should my beer container be completely sealed or should there be an airlock installed when dry hopping?
I'm pretty sure it's going to have to be open when you put them in! Airlock - the hops will act as nucleation points for the CO2 and some of it'll come out of solution. After that you can seal it up again if you want but I've always left the airlock on until I racked.
take the bung and airlock out add dry hops put the bung and airlock back in don't completely seal your fermenter, it needs someway to breathe. the airlock does its job
If you're using a glass carboy do not seal it completely, ever. They aren't meant to hold pressure. If too much co2 builds up in the headspace from active fermentation, just co2 coming out of solution, or warming up the fermenter, that gas is going to want to escape. You'd better hope the seal gives, otherwise the carboy can shatter. Even with plastic, the pressure could blow the lid off, which would defeat the purpose of sealing it in the first place. Just use an airlock.
I subscribe to the "old school" of dry hopping advice (except amounts): https://byo.com/hops/item/569-dry-hopping-techniques
No. This but smaller and not quite as messy. They are quite the sight if you ever get to see one in person. If you don't seal up your fermenter in time. There really isn't a single thing you can do but get wet and wait it out.
So . . . I'm going to hijack this thread to ask about dry hopping NEIPAs. Has anyone out there every skipped dry hopping one of these beers? I have a theory that maybe one doesn't need to dry hop these beers to get big aroma because of the way polyphenols, both from hops and grains, keep the beer turbid. I figure that if one uses enough hops on the hot side, cold side hops won't be necessary. I'm going to give it a go with my next NEIPA some time this month, regardless, but I'd certainly like to hear any anecdotal evidence that you all might have.
Yes, I do this when I overshoot my volume on a 5 gal batch (about 1/2 the time)...the extra beer goes into bottles and while aromatic is noticeably different than the dry hopped batch
3 oz...but another 1.5 oz. average at 5-10 min caveat: I only dry hop once in the keg (4 oz for 5 gal batch)
@Davidbraud If you are dry hopping in a vessel that is not capable of holding pressure, I'd probably avoid sealing it up. I guess you could try a one-way stopper that will let gas out but not back in. I don't know how glass reacts to negative pressure but you will likely get deformation of a plastic fermenter. If you are dry hopping in a keg or pressure rated fermenter, then you can do either. I usually do a spunding valve on a keg when dry hopping NEIPAs. That way, I can maintain a certain head pressure during the dry hop and then hook up gas and crash in the same vessel. @EvenMoreJesus I'd be curious to see how a non-dry hopped NEIPA works out. I've noticed that when I rack my NEIPAs from my fermenter to a dry hop keg, the aroma is massive and sometimes it will get muted even after a big dry hop. Not quite sure what's going on there. My solution is to get a pony keg to do all the fermenting and dry hopping in and then do a single transfer to the serving keg and be done with it. I haven't got there yet. Legitimately acquired pony kegs aren't so easy to find.
I'd think that oxygen exposure is a BIG reason. That's part of my theory. People who do closed transfers seem to be getting more hop aroma and flavor out of less hops.
@EvenMoreJesus Agreed, although I do a closed pressure transfer from fermenter to a liquid purged keg. I don't think I could introduce any less oxygen unless I did all the fermentation and dry hopping in 1 vessel. I liquid purge my transfer line as well.
I usually throw in 5 oz for dry hopping after 4-5 days of fermentation. Then throw in 1 oz for the keg. I also use 5 oz for the hopstand/whirlpool at about 175 degrees for up to 45 min, stirring about 5-6 times during that period. Anyone else have other strategies?
