I've got my second ever batch (5 gallons) in the primary fermenter on day 3. The recipe calls for dry hopping, and I have Simcoe hop pellets my question is about equipment. The primary fermentation is taking place in one of those 6.5 gallon buckets and I have a 5 gallon glass carboy. Is it better to dry hop in the primary around day 6, wait a day or so, and then rack to the carboy for secondary? Should I rack first then add the pellets to the carboy? I'm a little concerned about getting hop pellet sediment into the bottling bucket. Any advice would be appreciated.
There is no need to transfer to a secondary when dry hopping; simply add the dry hops to the primary fermenter (your bucket). My personal practice is to contain the dry hops in a muslin bag with sanitized glass marbles. Cheers!
I used to love dryhopping in secondary, but have moved to just doing it in primary for all my pale ales. It's one less chance to ruin my beer, and you can always decant off the sediment that shows up in your bottle.
Dry hop in the primary. Less exposure to O2 is more important than hop residue in your bucket or bottles. You could always cold crash after 2 days of dry hopping too to help pack it down.
Thanks for the ideas. I think I'll skip the secondary and just add the hops to the primary in a few days. The weighted muslin bag is an interesting idea. I may try that.
