Dry Hop Exposure

BrainYYC

Well-Known Member
Trial Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2020
Messages
179
Reaction score
263
Points
63
Location
Calgary
Hi team, just looking for some thoughts, tips, opinions, methods etc. to both dry hop at the appropriate time, and not to have excessive hop exposure to avoid the dreaded "veggie, grassy flavours"

If the best time for many recipes is to dry hop during active fermentation, but I've been told to refrain from having the hops in there any longer than 4-5 days, what's a guy to do, put 'em in a little baggy and fish them out with some tongs after a few days? I'm using a 3 gallon Fermonster with a pretty wide opening. Honestly my first few batches I tossed in my one or two rounds of dry hop and left them in until bottle day (2 weeksish).

Any tricks of the trade?
 
I put the dry hops in about 4 days prior to kegging after the most vigorous fermentation is complete. I use a “hop ball” to contain them. I’ve added a little hook in the lid of the fermenter to hang the hop ball.
 
In the past I've tied fishing line to the hop bag and left that dangling outside the fermentor so that I can remove the bag. Then I went to no bag because I thought it'd give more flavour (it did). Now I'm back to bagging because of blockages in the keg and transfer from the fermentor to keg. I haven't used the fishing line trick though.

For single dry hops I just accept the oxidation and dry hop after terminal with lower temps. The lower temp is partly to extract less grassy flavours and also to slow down the oxidation a bit. Not sure how much use it is for the oxidation, as it'll probably happen to the same degree, just slower.

For double dry hops they both go in when there's fermentation active, but I just rely on pitching plenty of yeast so that the fermentation is finished about four days after the first dry hop. As I'm kegging those beers it's not so much of a risk if I call it done when there might be a little left. If I was bottling, I'd have to be sure, and the first dry hop may end up going a little longer. But when I started dry hopping (only 5 years ago) 7 days was the minimum for some people and I enjoyed those beers, so I don't stress it. Just work on my yeast health for the next batch so it can finish in the right timeframe.
 
I use a hop sock tied with unflavored floss and hang the end outside the fermenter. I normally do 5-6 days prior to bottling but with my latest IPA I experimented with 3 days because I read an article and some posts on another forum that said there was no benefit to longer than 3 days. So, I wanted to conform with the cool kids - wrong. It doesn’t have the punch I was looking for. That’s what I get for trying to fit in.
 
Outside of using a Kveik strain and compressing the whole process into 6 or 7 days including cold crashing, I think the above suggestions cover it well!
 
Cool, so a small hop bag and sanitized fishing line would be fine. Also watched a YouTube post about weighing down the sack with some sanitized marbles, to extract the most oils as possible....necessary? Cant hurt?
 
Cool, so a small hop bag and sanitized fishing line would be fine. Also watched a YouTube post about weighing down the sack with some sanitized marbles, to extract the most oils as possible....necessary? Cant hurt?
That's what I've done. I also do the same for keg hopping only I use plain dental floss as it tends to flatten better running out the keg lid.
 
I know this is not recommended practise, but I dry hop right from the start of fermentation through to the finish. I have never noticed any grassy or veggie flavours and have had some wonderful aromatic beers using this method. The main reason I do this is simplicity and because I use a pressure fermenter and don't want to open it up and risk oxidation. I would be interested to know if anyone else uses this method and if they have had any adverse results.
 
@philphy: I don't understand: How do you dry hop into a fermenter without opening it up?

In my fermenter, I open the top port (4" TC) and dump in the hops. Low risk of contamination, as the CO2 is heavier than air.
 
I put the dry hops into the fermenter right at the start when the wort and yeast go in. Then seal up the fermenter and don't have to open again until after packaging ( close transfer to a keg ) - I know this is not conventional but it works for me.
 
@philphy: I don't understand: How do you dry hop into a fermenter without opening it up?

In my fermenter, I open the top port (4" TC) and dump in the hops. Low risk of contamination, as the CO2 is heavier than air.
I think what @philphy is saying is that he adds the hops immediately after transferring the wort from BK to fermenter.

@philphy what you are doing is subjecting the hops to biotransformation whereby the yeast is converting the hop components into different aromatic compounds that otherwise wouldn’t be achieved during later dry hop additions. I just bottled my first NEIPA where some of the hops were added at high krausen. The smell and taste were good. We’ll see for sure in another week or so.

As far as “recommended practice” goes, the more experience I gain in this hobby, the more I realize personal preferences come into play. Sure, there are certain things such as sanitation for example that should be followed religiously. However, as long as you enjoy your end product, you’re doing the right thing.
 
Ah, ok. Yeah, nothing wrong with that, just not a strict "dry hop". I need to try your way, see what happens.

Some kinds of contamination risk are over-rated: remember that 100 years ago beer was fermented in open vats.

That being said, I am also very careful to avoid contaminations, in many forms. More so than many of my brewing friends.
 
Ah, ok. Yeah, nothing wrong with that, just not a strict "dry hop". I need to try your way, see what happens.

Some kinds of contamination risk are over-rated: remember that 100 years ago beer was fermented in open vats.

That being said, I am also very careful to avoid contaminations, in many forms. More so than many of my brewing friends.
True. I think as home brewers we are over sensitive to oxidation when it comes to dry hopping. And, I was at brewery in Portland, ME a few years ago who were doing an open fermentation.
 
True. I think as home brewers we are over sensitive to oxidation when it comes to dry hopping. And, I was at brewery in Portland, ME a few years ago who were doing an open fermentation.
An open fermentation is still generally under a blanket of CO2. I generally tend to agree, the simplest way to limit exposure is the dry hop at high krauesen.
 

Back
Top