# Dry-hopping



## deebee (2/9/03)

Sorry to flog a dead horse, but with all the good press dry hopping has been getting lately, I wanted to know how everyone does it. 

Some seem to put the hops into the secondary upon racking. I can see this would have full benefit when you might be lagering your beer (which I don't do). Anyway I tried dry-hopping into secondary by putting the hops pellets in a coffee mug, topping up with boiling water and pouring the slurry into the secondary then racking on top of that. I left it in there for a week or so but found that I ended up with a lot of hops in suspension when I racked again to bulk prime and bottle. They clogged up the bottling tube and each bottle took f'n ages to fill. Had to keep on removing the bottler, cleaning it, replacing it. Some of the bottles have a lot of hops in them which should be okay but the blocked bottler was a hassle. Haven't done it that way since.

Now I just put the hops slurry into the sterile fermenter when I'm about to put my freshly cooked and cooled wort in and just before I pitch the yeast. Seems to work ok. By the time the beer goes through the bottler it has been racked twice and there is almost none left in suspension.

I have been using 15-20 grams of either cascade or goldings depending on the style.

Interested to hear your different methods and quantities.


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## Jazman (2/9/03)

deebee get a hop bag or a cheesecloth or last resort the missus pantyhose then i would make a hop tea then with hops in the panty hose then chuck the panty hose in with the hop tea that what i would do


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## big d (2/9/03)

gday deebee
last few brews did a dry hop of about 30 grams cascade.made up a tea and bunged it straight into the secondary.let it ferment out and racked to cold conditioning vessel.this left a fair bit behind in the secondary but some still got into the cc vessel.no worries as this was eventually racked into a keg.first few pours or so saw the dregs of cascade come out into the glass and then it was all clear sailing.i just liken it to drinking a coopers real ale with all the floaties.then again being an ex sth aussie im used to un sightly water.
jazmans method is an excellent way to go if you dont want chunky beers.

cheers
big d


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## GMK (2/9/03)

Dry Hopping.

You guys are UNREAL.

I have posted a cheap 10.00 pre keg bottling filter than you run the beer through from the secondary to the keg or bottling bucket.

You buy an inline 13mm irrigation filter and attach a 12mm food good racking tube to it.

This will filter out the hops that are still left in suspension.

Presto - Job Done - time for a BEER. :chug:


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## deebee (3/9/03)

Thanks fellas, I knew this post would get you going GMK, you are the dry hop king!

Jaz do you recommend putting the stocking in boiling water first to kill any bugs on it?

Also what quantities are you guys using? What factors determine the quantities you decide to use?

Do you ever just chuck fresh pellets/plugs/cones straight into the fermenter or secondary?

Will definitely try out the stocking thing again as dry hopping. DId it once with goldings flowers in the boil but didn't put it in the fermenter. Flowers definitely will choke up the tap. Will need to have this technique sussed by April when I have my own hops harvest!


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## GMK (3/9/03)

i allways put the hops into my SS Coffee Mug and add boiling water.

Then leave for 2 mins then pitch into the secondary.
I find that this gets rid of the initial "just cut green grass smell"
that is intially produced from bad Phenolics.

After 2 mins - hops smell really good...

As usual...give a try.

And make the PRE KEG Filter!!!!!!!


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## THE DRUNK ARAB (3/9/03)

A good article on dry hopping


http://www.byo.com/departments/1105.html

TDA


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## GMK (3/9/03)

just read the article....NICE.

I like what it says about 
"pellets can cause a sudden eruption of foam that will have you scrambling for a towel and wondering what sort of alien being has taken over your beer. This is because as the pellets break apart (almost immediately) they provide thousands of nucleation sites for the CO2 in the beer to attach itself and come out of solution. Be careful and go slowly when adding pellet hops to any nearly full container. "

This is what I was refering to in my earlier post.


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## Jazman (3/9/03)

i about to dry hop a thomas cooper with halletua or saaz with hop plugs so with the plugs i may not need to filter it as it will not get past the sediment trap and as witht he stocking not to sure yet havent tried it but maybe pour boiling water through it first before you add the hops but i think im gonna get a proper hop bag as with the high temps i be worried it might gice some off flavours with the nylon ect int he stocking so who knows


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## GMK (4/9/03)

Jazman

I tried the stocking once....NEVER EVER AGAIN.

I boiled a new one for an hour...sterlised but still got some off flavours from the natural colouring or something to do with it.

I use my method now and it never fails.  

A friend of mine had a hop bag...he got an infection in it some how. Took ages to work out where it was coming from. He now Dry Hops with my method...


