I've read a few articles about cold crashing before dry hopping for the purpose of dropping yeast out of suspension, due to the yeast absorbing hop flavors. Is this necessary? I'm curious on how some of you dry hop and what the best technique. I do have stainless 300 micron mesh canisters for my corny keg, which I plan on using for the dry hop, when I transfer the cold crashed brew into my corny for carbing. Any help is greatly appreciated. Cheers!
My primary advice is read this great article: http://byo.com/stories/issue/item/3187-advanced-dry-hopping-techniques My secondary advice is that it is not necessary to cold crash prior to dry hopping. My personal practice is to add dry hops (pellets) after all signs of primary fermentation are complete (e.g., no outgassing through the airlock) and utilize a contact time of 7-14 days. I do not cold crash. It seems that every homebrewer has their own preferred contact time value. Cheers!
FWIW: I've not had good results with this type canister. It seems if more than about one ounce is added the hops become so compacted that the beer doesn't circulate well and there is poor hop oil absorption. I went back to fairly large paint strainer bags (allows the hops to expand in all directions). YMMV Sometimes I cold crash before adding dry hops . . . sometimes I dh in primary . . . sometimes I split it up (double dh). Try and look at how much conditioning time you want to give the beer. If you know it will be 3 weeks before it's ready I tend to delay dh'ing. While it's waiting a little cc'ing may help clear it up. Your thoughts of dropping the yeast before it can take the hop oils has merit, but truthfully I don't notice a big difference . . . then again I typically use a boatload of hops. I would say try it both ways and see what gives you best results. In all cases, once the hops are pulled and the keg is chilled the beer becomes clear'er and clear'er over time.
I have a similar question and I'm sure that there will be some different opinions. Mine is more on the timing. I have an IPA that's been in the fermentor for a week today. I plan on bottling on week 3 (I'll be in London week 4 and 5, Fuller's tour booked!). The krausen dropped yesterday. When would you add the dry hops and when would you cold crash? I will be putting 1oz in a muslin bag in a three gallon batch. Sorry for the (slight) thread jack OP.
Working the problem backwards; I would give myself at least 7 days of dh'ing. You definitely don't want to cc after a week, maybe toss the hops in around day 10-14. That pretty much eliminates any time to cc. But you can get the same effect of cold crashing in the bottle (other than the sediment hangs around in the bottom). Regarding dh'ing with a muslin bag, suggest you read this thread first.
Lot's of different ways to skin this cat. I tend to follow Jack's method but I know lots of great commercial breweries who partially crash (dropping from primary fermentation temp to about 10-15 degrees cooler) to drop some yeast and sediment, dry hop at the partially crashed temperature for X amount of days, then crash to close to freezing before transferring to a brite tank.
Whatsup @KeyWestGator, I would consider leaving it alone until you get back. That extra two weeks will probably be a great time to condition the beer and get the best flavor you can produce. This is what Im doing with my double IPA right now: -Sits in fermenter the first three weeks -At the end of the third week I carefully move the fermenter out of my bath tub and onto the top of a table resting inside a cooler. -I then dry hop giving myself 7ish days, but that is completely subjective. -With 3 days to go I fill that cooler I had placed my fermenter in with water and ice and regulate the temperature by adding/removing frozen water bottles. (I also use gelatin with my cold crash). -Once those 3 days have paid their dues I empty the ice water out of the cooler via the drain cap at the bottom and let the fermenter warm up a little bit. -When the fermenter is at about 65 F I bottle straight from my primary fermenter. A note if you do something similar to my process is that you may want to consider using the "S" style air lock, or a completely solid bung (what I do) during your cold crash. Don't want your beer drinkin up all of your star san.
@KeyWestGator First, Id take your gravity reading. Where are you at? Fyi, many pro brewers (see Hieronymus' "Hops" or Mitch Steele's "IPAs") do an initial dry hop as fermentation is ~1-1.5 P or .005 points away from targeted FG. This is because there are unique flavor compounds created in the presence of SOME active suspended yeast. Once fermentation is finished, a few additional days are needed for diacetyl reduction at 68-70 then given proper yeast pitch, temp control, etc there is no reason why you couldnt bottle after 2 weeks. If secondary conditioning, 3-4 days dry hopping has been shown in the literature to be the maximum time needed for oil extraction. The 7 days is purely anecdotal and not well founded. This extraction is better done at temps 62-70 but can be achieved at cold crash temps all be it less effectively. Good crashing for even 24 hours will cause sediments to begin clumping and falling. Fining/clarity agents at this time are also recommended. Remember to allow around 6 hours post crash to allow the beer to warm up to ferment temps. Bottle. Give a few weeks at 70 and enjoy Cheers.
I decided to cold crash in primary once and the batch had the dreaded suck back occur. I'm bringing this up as a warning, if you plan to cold crash, make sure to switch to an S airlock or us a corny keg. I transfer to a corny, cold crash, add gelatin and a week later do a keg to keg transfer and DH based off when I plan to serve the beer.
