Dry hops mucking up the brew right before bottling

[HoptoManiac]

New brewer here. First batch underway, but I have a question about dry hop pellet residue that it seems will ruin the bottling process.

I'm brewing the Plinian Legacy grain recipe. It's in the 2nd week of the secondary, after both dry hop additions, but I anticipate an issue when I rack for bottling. I added my 1st hop addition and went away on vacation for a week. I came back to a very clean brew with some of the hop residue (from pellets) floating on top. I was very excited. I then added the 2nd dry hops and gave a swirl to get the new pellets through the floaters. That seemed OK at the time. I came back the next day to more hops floating on top. So I gave it a swirl again and most quickly sank again, with just a bit left on top. I have done this for 5 days now and each day I come back I have a new 1/2 inch layer on top and, with the swirling, the beer has nowhere near the clarity it did before the 2nd addition (after an undisturbed 7 days).

So, I'm not sure what to do here. The recipe states the 2nd hops addition should be there for 5 days. It's been 5 days and I now have a cloudy beer with 1/2 inch of hops floating on top again. I imagine if I didn't touch it for a few days it would clear up, even though that would put me outside of the recipe requirements, but my bigger concern is that I know as soon as I stick my auto-siphon in that all of those floaties are going to start mucking up the beer again before I can get it out.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[Jag75]

Can you cold crash? This is why I use bags for dry hops. I cant cold crash until I get my cf5. Cold crashing will drop everything .

Welcome to the forum ! Theres all kinds of knowledge around here .

 

[HoptoManiac]

Sorry, I forgot to add I don't have a way to cold crash. From what I've read, that's the ticket, but I'm just not set up for it right now.

 

[HoptoManiac]

I've read of so many ways to do things. I just took the 'pour em in' approach. Guess I should have taken the bag route.

 

[skyblue67]

How do you transfer to the bottling bucket? If you use a siphon fix a fine filter round the end. I use a small nylon hop bag that came in a kit, it has drawstring so I can tie it tight and most crud stays filtered out.

 

[HoptoManiac]

How do you transfer to the bottling bucket? If you use a siphon fix a fine filter round the end. I use a small nylon hop bag that came in a kit, it has drawstring so I can tie it tight and most crud stays filtered out.

I'll be using a siphon. I had thought of some type of filter on the end of the line, although I was hopeful someone had a trick (short of cold crashing) to get the hops out of the way in the secondary before siphoning.

If the hop bag works for you, I might try to find something the same mesh size. I want to trap the hops but also not clog it up while siphoning.

 

[Jag75]

So are you moving it to a botteling bucket?
If so do the mesh bag at the end of your siphon .

 

[HoptoManiac]

So are you moving it to a botteling bucket?
If so do the mesh bag at the end of your siphon .

I was planning on moving it to a bottling bucket because I don't have a keg setup yet. Sounds like the mesh bag is going to be the way to go.

 

[Jag75]

It will work out fine. Try not to splash too much . Hoppy beers can oxidize really easy.

 

[skyblue67]

I'll be using a siphon. I had thought of some type of filter on the end of the line, although I was hopeful someone had a trick (short of cold crashing) to get the hops out of the way in the secondary before siphoning.

If the hop bag works for you, I might try to find something the same mesh size. I want to trap the hops but also not clog it up while siphoning.

This method always works for me, the auto-siphon has never got blocked. If you bottle with a bottling wand you need to avoid as much crud as possible as those things get blocked really easily. I never use a secondary, just dry hop in the primary and use the filter on the siphon to transfer into the bottling bucket. I keep the filter on and use the auto-siphon with a bottling wand to bottle the beer.

 

[Jako]

the hops will drop out just give it time. you will find key to good beer is time. also when adding in the hops don't mix the beer up at all, you are just mixing in oxygen at that point and mixing wont help it drop out. if you have hops on the top it should be easily avoidable with the racking cane. just keep the tip a few inches below the surface and avoid the trub on the bottom and the top.

i was also avoid opening the lid to check the beer. are you using a bucket or a clear carboy?

 

[CascadesBrewer]

What I do is I dump in the hop pellets loose and I never swirl or disturb the beer. They form a layer on the top of the beer then start to settle out. After 3 or 4 days they have mostly sunk to the bottom. I am not positive if this method yields the best extraction of hop flavors and aroma, but it works for me. (A few months ago I picked up a freezer as a fermentation chamber and have started to cold crash...that does help to clear the beer, but is not critical.)

 

[Nubiwan]

So are you moving it to a botteling bucket?
If so do the mesh bag at the end of your siphon .

My last IPA I hopped with Centennial. Resluts were stellar (no, not the Belgian lager).

I had an unrelated issue with my spigot not working, so was force to rig up a pretty desparate looking siphon. I upset some of the trub. I also had issue with sediment from the hops getting into my bottles. It'll be mesh bag around my tube next time. Whether I siphon or spigot.

 

[HoptoManiac]

It will work out fine. Try not to splash too much . Hoppy beers can oxidize really easy.

Thanks for the confidence builder. This has been a very long process. I'd hate to jack it up now.

the hops will drop out just give it time. you will find key to good beer is time. also when adding in the hops don't mix the beer up at all, you are just mixing in oxygen at that point and mixing wont help it drop out. if you have hops on the top it should be easily avoidable with the racking cane. just keep the tip a few inches below the surface and avoid the trub on the bottom and the top.

i was also avoid opening the lid to check the beer. are you using a bucket or a clear carboy?

I'm using a carboy. I can easily see what's happening. In fact, it now seems to me that using a bucket would be like flying blind.

I do understand it's best to not disturb the beer, but I didn't think a gentle swirl in the carboy would be that harmful. I guess next time I won't disturb at all, especially since I witnessed the excellent clarity after dropping in the 1st dry hop and then just walking away from it for a week. I guess after 3 weeks in the primary, 2 weeks in the secondary, and a few weeks in a bottle, another week in the secondary wouldn't be horrible. I also keep reading that extra time in the fermenter is not harmful as once touted. I just hope the hops flavors don't diminish.