Dry Hopping Plans

[earthwormgaz]

Ay up,

I'm thinking of dry hopping an IPA that's in the barrel. I've bought a muslin bag from the home brew shop this time. I'm planning to put a brick in a plastic bag, tied off, and put that in boiling water to steralise it. Then I'll use that to weigh the bag down.

I've then got 100g of Bobek unopened, and 20-50g of fuggles and cascade in the freezer. Can I put all of this in? Is there a limit to how much you should dry hop?

I've had two other batches go a bit weird and off and uber bitter, I'd like to think it's because they were contaminated, not because I used too much hops? Can they add to bitterness at this stage?

Thanks for any help!

 

[RobWalker]

i certainly wouldn't use 100g of bobek, it's not great. hahah.

bung your cascade in for sure. dry hopping can be anywhere from 20g to 100g for 5 gallons imo. more is probably overkill :thumb:

 

[fermentall]

If using the fuggles dry hop for a max of 4-5 days in my opinion as they can make a brew a bit earthy but they are nice. :

 

[johnnyboy1965]

50g of any noble hop is enough....and dont use a brick to weigh it down

 

[johnnyboy1965]

Wait till its finished fermenting...rack to secondary...add 50g of any aroma hop of your choice into your muslin bag...leave for 5 days...and continue

 

[graysalchemy]

I have got 50g in a muslin bag I sterilised it and the hops by dunking in a pan of boiling water then dropped it in the fv. It had stayed below the surface with no weights at all.

Cascade for me but it depends what you used for aroma originally it should be something to compliment the other hops.

 

[johnnyboy1965]

gray...why dont you sterilize the bag and then add the hops?

 

[graysalchemy]

Because the hops need sterilising as well.

 

[johnnyboy1965]

No they dont.....do you think breweries sterilize the hops they use for dry hopping. There is not enough moisture content in a dry hop to cause a bacterial infection. The hops themselves will keep any harmful bacteria down to acceptable level. All you are doing by dipping your dry hops in a bag in boiling water is driving off the essential oils that you want in your beer.
JMHO

 

[wilsoa1111]

Because the hops need sterilising as well.

??? thought hops were ok, ive done it before and never had a brew go bad,
as for lobbing a brick in that i could see causing problems- smooth glass pebbles and the like and generally more advised, dont think they are as vital though tbh as some people make out

 

[joe1002]

I have read plenty of times that hops have their own antibacterial properties therefore don't need to be sterilised. This is certainly the first time I have heard of anyone sterilising hops

Is the above incorrect

 

[graysalchemy]

??? thought hops were ok, ive done it before and never had a brew go bad,

They probably are but by the time you have handled them and broken up the lupulin glands then they are likely not to be very sterile.I don't risk it and it only needs a quick dunk to wet them and sterilise them.

:thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

I have heard of people sterilising them in vodka before now

 

[johnnyboy1965]

To kill most (note "most") bacteria you have to take them to 78oC for at least 2 mins.. This will not kill all bacterii. If you dunk your hops in boiling water its just not going to do anything apart from give you a bag of soggy hops. As for sterilizing in alcohol...no it wont all it will do is stop be the bacteria from splitting ( binary fussion).
Im not trying to be argumentive, just passing on some of my knowledge.

 

[graysalchemy]

So either you don't handle your hops and break up the Lupulin glands or you rely on the antiseptic properties of the hops. :hmm: :hmm:

 

[joe1002]

I have only dry hopped once and I broke them up & chucked them in and had no problems.

I believe others do this all the time without an ill effects :thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

When you have lost 3 big brews to infection you become a little cautious. :grin: :grin:

 

[johnnyboy1965]

Loosing 3 brews is a major problem...Ive done over 50 A/G brews and never lost one yet...With all respect back to basics?

 

[joe1002]

I completely understand that GA :thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

Loosing 3 brews is a major problem...Ive done over 50 A/G brews and never lost one yet...With all respect back to basics?

I am going to ignore those remarks Johnnyboy, not warranted and not in the spirit of this forum.