dry hopping without a bag

Rudibrew

Rudibrew

Well-Known Member
Trial Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2020
Messages
289
Reaction score
261
Points
63
Hi everyone,hope u having good holidays.
i was wondering if its possible to dry hop without a bag,meaning i drop them directly into the fermenter before final gravity is reached?
getting a lotof conflicting info online ,and seen that i bottle condition ,will floaties be a problem?
thanks guys
 
I don't bag my dry hop additions, I just chuck them in.
I have never had any oxygenaation issues.

What are you using for a fermenter?
How are you transferring your wort to the bottling bucket?
 
If you toss a lot of them in it can make a bit of a mess, but I don't usually bother to put them in a bag either.
 
Craigerrr said:
I don't bag my dry hop additions, I just chuck them in.
I have never had any oxygenaation issues.

What are you using for a fermenter?
How are you transferring your wort to the bottling bucket?
Click to expand...
i use a 10l bucket with spigot for fermenting.
after fg has settled,i coldcrash the bucket for two days in my fridge at 10deg celcius and bottle straight into my bottles,with the priming sugar already added to the bottles.
 
Last edited:
Rudibrew said:
i use a 10l bucket with spigot for fermenting.
after fg has settled,i coldcrash the bucket for two days in my fridge at 10deg celcius and bottle straight into my bottles,with the priming sugar already added to the bottles.
Click to expand...
You could tip the bucket a bit while fermenting and cold crashing, this will keep the trub and hop debris from settling near the spigot.
I do this with my fermenters as well.

speidel tipped.jpg
 
I never even thought to dry hop with a bag. I always just dump them in. Everything settles after a few days anyway, almost never get any floaties into the keg; if that was a concern, I'd build a filter of some type.
 
Rudibrew said:
Hi everyone,hope u having good holidays.
i was wondering if its possible to dry hop without a bag,meaning i drop them directly into the fermenter before final gravity is reached?
getting a lotof conflicting info online ,and seen that i bottle condition ,will floaties be a problem?
thanks guys
Click to expand...
Yep, in fact that's the best way. They'll settle into the trub and you won't see them again.
 
Nosybear said:
Yep, in fact that's the best way. They'll settle into the trub and you won't see them again.
Click to expand...
Not sure how I managed it, but I tried dry-hopping (pellets) w/o a bag not that long ago....and will never try again!
All the hop particles plugged the filling tube during bottling and it was a huge PITA...:(
 
Used a bag way back when and have been letting the boys ride loose n free ever since!

It's a free world Rudi don't cage them bad boys up in A bag let them free to mingle!:p

A good cold crash will sort any floaters
Also love floating dip tubes;)
 
I bagged a couple of times early on. I just feel you lose contact with the beer when you bag. I just dump in a d cold crash before kegging. I also just started using floating dip tube in my kegs. They work great.
 
I wish I could find the BA seminar, but science says unbagged, then cold crash after 48-72 hours. You get better extraction of aromatics by doing a free float and you maximize it by limited it to no more than 72 hours. Every 12-24 hours past 72, you get further diminishing returns and an increase undesirable vegetal flavors.
 
I don't bag and I don't cold crash. But I condition in the keg for a week, so that's like a cold crash I suppose.

My last IPA, I added hops in a stainless mesh screen to the keg for 2 days and it was the best IPA I ever made. First pour was interesting. All the rest were fine.
 
I've always used a fine mesh nylon bag in secondary. Never occurred to me to put the bag in the fermenter much less floating free in the fermenter. No Hop debris any where. Don't see how the beer & hops could be more in contact.
The original problem was getting the bag out of the carboy. Narrow neck & mushy stuff in the bag. The other Issue was the bag wanted to float. Solved the 1st problem by cutting the bag lengthwise & sewing it into a skiny sock. Solved the 2nd problem by putting an SS fitting into the bag to make it sink & tieing the string around the caboys neck. Pull the bag after 24 to 36 hrs. Since most of the drop out happens in the Secondary I hardly ever have detritus in the 1st draw from the keg. The Floating Dip Tube sounds like something I need to look into.
 
Craigerrr said:
You could tip the bucket a bit while fermenting and cold crashing, this will keep the trub and hop debris from settling near the spigot.
I do this with my fermenters as well.

View attachment 13331
Click to expand...

I put a board under the front of my fermenters, too. Doing so will cause a current in the fermenter with the wort rising in the front and descending in the back. The circular flow can get really fast. I started to keep the trub away from the spigot but also think it improves the ferment by keeping the yeast in the mix.
 
I have always just tossed them in and let them float. I do put a muslin sock on the output end of my siphon hose to keep them out of the keg or bottling bucket, works awesome, never clogs. I hook it on the hose with rubber bands and then put the whole thing in Sanitizer.
 
I've done both. I prefer no bag, but I've used bags when my process was causing blockages in the keg. One of the most annoying things to happen in a kegging setup.
 
JJ Holle said:
I have always just tossed them in and let them float. I do put a muslin sock on the output end of my siphon hose to keep them out of the keg or bottling bucket, works awesome, never clogs. I hook it on the hose with rubber bands and then put the whole thing in Sanitizer.
Click to expand...

Only concern I have there is that you can be introducing an infection or agitating the beer to introduce air.

I just siphon very gently and never really have any issues. But if it works no reason not to keep doing it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Copyright © 2007-2024 Brewer's Friend, Inc. - Send Feedback - Terms - RSS Feed - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Back
Top