Dry hopping question

Both work. I prefer leaf when possible. I like the flavor/aroma a little more, but mainly, it's easier to keep hop debris out of the finished beer with leaf, which tends to stay inside the hop bag.

 

Agree with VikeMan. I'll add that it seems my beers stale faster if I use pellet, over leaf. Perhaps more o2 dissolves into the beer as the pellets break down?

*shrugs*

 

I tend to go with which one is fresher. Because in the quantities I dry hop with, if your hops are even a little stale you can really tell.

 

Neither is better.
Both work equally well and each has strengths and weaknesses.

Pellets are convenient and absorb less beer.
Leaf often leaves a fresher cachet...especially if you grow your own but tends to absorb more beer.

 

Pellets 100% of the time for everything. I don't get why people still prefer leaf but I guess if it works for you then so be it,

 

I'm puzzled by this statement. I think most people can (and have) clearly articulate(d) why they prefer leaf, or pellet, or have no preference. Do you mean you disagree with the reasons people give?

 

whatever I have available.
I am particular about hanging the bag in the keg just so. if it is too high it wont be in contact for very long and if it is too low it gets in the way of the dip tube. my dry hopping schedule is that it takes as long as it takes.

Cheers.

 

From my understanding - recent research supports Pellets are superior to Leaf. I find leaf hops to be a much bigger pain to deal with, absorb more wort/beer, stale faster, more expensive, and are harder to find in many varietals.

My hoppy beers have somewhere between 8-16oz per 5.5gal total hops throughout and I can't imagine using that much whole leaf hops. Buying all pellets is way easier.

For my dry hop, I use pellets in the keg with a weighted paint strainer. I can fit up to 5.5oz of pellets per sack. I eventually cut the dip tube 1/4-1/2 inch to allow for some more room for sediment/debris. After a few days of carbing they pour without hop particles, and my hop aroma is usually bright and huge.

If leafs work for others then so be it, why fix what isn't broked? But IMO, there's way more positives with pellets.

 

I use whatever I have on hand . . . most of the time it's pellets. I use a large SS spice ball and drop that into my bucket at the end of primary. It keeps the debris from getting into the beer. Occasionally I'll throw a few ounces into a keg a few days before I serve it at a party where I'm expecting it to be finished.

Lately I've been doing more hop-standing rather than dry hopping, though.

If I was going to dry hop something I put some time into (a sour, say), I'd use leaf.

 

i only use pellets for DH. cold crash for 48 hours and the particles drop like stones (most will drop by themselves, before the cold crash). put a fine-mesh hop sack over the end of my racking cane to keep any stray particles in the carboy. boom, clear dry-hopped beer.

nothing wrong with using whole cones. i don't for 2 reasons: they take up more space in the freezer, and they absorb more beer.

 

Quick question: I am in the fermenting stage of brewing the Hop Head Double IPA from Midwest and have read that I could just dry hop in primary. I was given two ounces of whole leaf cascade, so how can I go about the process without racking to a carboy? Should I crack the lid and dump the leaves in or use a muslin bag and toss it? I am currently on day 3 of fermentation.

 

You're gonna want to wait until active fermentation is done. Once your gravity stops moving.

 

Yeah wait until active fermentation is done, which is technically about 4-5 days. I wait until the beer would be ready to bottle before I start dry hopping - 10-14 days - then do a 7-10 day dry hop. Doing it right in primary is fine.

 

Thanks, I'll do it that way. What about how to submerge the leafhops? If I just toss them in, will they eventually sink?

 

I think this is the way to go . I'll probably take shit for this but I think dry hops are overrated.

 

I've got a mesh bag that I boil with some brass or stainless hardware (washers, bolts). You'll need weight because the hops won't sink. I wouldn't think it'd be a lost cause to just throw the hops in, but you won't be maximizing by any means.

 

I'm moving in this direction also. Dry hops still have their place, but I really like what I get out of hop stands. I prefer pellets for both since I buy hops in bulk and pellets store better and stay fresher longer. I've never been able to get a good seal on a vacuum bag of leaf hops.

 

Significant others also complain a lot less when there is 8# of pellet hops in the freezer vs. 8# of leaf taking up space.

 

Get another freezer and keep both.

I like leaf for dry hopping, and will avoid pellets if I can. I dry hop in my keg and I get great flavors from leaf and tend to enjoy using it more.

That said- I also have a good vac sealer, and seal all of my hops, and they are all stored in the freezer 100% of the time.