Dry hop question

There's nothing wrong with dry hopping in primary.

 

Dry hop in primary. The only time I would consider moving a beer to secondary would be to free up my fermenter. I have done many beer styles and specialty recipes with great results, including all manners of post fermentation additions, and have never used a secondary. Is it unessessary? Idk. The question is more like, do you need to to solve a problem? Or just to say you followed someone's directions?

 

You run the risk of oxygenating some of the beer by racking to secondary.

Which scenario could you live with more:

#1 - Possibly having a slightly cloudier beer by leaving it in the primary for the duration
#2 - Possibly having a ruined beer by racking to secondary for a week or two

 

I just dry hop in the primary. Secondaries are not necessary for most beers. I've only ever used a secondary to:

1. free up a fermenter (once)
2. do a secondary fermentation with fruit (once)

 

I usually transfer to secondary if I'm scooping up some of the leftover yeast for my next batch....or if I just need the fermentor. Dry-hopping in primary is fine if none of these apply to you.

 

I have always taken the risk and racked my beer over onto the hops in the secondary. Once, and only once, I tried to dry hop in my primary, and it was a mess. I didn't get nearly as much hop aroma with that batch, even though I used twice the hops I usually do. You must realize that this is not the preferred method of dry hopping, but it is the one that works for me.

 

Sorry to hear that you experienced ‘issues’ with your one attempt to dry hop in a primary. I always dry hop in my primary and I have always had great results.

Cheers!

 

I've got tons of sediment in the bottles, I have a lack of hop aroma, I had my racking cane get plugged from hop debris that made it through my bags. It was a mess. On top of everything else it seemed like dryhopping lead to flocculation issues with my yeast. But this is just one mans experience.

 

the c02 venting from beer can reduce hop aroma. That is why dry hopping is done after primary fermentation. If the beer is finished fermenting (and you are sure of it), then it is fine to dry hop in the primary. If you want to free up a fermenter, reuse yeast etc... Then move to a secondary.

 

But if you always dry hop in primary, how do you know it isn't more effective in secondary. Eh eh see what I did there

 

“But if you always dry hop in primary, how do you know it isn't more effective in secondary.” What is your definition of “effective”? I am very happy and satisfied with the aroma I achieve by dry hopping in my primary. Therefore there is no need for me to try a different method.

Cheers!

 

If you dry hop in your primary how long is too long to keep your beer on the yeast cake? I just brewed a pale on Friday and I was going to let it sit in primary for 2 weeks and then move it to secondary for 2 weeks and dry hop with Citra for the last 3 days and then bottle.

Now after reading this I am thinking I will let my beer sit in primary for 4 weeks and dry hop the last three days? Or maybe keep it in primary for 3 weeks and dry hop the last 3 days? Any suggestions or preference as to what I should do?

 

How big is this pale ale? A ~5% beer doesn't need 4 weeks. If it were me and I wanted to keep your dry hop schedule, I'd just do a 14 day primary, adding the dry hops the last 3 days, then keg/bottle.

 

It depends on a few factors. Some yeast, like hefe yeast don't hold together well. Other yeast strains do better. It depends on how trashed the yeast are at the end of fermentation. It also depends on the temp of fermentation, the warmer the sorter period of time before they begin affecting flavor. However I have seen anywhere from 7-14 days for dry hopping. And, IMO, it would take 6-10 weeks, depending on other factors, before I would begin getting nervous about yeast autolysis.

So don't dry hop for more than 6-10 weeks without expecting flavor contributions from your yeast. Otherwise, leave the beer on yeast and let them continue cleaning up your beer until you are satisfied with your dry hopping.

 

Thanks!

 

Im brewing my third pale ale (5%) batch on friday and I picked up an oz of Citra pellets to attempt my first dry hop. My plan is 6 days in the primary and then rack to secondary. Chuck the citra in and let it dry hop for another 5 or so days then bottle up. The last two batches have followed similar cycles and I have racked to secondary both times with great results.. one was extract and the other was extract/grain brew. If I want more hoppy love after this one ill keep the same schedule and add 2oz of citra. Then carry on from there to see what I really like. I have a feeling im going to be trying different cycles and hop amounts for years to come as it seems everyone else does as well.

 

Do the yeast know that your plan has them finishing in 6 days? Or is day 6 when you take a hygrometer reading and decide how much longer to leave the beer on yeast to finish fermentation and clean up by products before transferring to secondary for dry hopping?

 

Wait until your yeast floc before dry hopping in primary. Otherwise hop oils that you want in your beer will have greater contact with yeast cell walls, where they may adsorb and disappear from you beer.

 

Dry hopping in the primary should be done when the yeast are almost done so you don't scrub out aromatics. Some really good pro brewers say you want active yeast to work on the hop compounds.

There are also pro brewers that say dry hop once the yeast has been crashed and/or removed.

You can do both.

There are potential issues with a secondary. If you have good technique you will not infect or oxidize your beer. You can learn how to rack gently, and you can also use some extra equipment to rack under CO2 - no oxidation there. You can infect you beer by making a starter, but we don't talk about that do we? That is because with good technique you don't infect the starter and the benefits outweigh the potential negative.