[timcolussi]

I brewed an IPA recently where I dry hopped 2 oz. of whole hops in a normal 5 gallon glass carboy with I think a #7 stopper size. I started out trying to use hop socks, but realized they would not fit through the top of my secondary. Instead of using hop sacks I just added the whole hops loose into the carboy and realized my mistake immediately. When bottling, my auto-syphon kept getting clogged and I ended up losing about 1-1.5 gallons. I really liked the taste of this IPA and want to brew it again but wanted some advice on how I should go about dry hopping. I had 2 thoughts. First, I could use hop pellets and put them in hop socks, but I tend to like to use whole hops when dry hopping. The second option I thought of was to split the 2 oz. into 6-8 hop socks. This would reduce the area needing to fit through the top of my secondary. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Tim

[AmandaK]

Using a screen on the end of your dip tube should have prevented clogging.

[Alewyfe]

Another reason to love buckets.

[HoosierBrew]

Another reason to love buckets.

+1.  I use a better bottle on the rare occasion that I need a secondary (barleywine, RIS, adding fruit), but otherwise buckets all the way. Dry hop friendly.

[kylekohlmorgen]

Another reason to love buckets.

+1

Use a bucket for secondary or dry-hop in the keg. I attach a string to the hop sack and the other to a (clean and unused) fishing bobber so I can pull the sack out after a few days of contact time.

If you're not kegging, you can dry hop at the end of primary (airlock is just barely active) OR use another bucket for secondary.

I only use my carboys when I run out of buckets/kegs...

[duboman]

Using a screen on the end of your dip tube should have prevented clogging.

+1
This should work, I use a hop bag over the cane when I siphon but I also primary in buckets and just toss the hops in to swim, whole or pellets


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[denny]

While I agree with the bucket advice, I also don't understand the problem getting hop bags into a carboy.  Although I try to avoid using carboys, I've done it recently.  I had little trouble getting a bag with 1-2 oz. of whole hops into or out of a standard carboy.  Just squeeze 'em to get 'em in and pull the bag to get them out.

[erockrph]

Using a screen on the end of your dip tube should have prevented clogging.

+1
This should work, I use a hop bag over the cane when I siphon but I also primary in buckets and just toss the hops in to swim, whole or pellets

+2

I use a paint strainer bag, but same idea. That might be tougher to pull off in a carboy, but you could use a nylon stocking instead of a bag. Either make sure it's long enough so you grab it in your hand to keep it from slipping off, or use a couple of zip ties to clamp it to your siphon. If the siphon starts running slow start moving it in slow circles to help keep it from getting clogged.

It's interesting that you are having this problem with whole hops. For me I usually run into it more with pellets since they form a thicker sludge. Neither compares with fruit however. It must have taken almost 20 minutes for me to rack 2 gallons of mead off some strawberries this weekend.

[Joe Sr.]

I've got some stainless tea balls that fit in the neck of my better bottle.  I think the opening of glass carboy is tighter, though, so they probably wouldn't work there.

Last time I dry hopped I did it in the keg.

[majorvices]

I know you say you prefer whole hops, and that's a personal preference. I much prefer pellets. IME they stay fresher longer than whole hops and have less grassy and veg flavors. They are also a thousand times easier to use than whole hops. No need to bag them, just dump them in the PRIMARY after fermentation is finished. They will drop down to bottom of fermentor and you can siphon off the yeast/hops/trub. Problem solved.

And I know it is not in your topic as a question but if you are not able to purge your secondary with Co2 then don't use a secondary. Racking a finished beer into a unpurged secondary will cause way more harm than good. Dry hop in the primary after most of the yeast has dropped out.

[joe_feist]

I use pellets. They go in easy enough, sink to the bottom and I siphon with the cane above all the sediment (trub, yeast and hops). Easy enough. If I pull a little trub at the very end, it just doesn't bother me. That typically falls to the bottom of the bottling bucket of keg pretty quick.

[bboy9000]

I'm with major and joe on this one.  Just throw the pellets in and after a few days they will fall to the bottom of the vessel and you can rack above the trub.  You can even give the carboy or bucket a gentle rock once if the hop debris isn't settling fast enough for you.

[HoosierBrew]

I'm with major and joe on this one.  Just throw the pellets in and after a few days they will fall to the bottom of the vessel and you can rack above the trub.  You can even give the carboy or bucket a gentle rock once if the hop debris isn't settling fast enough for you.

+1 to dry hopping pellets. I use them exclusively.

[cheshirecat]

I use pellets as well. I usually dry hop in the keg with a bag, I put some marbles in the bag to weigh it down. Works well for me.