Dry hopping without oxidising

[meirion658]

Afternoon all,

Got a brew on today and in around 5 days will need to add the dry hops.

The FV is a SS Brewmaster bucket. I'm trying to think of a way to add the hops while minimising the oxidisation of the beer.

Any suggestions as I'm at a loss!!

 

[MrRook]

Open the fermenter the least amount necessary and gently put the hops in.

 

[DarrenSL]

I make a tube from a piece of card, load the hops and flush with CO2 then lift the lid of the brew bucket slightly on one edge and tip the hops in one go. Or, you could just drop them in through the hole in the lid (not possible with my set up because I use 90 degree SS elbow and blow off tube).

 

[meirion658]

Would be good if the brew bucket had a facility where you don't have to open the lid.

Are there any stainless steel FV out there with this facility

 

[pms67]

I just open the lid and drop them in, no stirring, maybe I’m doing something wrong but I’ve never had an issue, isn’t there a “blanket” above the beer that protects it?

 

[MickDundee]

I just open the lid and drop them in, no stirring, maybe I’m doing something wrong but I’ve never had an issue, isn’t there a “blanket” above the beer that protects it?

This is what I’ve always done, although I’ll be doing a NEIPA later this week under pressure and my plan was to try something different.

I will suspend a hop bag above the wort using a spare tap spout in the bag and a magnet on the outside then remove the magnet at dry hop time. That’s more to avoid releasing the pressure when I dry hop rather than an oxidation consideration though.

 

[pms67]

This is what I’ve always done, although I’ll be doing a NEIPA later this week under pressure and my plan was to try something different.

I will suspend a hop bag above the wort using a spare tap spout in the bag and a magnet on the outside then remove the magnet at dry hop time. That’s more to avoid releasing the pressure when I dry hop rather than an oxidation consideration though.

I have heard they are prone to oxidising but on an average brew dry hop of 50-100 grams do you think it’s necessary ?
I need to up my game if so

 

[MickDundee]

I have heard they are prone to oxidising but on an average brew dry hop of 50-100 grams do you think it’s necessary ?
I need to up my game if so

Probably not. I’ve never had any issues opening the FV and dumping in, even with 150g+ dry hops.

As I said I’m only doing to to avoid having to depressurise my fermenter and potentially depressurising again.

 

[phildo79]

This is what I’ve always done, although I’ll be doing a NEIPA later this week under pressure

If you are fermenting under pressure, why not just re-pressurise the FV and vent any oxygen that has creeped in during dry hopping? This is what I do with my fermentasaurus. I made a NEIPA about a month ago using this method and the aroma stayed until the last pint.

 

[Buffers brewery]

Me? I'd make a hole in the lid, fit a SS fitting so it can be opened and closed to drop the hops through (assuming you're not bagging your hops).

 

[MickDundee]

If you are fermenting under pressure, why not just re-pressurise the FV and vent any oxygen that has creeped in during dry hopping?

Laziness basically.

It’s too far from my fermenting fridge to my kegerator and I can’t be arsed disconnecting everything and connecting it up again, especially as I’m paranoid of leaks after I lost a tank in a week when I first set up my kegerator.

I might get a 5m gas line at some point if I feel the need but at the moment I’m trying this.

 

[phildo79]

If you dry hop at high krausen, any oxygen will likely be pushed out of the FV anyway.

 

[phildo79]

I might get a 5m gas line at some point if I feel the need but at the moment I’m trying this

Get 3/16 line as 3/8 will be rigid as fook and not at all easy to work with.

 

[uDicko]

I do the magnets in plastic beakers. Two Teflon coated magnets one either side of the fermzilla wall and fixed in place when pitching yeast. When the time comes for the dry hopping I'll either release the magnets or drag them down into the wort.

Edited. I've had one issue where the krausen is thick so the beaker stayed on top. A pick up and shake if fermenter sorted it.

 

[chthon]

You could add a bit of dextrose/glucose/brewing sugar. Fermenting 3,5g of this gives 1l of CO2, so if you need 10l extra CO2, add 35g of dextrose. The increase in ABV will be minimal, but it will help drive out/minimise the oxygen that gets in with the dry hop.

 

[foxy]

I would like to believe that oxygen would be evicted from the fermenter simply from the CO2 being produced. Also would adding dextrose/glucose/brewing sugar be a solution? If there is air/oxygen enclosed in the hops there wouldn't be the velocity of CO2 needed to drive O2 out.
As home brewers we may worry to much about oxidation, we aren't sending our beers all over the country or globe. Hopefully we are keeping them below 20 C in the dark and drinking them within a few months.
Yes I have had beer oxidise but it took 2.5 years.

 

[JockyBrewer]

I went through a similar dilemma recently as my (new) fermenter is not a SS brewbucket, but the lid is identical.

In the end, I decided to just do it the simple way and see what happened. The 180g dry hop for my NEIPA (into 20 litres ish) was added by just cracking the lid and tipping them in quickly. The whole process took only a few seconds.

The fermenter was closed, but not pressurised for the whole ferment until dry hopping.
Dry hopping was at terminal gravity, I did a semi cold crash to 12c for a couple of days before dry hopping (avoiding oxygen/airlock suck back by attaching a CO2 filled balloon to the airlock port).

I kegged 72 hours after dry hopping into a starsan purged keg, although I did have to pop the lid off the keg while transferring.

End result:

Joos!

 

[JockyBrewer]

As home brewers we may worry to much about oxidation, we aren't sending our beers all over the country or globe. Hopefully we are keeping them below 20 C in the dark and drinking them within a few months.
Yes I have had beer oxidise but it took 2.5 years.

Oxidation is one of the most frequent faults I taste when judging home brew beers. With hoppy beers, it's alarmingly regular, and for NEIPAs... well the recent Verdant competition it seemed like oxidation had occurred in two thirds of the entries.

Look at this grey milkshake zombie NEIPA I got to judge:

 

[uDicko]

Oxidation is one of the most frequent faults I taste when judging home brew beers. With hoppy beers, it's alarmingly regular, and for NEIPAs... well the recent Verdant competition it seemed like oxidation had occurred in two thirds of the entries.

Look at this grey milkshake zombie NEIPA I got to judge:

My word.

Looks can be deceiving?!?

 

[JockyBrewer]

ex

My word.

Looks can be deceiving?!?

No, it was horrible. Might have been a good beer before it was oxidised, but I couldn't tell.