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## Moray (4/9/03)

I have dry hopped my last few brews using GMK's method.

and would thorughly recomend it, very easy, cheap, and best of all great results.


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## Gout (4/9/03)

like wise .... mmmm hops


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## Trough Lolly (4/9/03)

GMK,

For those of us mere mortals who are not yet kegging  and are forced to bottle, do you recommend that I dry hop the primary before racking or stick with the BYO article and dry hop the secondary before bottling?

Cheers,

Rowan


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## THE DRUNK ARAB (4/9/03)

Chuck it in secondary for a minimum of a week trough lolly.

TDA


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## GMK (4/9/03)

I allways dry hop in the secondary for 2 weeks.

Hope this helps.


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## Trough Lolly (5/9/03)

Thanks for that Ken  

Rowan


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## Jazman (9/9/03)

just dry hopped the thomas cooper heritage and use hallertua plugs and will use a filter not stocking or hop back and i used a different yeast than the can so ley you know how it goes


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## Randy (9/9/03)

Have you tried cold conditioning

Definately reccomend it.

Most particles in suspension will settle when the yeast settles.

There is still enough yeast in suspension for priming if you do secondary fermention.


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## joecast (10/9/03)

referring back to GMK's post about the inline filter. as i usually bottle condition my brews (since i have no keg yet) would this filter out all the particles still in suspension and stop any further conditioning of the beer once bottled? 
i ask this because i once asked what the difference was between store bought beer (and why they say fresh is better) and home brew. i was told, and it seems to make sense, that store bought beer is filtered thereby stopping any further maturation of the beer so what leaves the "factory" is what you drink at home with no chance of the beer changing over time. 
this is probably off-topic but thought it might be important...
joe


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## Moray (10/9/03)

the inline irrigation filter isn't fine enough to filter out the suspended yeast cells. It will only remove solids.

I have used a filter for winemaking, when bottling wine.
and it is much finer, and requires pressure to force the wine through the filter medium, depending on the media used you can filter out very small particles, like commercial brewerys.

most winemaking shops will hire out these filters, if you wanted to try it.


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## Trough Lolly (10/9/03)

GMK said:


> I allways dry hop in the secondary for 2 weeks.
> 
> Hope this helps.


Ok,

Sorry to get pedantic, but can I run this cunning plan past you guys to see if I have understood what we are all saying? 

This is my cunning plan for bottling, not kegging...

- Dry Hop and bulk prime the primary fermentation (without oxidisation or contamination) into secondary using the filter in the racking line to keep the solids out of the racking bin.

- Leave in secondary for 2 weeks (suspended yeast will hopefully drop the FG further and a thin cake of flocculants and hop solids will form on the bottom of the racking bin),

- Bottle with the filter in line between the racking bin and the bottler.

Hows that? :blink: 

Cheers,

Rowan


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## RobW (10/9/03)

Sounds OK but don't bulk prime until you are ready to bottle or the little yeasties will eat all the sugar & your beer will be flat. You'll probably find the filter won't make a lot of difference - what you describe sounds pretty much like what I do & the beer is always bright after secondary or cold conditioning. You could try dry hopping the secondary instead of primary too.


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## Trough Lolly (10/9/03)

No worries KenEasy...

So you're saying the secondary is basically done to lift the brew of the primary yeast cake and dry hop it.

Then, after about 2 weeks, I bulk prime and bottle? :blink: 

Cheers,

Rowan


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## GSRman (10/9/03)

TL: i tend to find that if im careful moving my secondary, i dont need to filter the hops out..


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## TidalPete (24/8/04)

Jazman said:


> deebee get a hop bag or a cheesecloth or last resort the missus pantyhose then i would make a hop tea then with hops in the panty hose then chuck the panty hose in with the hop tea that what i would do


I concur. 
I am a lazy sod & only do kit brews at the moment, but use the body of the pantyhose to strain out the hop slurry & the pantyhose legs to hold the few grains that I add to the kits.


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## Jase (25/8/04)

Two questions:

Has anyone dry hopped a pilsner in CCing, as I don't secondary ferment?

GMK, Any pics and info of constructing your inline filter?

Cheers,
Jase


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## johnno (25/8/04)

Jase said:


> Two questions:
> 
> Has anyone dry hopped a pilsner in CCing, as I don't secondary ferment?


