing throughout the time of hop immersion but very slowly - bubbling every 70-90 seconds. The gravity at removal was 1.013, down from the 1.015 at immersion and against a target FG of 1.012.
Two days after removal it is still going at the same pace - it surely must be nearly finished!

 

[Datanode101]

Well I'm so glad I'd bought a siphon with attached filter, this was rather messy, and I expected it to all be at the bottom, maybe I will use the bags next time (the tube etc. was bought for the vodka kit to transfer to another vessel)