Can I dry hop and cold crash at the same time?

[electricd7]

Waiting on my fermentation to complete which will still be another 2 weeks or so, but wondered if I could then combine the steps of dry-hopping and cold-crashing into the same time. Ie, I plan to transfer my beer from its primary vessel to a 5gal carboy with the pelletized hops on the bottom (should I use a hop bag?). This vessel will fit in my fridge, so I thought if it wouldn't harm anything, perhaps I could place it in the fridge for some days while its dry-hopping? I assume since the primary fermentation is complete, this wouldn't harm anything, but wasnt sure if I could expect the same hop utilization at the cold temperatures?

I have never done either dry-hopping or cold-crashing but am trying both with this SNPA clone. If doing both simultaneously isn't the answer, can someone suggest the time tables for doing this separately? Ie, do i dry hop for 7 days then cold crash for 4, etc.

Thanks guys!

 

[one-L]

Not going to hurt, but its going to take much longer to get the full hop flavor if its cold. I usually dry hop in the keg and 10-14 days is what I usually see to get the most flavor/aroma impact. If you want a quicker process, I would definitely dry hop first at room temp and then cold crash for 24-48 hrs. I would also say that if you just want to try out secondary, go for it, I've had good results just dry hopping in the primary and then kegging/bottling out from there. Fewer transfers means less chance of oxidation/infection. YMMV.

 

[Homercidal]

I do this all the time. It will take a bit longer to get the hoppy goodness to transfer into the beer, but the cooler temps will also help to keep the dry hopping from causing vegetable flavors from passing into the beer as well.

I keg, so I drop a bag with hops into the keg and tie the bag to the inside of the keg lid using some string (Looking to get some SS chain for the future.) I've got a tab soldered onto the top of the keg. For the kegs that don't have this tab, I simply tie the bag to the keg handle using a piece of unflavored dental floss (unused) and close the lid. The floss is thin enough to prevent gas from escaping.

I will sanitized some of my kid's marbles to weigh the bag down and keep the hops submerged. Last time I dumped the hops out in the trash and the kid's marbles went with them. I did not pull the marbles back out again. Don't tell her!

If you are going to do this in a bucket or carboy, I'd still use a hop bag and some weight inside. But you won't have to tie the bag to anything, since you aren't worried about sucking the bag up through a dip tube.

 

[electricd7]

I am going to keg when its all done. Do you leave the hops in the beer as you serve it, or do you eventually pull the hops out and then carbonate and serve? Never really thought about dry hopping in the corny, but I guess that would work as well.

 

[one-L]

Personally, paint strainer bag with hops in it, tie knot in top, drop in bottom of keg, rack beer on it, and forget about it until the keg kicks. Like Homer was saying, cold temps keep the grassiness from being an issue. At least, I haven't had a keg stick around long enough for it to be an issue. 15+ batches this way with no problems.

 

[Homercidal]

Well, I hate to say it, but you can not have too much hops. You could dry hop in the fermentor AND add a bag of dry hops in the keg. I've heard of lots of people dry hopping in the keg and it works fine, if somewhat slower than dryhopping in the fermentor.

I had planned on only dry hopping for about 2 weeks on my last kegged beer, but instead of starting to get funky tasting, it only got better and better.

I have a clarity issue on two kegs of Rye Pale Ale I brewed up so even though I have dry hopped with over 2 ounces each in the fermentor, I plan to try gelatin to clear them and then add more hops to each keg. I used S-04 in one fermentor, and US-05 in the other. Interested in tasting the difference, but the muddy appearance is off-putting, and the hops are just a bit too subdued.

 

[gilstein21]

I dry hop for 7 days usually. The last 2 days are cold crash and it has worked for the Pale Ales I've brewed.

 

[Queequeg]

3-5 days at room temp is what I commonly see the most in recipes.