Carboy neck full of hops

[Zackcavalier]

Well, I searched this and another forum I belong to, and I can't seem to find any good answer (perhaps my search terms are poorly chosen). My primary is going on about 8 days...not planning to secondary. I am planning to dry hop...and when I looked in the neck of the carboy, I noticed a large "plug" of hops and gunk blocking the way. I have read that this residue can impart off flavors if reintroduced into the brew at this point. The krausen has fallen...bubbles, while only qualitative, are few and far between. I feel like I should've checking gravity and getting my hops in...but I am worried about this blob of stuff falling in. Any ideas? Knock it in and rack off to secondary right away? I guess next time I will strain the wort...

 

[duboman]

If its so full you have stuff in the neck then yes rack to secondary and dry hop and next time use a bigger primary if you don't want to secondary, even if you strain

 

[Zackcavalier]

I used a 6. I guess I will have to go bigger? My temp was a little warm initially and the yeast went off like crazy. I was hoping better temp control would prevent this in the future. I did want to thank you for your fast reply.

 

[twistr25]

Did you use whole hops in the boil? I'm a little confused on how you got that much gunk up there.

 

[Zackcavalier]

I literally have no idea. I used pellet hops...like 3oz. I was following kit directions against my better judgment.

 

[twistr25]

Do you just throw the hops directly into the boil as well? I might recommend getting a muslin bag or even a paint strainer bag and add the hops to it next time. That way you won't have as much extra solid material in your fermenter, which means less trub, which means more beer

 

[Zackcavalier]

Just a follow-up for anyone interested. I opened the primary to see what the story was, and the layer of hops was a super thin veneer of crusty hops that had formed perfectly to cover the bottom of the stopper and the top 2 inches of the sides of neck, which gave the appearance of a plug of some substance. I managed to remove it by laying a strip of masking tape on the end of a glass rod over while pressing down ever so gently. As I removed it, the layer came along. I would have take pics, but I was away from a camera. I know it was likely not the most sterile thing to do, but I only touched the hop layer and it came away cleanly. I am going to dry hop the primary here in 2 days...for a duration of 5 days, and then let things ride another week before bottling. First beer batch will be drinkable by the end of sept. I am fairly excited.

 

[twistr25]

Dry hop last. Bottle after the 5-7 day dry hop period. If you leave the hops in for too long it will develop a grassy flavor.

 

[Zackcavalier]

Thanks for the tip. With all of your help this may actually be a drinkable beer.

 

[twistr25]

That's what we're here for

 

[tnlandsailor]

For what it's worth, I like to dry hop in the primary. It's definitely worth considering for your future dry hopped beers.

Dry Hopping in the Primary Article

 

[Zackcavalier]

In primary but after the bulk of the fermentation is done, I assume...am I correct?

 

[tnlandsailor]

Yes, right as the head starts to crash, but while there is still some fermentation going on. The article goes into some detail on this.

 

[cheezydemon3]

It will be fine, but I now use ONLY buckets.

The neck on those is so big I can fit my whole body through it.

 

[kh54s10]

I would wait until fermentation is totally finished before dry hopping. I have not read where it is suggested to do it while fermentation is still in progress, though in some instances it might be proper.

I ferment all my beers for 3 weeks and would only dry hop for a week so it would not be an issue for me.

I also think all the angst about letting the hop matter get back into the beer is not a big concern.