Dry hopping and wet hops

[Steve Russell]

I haven't brewed in a while, but his past weekend I brewed a NEIPA. I wanted to try the magnetic drop method so I had 6 ounces of hops in a mesh filter that I was going to hold with a magnetic and drop after day 7. I mistakenly dropped the filter into my wort and it didn't sink but went under and popped back up. I could see wort coming out of the small mesh holes when I lifted it out so I am sure the hops got somewhat wet. I resuspended the filter and added yeast and closed the lid thinking it should be ok. I decided to read up on wet hops and it was mentioned, the hops may go bad in a few days because they got wet. Should I open the lid and throw away the hops, fermentation is slowing as of today. My intent was to not open the lid after fermentation to not risk oxygen. A couple things I read were puzzling, one person said this happened to them and they took the hops and refroze them and added them later??? Another person said you shouldn't use the magnet drop because your hops are suspended in a fermenter for 7 days and not refrigerated? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Minbari]

I haven't brewed in a while, but his past weekend I brewed a NEIPA. I wanted to try the magnetic drop method so I had 6 ounces of hops in a mesh filter that I was going to hold with a magnetic and drop after day 7. I mistakenly dropped the filter into my wort and it didn't sink but went under and popped back up. I could see wort coming out of the small mesh holes when I lifted it out so I am sure the hops got somewhat wet. I resuspended the filter and added yeast and closed the lid thinking it should be ok. I decided to read up on wet hops and it was mentioned, the hops may go bad in a few days because they got wet. Should I open the lid and throw away the hops, fermentation is slowing as of today. My intent was to not open the lid after fermentation to not risk oxygen. A couple things I read were puzzling, one person said this happened to them and they took the hops and refroze them and added them later??? Another person said you shouldn't use the magnet drop because your hops are suspended in a fermenter for 7 days and not refrigerated? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

I am sure it will be fine. If they were previously frozen, then they the Chace for infection is nearly zero

Go bad in 7 days because its not refrigerated? They realize these things grow outside right? These are the same people that won't eat leftover pizza if it was left out, lol.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

I have never heard that hops go bad after getting wet in a fermenter. I would assume they would be bad if they got wet during storage, but not in the fermenter.

Dry hopping is a term that really doesn't make a lot of sense when you think about it. I just means adding hops to the fermenter at some point in the process. Wet hopping means adding fresh hops that haven't been dried yet to the fermenter, another somewhat misleading term.

The only thing you have to worry about is that the wort that soaked into the hops may or may not promote bacteria to grow without any alcohol to deter the growth. Even this would be a low risk. Let it ride, I'll bet a lot of money that everything is going to be totally fine.

There are a lot of worried idiots posting about brewing and such; browse with caution and take what you read with a grain of salt, including this post.

 

[Steve Russell]

I have never heard that hops go bad after getting wet in a fermenter. I would assume they would be bad if they got wet during storage, but not in the fermenter.

Dry hopping is a term that really doesn't make a lot of sense when you think about it. I just means adding hops to the fermenter at some point in the process. Wet hopping means adding fresh hops that haven't been dried yet to the fermenter, another somewhat misleading term.

The only thing you have to worry about is that it may or may not promote bacteria to grow in the hops without any alcohol to deter growth. Even this would be a low risk. Let it ride, I'll bet a lot of money that everything is going to be totally fine.

There are a lot of worried idiots posting about brewing and such; browse with caution and take what you read with a grain of salt, including this post.

Thank you for the informative response, Dry hopping and wet hopping can be confusing for sure! I guess my situation was neither really, just a mishap and I dropped my hops in the wort! I agree with you on reading and posts, I have some medical issues and decided to read up online on them, boy was that a mistake! lol

 

[Steve Russell]

I am sure it will be fine. If they were previously frozen, then they the Chace for infection is nearly zero

Go bad in 7 days because its not refrigerated? They realize these things grow outside right? These are the same people that won't eat leftover pizza if it was left out, lol.

Thank you for the response and maybe I am worrying too much about this. The hops (1oz packets) were in the refrigerator prior to them being used not frozen. Is it best to always freeze them prior to use even if its for a few days? Thanks

 

[Zambi]

I'm not hindered by much knowledge about this, but I would drop the hops in now, since you still got some fermentation.
It will not totally be the beer you aimed for, but it will be close enough

 

[Steve Russell]

I'm not hindered by much knowledge about this, but I would drop the hops in now, since you still got some fermentation.
It will not totally be the beer you aimed for, but it will be close enough

That's not a bad idea , thanks!

 

[Minbari]

Thank you for the response and maybe I am worrying too much about this. The hops (1oz packets) were in the refrigerator prior to them being used not frozen. Is it best to always freeze them prior to use even if its for a few days? Thanks

I just always freeze hops because it preserves then more. It doesn't hurt em and they will stay good for a year

It does have the effect of killing bugs too

 

[Donoroto]

Thank you for the response and maybe I am worrying too much about this. The hops (1oz packets) were in the refrigerator prior to them being used not frozen. Is it best to always freeze them prior to use even if its for a few days? Thanks

Pellet hops are packaged with an inert atmosphere, so they do not need to be refrigerated or frozen. But keeping them cold lets them last far longer.

Once opened, cold storage is better to keep the oils less volatile

Spoilage from wet has more to do with rotting - think of wet grass in a pile, well hops can be the same way.

In this specific situation, the beer and hops will be fine.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

The issue with pellet hops is drying out, they need some moisture and I found freezing really helps, I freeze at least 30 pounds constantly

 

[Steve Russell]

Pellet hops are packaged with an inert atmosphere, so they do not need to be refrigerated or frozen. But keeping them cold lets them last far longer.

Once opened, cold storage is better to keep the oils less volatile

Spoilage from wet has more to do with rotting - think of wet grass in a pile, well hops can be the same way.

In this specific situation, the beer and hops will be fine.

Thank you for the response. I think the consensus is the hops should be ok until I decide to drop them in 4 days. I was contemplating adding an additional ounce of each of the hops 3 days before I cold crash and package in a keg, but then I risk opening the fermenter after fermentation and oxidation!