First dry-hop attempt, 1 gallon

[vandoogie]

Hey guys,

I just brewed a Black IPA (1 gallon) and I will be dry-hopping it (my first attempt at dry-hopping), and I have a couple of questions about it.

1) I will be dry-hopping in primary (no secondary), and the recipe says to dry-hop at 7 days... most people say to dry-hop after atleast 2 weeks... However apparently this is a pretty awesome recipe that lots of people have brewed and it's turned out excellent every time... so I don't know which I should listen to. It also says to only ferment for 2 weeks total, when normally I have left in primary for atleast 3 weeks.

2) Dry-hopping makes me nervous! I'm over the fact that you don't have to "sanitize" the hops before adding them to the fermenter, as bacteria can't really grow on hops. But say I was to use a muslin bag or something to put the hops in when I do add them... does this muslin bag need to be boiled first to sanitize it??? I just don't understand how you could just take a muslin bag that's been sitting where-ever, throw your hops into it, and then throw that into the fermenter as-is without risking infecting the beer... Can anyone explain this to me? (I've never seen anyone address this)

3) As I said, I'm doing a 1 gallon batch (in a small 1 gallon fermenter) and am dry hopping with 0.2 oz of whole Columbus and 0.2 oz of whole Citra hops. Is a muslin bag even necessary? If I don't use one, what problems may I run into? Will the whole hops sink down into the beer if I just throw them in, or will they float on top?

I'm sure someone has asked these questions a million times before, so I apologize for that, but if someone could answer these questions for me, that would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Captain Damage]

1 - Go with 3 weeks. Dry hop for the last week.
2 - If you're using a bag, boil it or soak it in sanitizer before putting the hops in.
3 - The bag is optional. If you use a bag you have to put a couple of sanitized marbles in it to get it to sink. You can just drop the hops in the fermenter. They will float at first, but most of them will sink by the end of the week. You might want to put a sanitized bag or nylon stocking over your racking cane/siphon to prevent getting it clogged with hops.

 

[Math0]

The easiest way I find is to use a bag. Boil, put the hops in, let it stay for 1-2 weeks then out of the carboy. Quick and clean

 

[vandoogie]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll let it ferment / clear up 2 weeks in primary, add the hops in a boiled muslin bag for one week, and then bottle after 3. If I put the whole hops in the bag with some marbles, will I still have to put anything over my auto siphon inlet? Or will the bag contain the hop particulate fairly well?

 

[Captain Damage]

If by muslin bag you mean one of those stretchy "gym sock" bags you use to steep grains in, then you'll probably get a fair amount of leakage. The mesh of those bags is just a little tighter than cheesecloth. Once the pellets dissolve, the hops is a coarse powder, similar in texture to cornmeal. Some of it will escape the bag.

If you have a tighter weave bag, that's better. Many of us use nylon paint straining bags. The hops will swell up when they get wet. If you have trouble getting the bag out of your jug (or whatever you ferment in) when you're done, then just leave getting the bag out until after you've siphoned the beer out. You may have to cut the bag to get it out.

 

[hellawaits77]

Yes a paint strainer bag is IMO the best option for a dry hop bag.

 

[MarcusKillion]

Boil the bag or sanitize for sure .
dry hop for 1 week is okay but 2 weeks imao is just going to cause loss of flavor . Not actually convinced that it needs more than 1 or 2 days .
Dry hopping with pellets usually but not always results in the hops dropping to the bottom . using the bag helps make things easier but results in less contact with the beer .
If you use the bag and have little room for oxygen in the container then you can shake it around a bit to make the hops come in goods contact with beer without getting a bunch of oxygen in it .
using the bag makes it easier to siphon especially if you use leaf hops . Always use the bag for leaf hops .
I siphon off into secondary 5 gallon bucket and then use a bag . the bucket is full so i can shake the thing around a lot and get good beer to hop contact and if I have 6 gallons beer I just put the extra gallon in a 1 gallon water jug and this one I usually dry hop with something else for a trial .

them Columbus hops are great . Just made a SMaSH with them .