 Hi Jase,
I asked the same question last week. TDA said he does it. Good enough for me. I just dry hopped a lager I put into CC last weekend.
Oh, and I used pantyhose. I have never had a problem with any off tastes yet.
Maybe my sense of taste isnt that good, I dont know. I'll just worry about it if I ever get anything bad happen using patyhose.

cheers


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## Batz (25/8/04)

I dry hop my Czech Pilsner in CC , I just drop a plug of Saaz , straight in.

Works well for me , no need for filter bags etc. after a month or more it is all settled bolow the tap.

Some say you get grassy flavours doing this but I have as yet not found this to happen


Batz h34r:


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## Jase (25/8/04)

Batz said:


> I dry hop my Czech Pilsner in CC , I just drop a plug of Saaz , straight in.


 Batz,

Do you put in 10 - 15 grams of Saaz, when you dry hop in CC?

Jase


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## Batz (25/8/04)

Well as I said I drop a plug in they are around 15g each


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## Jovial_Monk (26/8/04)

i would like a clarification as to what is meant by secondary as distinct from cold conditioning.

I let my beer ferment in primary, dropping from one primary into another (with aeration) for the bigger beers then leave in primary for a week after the ferment is finished then rack to a cube and chuck it into a fridge

Jovial Monk


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## nonicman (26/8/04)

Jovial_Monk, you're scary me. I've been racking into a secondary fermenter and leaving it for a week or two at the same temp as primary before bottling. The beer is a lot better than if I bottled at the end of the primary. I haven't brewed a lager yet.

Used GMK's dry hop method on a current brew (AG Strong Ale)


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## SJW (26/8/04)

For what it's worth with my Lagers i leave in the primary for 12 to 14 days, then rest at room temp for 2 to 3 days then rack into another fermenter and stick in the fridge for CC for at least 2 weeks then i pull out, let warm to room temp for a day or 2 then bulk prime. 
It works well for me and my Lagers are clear as a bell


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## Gulf Brewery (26/8/04)

Jovial_Monk said:


> i would like a clarification as to what is meant by secondary as distinct from cold conditioning.


 The way I view this

Primary - first fermentation vessel

Secondary - where you transfer your almost fermented wort to get it off the excess of yeast and trub, You complete the fermentation here.

Cold Conditioning - can be the same vessel as the secondary, but doesn't have to be. When you cold condition you bring the beer down to low temperatures (less than 2C, sometimes down to -1C) and allow the beer mature (as in lagering).

jleske - not all beers need to be cold conditioned and for a lot of beers, I transfer to a secondary and then keg from there. What you and SJW doing is fine.


Cheers
Pedro


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## Jovial_Monk (26/8/04)

If you rack to another fermenter (30l carboy) make sure you bottle after no more than a weekthere is a lot of airspace above the beer that will sour it in a very short period of time!

After I drop at day one the beer stays in the same primary for 2 weeks, then gets racked to a 20L cube and put in the fridgethe cube will hold my beer with very little headspace and I have lagered beers for 4 and 5 months with no oxidative souring of the beer.

If I was brewing in summer I would do it like pedro doesmucho yeast + mucho heat = autolysis

Jovial Monk


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## Batz (26/8/04)

Yep!!

The proof is in the tasting is it not JM ?

Batz h34r:


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## Tony M (26/8/04)

I cc in a plastic jerry and after i have filled it, I squeeze it between a couple of bits of plywood with a big F clamp then I tighten the lid to seal it tight--thus no air in the head space. If the lid seals properly, any apparent "air" that is there next day will be dissolved CO2.


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## nonicman (26/8/04)

Thanks, thats all excellent advice. Looks like I'm bottling this week. I placed two brews into Secondary fermenters last weekend.


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## Gulf Brewery (26/8/04)

Jovial_Monk said:


> If you rack to another fermenter (30l carboy) make sure you bottle after no more than a weekthere is a lot of airspace above the beer that will sour it in a very short period of time!



Lets be correct about our terms here. The beer may oxidise if not handled correctly (eg being splashed when transferred), but won't be sour. Sourness is a sign of infection. 

Don't bottle just because it has been there 7 days, rack when the beer is ready. This wil depend on the yeast, temperature and how far attenuated the beer is. 

If you rack the beer to another container, there is a reasonable amount of CO2 expelled from the beer which forms a blanket over the top. CO2 is heavier than oxygen and forms a protective layer. You can also give you beer a squirt of CO2 from your gas bottle and form a blanket that way.

I use glass fermenters mostly and always use them for secondaries and conditioning so I can see the changes in the beer over time. 

