Copper in fermentor

[WinoBob]

Hi all,

As I've moved up from a 1 gallon carboy to a 15 liter bucket for fermentation, I thought I'd dry hop by putting the hop pellets in a bag, along with a few marbles to weigh it down, and then suspend it with a thin wire so it doesn't sink down into all the muck at the bottom. I found this 0.5 mm (0.02 inch) copper wire that I thought would be handy to use (after sanitizing it), but wonder if the copper may harm my beer, or create off flavors? I could buy some fishing line I guess, but the copper wire would be easier to handle.

Any thoughts on this?

Cheers!

 

[Soulshine2]

IMO, copper is good as it will not sustain bacteria. Its one reason it is used in common household potable water piping...and stills. Some will tell you stainless steel would be better.I dont bag my hops but Id use it.

 

[Jag75]

Doesnt copper turn black when soaked in alcohol? I've sunk hops in a bag for my NEIPAs . If you use a bag make sure its large enough for the hops to expand . They will float back up after 3 to 4 days . That's been my experience. Or you can just drop em in commando as someone here called it lol. They will float for a while then sink from what I understand ,however i never done it like that so i cant speak of it .

 

[bierhaus15]

I would not expose copper to beer on the cold side. Copper will react with 02 and oxidize your beer, along with potentially imparting a copper/metallic flavor to the beer. While copper exposure before fermentation is usually OK, cold side is a different story. Better to use fishing line or unflavored floss.

 

[ESBrewer]

On the other hand, copper is the traditional fermenter material still used in many places e.g. some Belgian breweries. I am not saying that it would be the best choice for your dry hopped IPAs, though.

 

[Jag75]

I was gonna make my brother n law a whiskey bottle holder out of a log with copper faucet . You put the bottle upside down and when you want a shot just open the faucet . It looked cool but the more I read about it people had issues with having a blackish color whiskey on a first pour . Apparently it's because the whiskey sitting in the copper housing turned it black . So i held off on making it until i can figure a better solution.

You can run fishing line through the airlock bubbler . When you want to take the dry hop out of the beer just pull the line up and tie it off leaving the bag suspended until you keg it. And you could just lift the line every so often to dunk the hops up n down to extract as much aroma n flavor .

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I'd just let it sit in the yeast cake...Not going to hurt anything and when you pull the bag and stir up bottom it will settle quickly....overthinking a non issue

If your really worried about....and shouldnt be...Get a 5 gallon paint strainer bag from HD Lowes Amazon...wherever. Pull it down the outside of the bucket till the bottom of the bag is above the yeast cake. The lid will hold it in place....easy pisey

You also dont need a marble. The hop particles will float not the bag. Take a spoon after the first day and pat the hops down without splashing so the hops sink. This gives you full contact of the hos in the beer. After that they usually stay submerged

 

[Soulshine2]

Doesnt copper turn black when soaked in alcohol? I've sunk hops in a bag for my NEIPAs . If you use a bag make sure its large enough for the hops to expand . They will float back up after 3 to 4 days . That's been my experience. Or you can just drop em in commando as someone here called it lol. They will float for a while then sink from what I understand ,however i never done it like that so i cant speak of it .

copper turn black in alcohol...not that Ive ever seen. It will patina (from oxidation) in time but I've sunk my clean immersion chiller in the pot of wort, it comes out shiny.

 

[Jag75]

OP, one thing you have to be mindful of is opening your fermenter and introducing o2 which in hoppy beers is a killer . If you have a way to purge with c02 I would everytime you open it to do your dry hop addition.

 

[WinoBob]

Better to use fishing line or unflavored floss.

I like your thinking. Never even considered floss, but must be so much easier to work with than fishing line. Good thing I always use the unflavored kind!