The recipe calls for Dry Hopping 4 days into fermentation. The local brew shop said I can just toss the hops in at the appropriate time, or I can soak a Muslin bag in some diluted StarSan and put the hops in there and toss that in the fermenter. Will either work? Which would you recommend? Thanks in advance!!
I personally prefer to add dry hops after all signs of fermentation are complete. If you add them earlier some of the aroma from the hop's essential oils gets 'scrubbed out' with the outgassing of CO2. Pick a time that suits your personal preference. There is no 'wrong' answer here. Cheers!
I have done both bagged and not bagged. I tend to just throw stuff in, and live with the hop matter that comes with it. I do like to use bags for larger amounts though. 4oz is about where I make that call, or anything leaf. I do use a hop bag and not a muslin bag though so have no worth while experience doing it in that kind.
Commando or bagged, either will work. Bagged will end up with less vegetal matter in the trub/yeast cake if that's important to you. If you can't/don't cold crash, bagging has the potential (not guarantee) to result in clearer beer.....but equipment and other processes come in play there. If you decide to bag use one that's bigger than you think it needs to be, especially with pellet hops; they absorb a lot of liquid. Like @Granitebeard when I do bag I use a hops bag, the weave is much tighter than muslin.
I like to place a few ounces in a bag and put that through the neck of my glass carboy. Try it and let me know. I have the bags but really see no use for them. Unless you like cleaning a fistful of soggy green grass out of a permanently stained bag made of questionable materials. Honestly, you can not ever get the thing really clean. I'm going to be washing all of that trub and yeast and snot out of the bucket anyway. May as well just toss in the pellets and be done with it. And, I will add, as I do, that you can shower with your brew bucket. Cheers
Almost everybody is going to give different advice on dry hopping. There are many many different techniques, some better than others. It’s really kind of a trial and error kind of thing until you figure out what works for YOU. Personally, I’m a big fan of commando. I feel you get a much stronger hop flavor/ aroma. BUTT, you need to be wary of potential clogging issues during transfers. Cheers man!
Commando all the way, don't give a dam if I got hop particle or not. Always after ferment is over. Like Jack, I find DH while fermenting gives less of the hop punch I'm looking for. As always , when in doubt, experiment by brewing 2 identical batches or splitting 1 batch in two and dry hopping with different methods. Brew on.
A great way to get around ending up with hop particulate in finished beer without using a bag is to place a nylon paint strainer bag over the racking cane/auto-syphon when transferring to the bottling bucket or keg.
My preferred method for IPA's is just hopping in the keg with loose pellet, but using a nice floating dip tube with screen. Those work amazing! Never any clogs, bright hop aroma. It's the way to go, IMO.
I am going to commando per your recommendations. Do I just toss them in the fermenter and put the lid back on? Or do they need to be stirred? Sorry, should have asked in my original post. Thanks.
Don't "toss" and don't stir. Work quickly and gently. You want to avoid aerating the beer as much as posible.
If you're adding at day 4 of fermentation (per your original post) toss ever-so-gently place them in without stirring. It'll minimize the time the beer is exposed to turbulent air.