Cheers
Pedro


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## nonicman (26/8/04)

Both these beers were safely transferred with gavities of 1009, 1010 to secondary. I'm using the 1023 Burtons Ale yeast (second generation). I've dry hopped one, so I'm reluctant to bottle that yet. Both are big beers with OG of 1075 and 1065.

Drinking a glass of my first AG, no sign of infection and it sat in a secondary fermenter for two weeks, it did have airlock activity for at lot of the time. Having said that, my wife has nicked named some of my earlier brews as Old Socks (last Old Socks I brewed was 6 brews ago). At first I was thinking it was over generous use of POR. Time to get an expert tasting opinion (not the Old Socks, drunk them).


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## Darren (26/8/04)

Hey Guys,
I have lying awake at night over this one. Need to get it off my chest! Seems a lot of people are transfering to secondary fermenter. This is a good idea to get the beer off a the yeast/break/hop material. The problem that could arise is if the beer has fully attenuated and is transferred to secondary. At this stage there is little or no nutrients remaining. With no nutrients present the yeast are unable to remove any introduced oxygen, nor produce the "protective" CO2 blanket.
A further transfer to keg/bottle simply introduces further oxidation.
It must be remembered that oxidation is an ongoing process. Once it starts it cannot be stopped.
Like the small rust spot on your car (yep thats oxidation too) it starts small but it is not long until it really starts to expand, eventually converting a piece of shiny metal into a pile of orange dust!
My suggestion would be to tranfer beer to secondary BEFORE it is fully attenuated. That should ensure any O2 introduced post-fermentation can be metabolised.
ah 
thats better
Darren


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## Gulf Brewery (26/8/04)

Hi Darren

Most home brewers rarely full attenuate a full mash beer. The primary sugars (don't ask which ones, I would have to look it up) are utilised first, then the sugars that are harder to break down. This occurs over time. I think most people transferring at 1 week wouldn't have an issue. I always take a little yeast over as I am taking the beer from just above the trub / yeast cake and a little gets sucked up with the wort

Cheers
Pedro


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## Darren (26/8/04)

Pedro said:


> Hi Darren
> 
> Most home brewers rarely full attenuate a full mash beer. The primary sugars (don't ask which ones, I would have to look it up) are utilised first, then the sugars that are harder to break down. This occurs over time. I think most people transferring at 1 week wouldn't have an issue. I always take a little yeast over as I am taking the beer from just above the trub / yeast cake and a little gets sucked up with the wort
> 
> ...


 Howdy Pedro,
I agree. It would be rare for a beer to be fully attenuated in one week. If a beer were to be left in primary for two weeks I suggest it would be a different matter. 
Assuming that a transfer of yeast from primary to secondary will help is incorrect. It doesn't matter how much yeast comes over with the transfer. If it is fully attenuated there will be no more activity.
cheers (time for another beer)
Darren


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## Darren (26/8/04)

Darren said:


> Cheers
> Pedro


Howdy Pedro,
I agree. It would be rare for a beer to be fully attenuated in one week. If a beer were to be left in primary for two weeks I suggest it would be a different matter. 
[/quote]
I am refering to ales here of course!


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## Kai (26/8/04)

You could always slip a small amount of malt or dextrose solution into the secondary.
However, as you say, oxidation is an ongoing process and even if your yeast mops up any O2 introduced to the green beer, by then the damage might already be done. In my practical experience I've yet to have any noticeable trouble with oxidation in the secondary.


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## PostModern (27/8/04)

I'm with Kai.

When racking, I usually put about 100g of DME boiled in a bit of hot water in the bottom of the secondary fermenter to allow the yeast to make it's own Co2 blanket. Never had an oxidised beer yet.

RDWHAHB.


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## nonicman (27/8/04)

If you were silly enough to have moved a beer to a Secondary fermenter, and it didn't produce a protective blanket (one of my fermenters had no airlock activity, though a thin layer of yeast was produced on top for a few days), would the beer be undrinkable, or would the beer go stale over time (as I've read happens when you get hot splash). I was very carefull in the transfer. I will bottle both this Saturday, and see if I can fit in a mash.

edit:
Turned out fine though it was drunk well before it could go stale


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## nonicman (5/10/04)

Just opened a bottle of APA that I used GMK's dry hopping advice for. Awesome, this is an eye opener. Thanks GMK.


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## GMK (5/10/04)

jleske said:


> Just opened a bottle of APA that I used GMK's dry hopping advice for. Awesome, this is an eye opener. Thanks GMK.


 Too Easy - Glad to have helped...

