Dry hopping question

Alot of the craft guys use leaf. Don't tell SN their torpedo is broke.

 

I use whatever I have on hand for the recipe I made, which is usually leaf, since I grow a lot of the hops I use. I only buy pellets when I go in a bulk hop purchase like the Amarillo, Simcoe, and Mosaic we have gotten in the past, and that is because we don't have a choice on the type we get. I don't lose any wort to the leaf absorption as I use bags in the boil and wring them out well after the chill. I suspend the bag inside the keg and as the beer volume drops the beer will drip slowly out of the hops. Maybe I lose a pint or so, but not a big deal.

 

Whole hops look cooler.

 

Also, if you are smart enough and use leaf, you can plan to brew more if you are worried about wort.

 

I've dry hopped a couple home brews with pellets now, and usually I use a small mesh bag, however, as many of you guys have mentioned plenty of hop chunks still sneak their way through. What's the best way to filter these out before bottling? I've read something about using some kind of steel mesh in the racking cane/wort thief?

 

If the small hop particles really bother you, you could place a paint strainer bag on the end of your racking cane to ‘catch’ those particles.

The other option is to just transfer without the strainer bag and let the small amount of hop stuff eventually settle to the bottom of your bottle/keg.

Cheers!

 

As far as I know, only SN and Victory are among large craft breweries that use leaf. But you're right - those two certainly can't do wrong in terms of using hops in beer!

 

@mattbk, I am also only aware of Sierra Nevada and Victory as being large craft breweries using whole leaf hop.
I would think that for a commercial brewery that maintaining the whole hops as being fresh could be a challenge. It is my understanding that whole hops only have a 6 months to 1 year shelf life (even when stored cold). Needless to say that Sierra Nevada and Victory have figured out how to handle this problem but I can certainly see why other commercial breweries would prefer pellets with their longer shelf life.

Cheers!

 

Don't forget Deschutes.

 

They've figured it out, because they are large breweries and can plan to use most of, or all of their contracts every year. Leaf hops stored correctly will last plenty long enough to be useful, homebrew or pro.

 

No doubt. If the whole hops are used within 6 months to a year they will produce good beer.

Cheers!

 

Would it clog?

 

why?

 

I provides the opportunity to control the contact time and maximize the hops. The general axiom is wait a minimum of 14 days until bottling. Active fermentation should subside by day 6 or 7, getting you pretty close to that minimum. I just wait 10-14 days to start my dry hopping to make sure it's ready to bottle as soon as I want the dry hop to finish - that way I don't add the hops and find out the yeast is still cleaning up after itself when it's time to get the hops out.

 

Many BAs have posted that this method works. I have never don't it.

Cheers!

 

I haven't had many problems, 5 gallon strainer bag over the racking cane gives a lot of area. If the flow stops, you can crimp the hose, pick the cane+bag up give it a shake to knock off the hops, put it back in the beer and proceed.

 

I'm about to dry hop a Double IPA that has been in a secondary fermenter for about a week. This will be my first time dry hopping — What hops should I use?
I used 4 oz. Columbus hops and 2 oz. Zythos in the boil.
I'll probably use hop pellets, any recommendations?

 

I have found Columbus fantastic to dry-hop with. Perhaps throw some Centennial in there as well.

 

So if I'm using hop pellets, the best method is to use a mesh hop bag with some kind of weight in it and let it hang about halfway down the fermenter? Should I take it out or leave the hops in before I siphon into the bottling bucket in about a week?

 

If you dry hop in a suspended, weighted bag, there would be no reason to remove for racking. Unless it's preventing you from positioning the racking cane where you want.