General Category > Yeast and Fermentation

Dry hopping noob

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yso191:
So this is my 3rd batch.  It is a Belgian Imperial IPA.  I'm just looking for 'best practices' info on dry hopping.  I have the beer in a 6 gallon better bottle and it has reached final gravity.  It is currently sitting on the yeast cake and it is 9 days since I pitched the yeast.

I'm thinking about just popping the top off of the carboy and dumping the loose pellets in (3-4 oz), because getting a bag back out may be a problem, sanitizing the bag, the extra oxygen that would go in with the bag, etc.

Any problems associated with this method?  I will not reuse the yeast.

Steve

redbeerman:
There is no problem with doing that. Just wait for the pellets to settle out before transferring.  It doesn't take all that long and you should dry hop for 7-14 days anyway.

yso191:
Thanks Red, I'll go do it now.

Steve

yso191:
Well I didn't go do it because I remembered another question.  Does the level of alcohol effect dry hopping rates?  Specifically, I'm thinking that because alcohol is a solvent, more alcohol could mean more oil  removed from the hops.  Now this is not a major factor, but I intend to dump four ounces of Citra in because I have a 4 oz. bag.  My understanding is that 4 oz. for a 5 gallon batch is at the upper limit.

But I'm probably over-thinking this.  I do that a lot.

Steve

mcdanis:
Amounts are really a personal preference.  For me, 4oz per 5 gallons is my max and I LOVE hop flavor/aroma.  My personal opinion is you really start getting diminishing returns over 3oz per 5g.

Sound like a great experiment for you and a good excuse to brew more beer  :). 

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