Even Happier that you enjoy drinking it so much... :lol: :chug:


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## Fish (18/4/05)

Very helpful info. re. dry hopping.

I just threw my hop pellets in the secondary and now have a lot in suspension (I will do it differently next time).

Apart from the filter (mentioned on page one of the post) is there an easy way to drop the hops out of suspension? Does Gelatin work?

Fish


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## Ross (18/4/05)

Just a quick comment after reading this thread - I thought for true dry hopping, it was supposeed to be done without the boiling water? Seems everyone here agrees with GMK's method, which I'm sure gives a great result, but I've always dry hopped with plugs cold - you guys recommending the quick steep first?


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## Jovial_Monk (18/4/05)

Plugs were made especially for dry hopping. I just pull them apart a bit and shove them into the cube of beer. Steeping etc is for pellets.

Jovial Monk


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## Sean (18/4/05)

Jovial_Monk said:


> Plugs were made especially for dry hopping. I just pull them apart a bit and shove them into the cube of beer.
> Jovial Monk
> [post="55093"][/post]​


Why pull them apart? Part of the point of plugs is to allow (UK) brewers to just lob one (or more) in each cask, fill up the cask and hammer the shive in (as opposed to loose whole hops which tend to come back out as you fill the cask up).


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## Batz (18/4/05)

Sean said:


> Jovial_Monk said:
> 
> 
> > Plugs were made especially for dry hopping. I just pull them apart a bit and shove them into the cube of beer.
> ...




I think what the Monk says here has some merit
You will find dry hopping with a plug in tact , will sometimes find the plug still in compressed shape when you rack to a keg or whatever.
I would presume less wort in contact with the hops , let hops effect in the brew.

I too pull the plugs apart a little now.

Batz


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## Sean (18/4/05)

Batz said:


> Sean said:
> 
> 
> > Jovial_Monk said:
> ...


If that's your experience then fair enough - I can't speak from homebrew experience since I don't dry-hop. I'm just a little surprised it's necessary since it kind of defeats one of the two main purposes of why plugs were developed in the first place. (The other purpose being quick measurement of dosage.)

On the other hand, I guess they are designed to be added to the cask, not to the secondary fermenter, and the average cask in trade gets thrown about a lot more than most people's secondary fermenters, and maybe that helps to break up the plug.


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## dickTed (18/4/05)

The HBS's around my area only have pellets, but I have taken Jovial Monk's advice, and use a coffee plunger for straining them.

Put in pot, cover with boiling water from electric jug, pour into plunger and let cool before plunging.


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## Ross (19/4/05)

As an option to the coffee strainer method - Has anyone tried adding hops to a coffee perculator? - Would seem maybe a good way for a high extraction of aroma/flavour, & being filtered, an excellent choice for a late addition to a keg or just before priming?

any thoughts....


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## TidalPete (30/6/05)

This is a very interesting thread. I was in my LHBS the other day & saw Brewcraft Styrian Goldings Oil (30ml for $4.50) on the shelves. Seems you need to add 2-3 drops per bottle\90 drops per 23 litre batch max. Has anyone tried something like this as an lazy alternative to dry hopping? If so, how did it turn out? Seems a bit dear. :blink:


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## dickTed (30/6/05)

Tidalpete

I asked this question some time back. Here is the thread.


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## TidalPete (30/6/05)

dickTed said:


> Tidalpete
> 
> I asked this question some time back. Here is the thread.



dickTed, Thanks for that. They can stay on the shelf.  I will use my hops. :beer:


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## Boozy the clown (10/4/06)

Now reading through this thread makes me ask...

I move the beer to secondary for dry hopping, leave it for a week or so,

Then I rack that off to a third vessel for CC, if there was quite a bit of sludge left in my secondary I sometimes will rack to a forth vessel after CC, then CC for as long as I can wait.


Am I asking for trouble with all this racking? ie no co2 'blanket'? :huh:


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## macr (10/4/06)

You could add a spoon of dextrose in. this will give the left over yeast something to eat and create a new CO2 blanket.


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## Uncle Fester (10/4/06)

Introducing more fermentables would result in another layer of sludge. Isn't this what the racking is trying to eliminate?

M


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## Ross (10/4/06)

Really a pointless exercise Boozy & as you say, every time you transfer your wort you're risking infection. Just transfer to secondary once & then transfer to another vessel for bulk priming when ready...

cheers Ross


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## Boozy the clown (10/4/06)

But if i'm dry hopping I should only do so for a week, correct?

Then I CC, So I have to rack off the hops and then CC for X weeks, right?


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## Steve (10/4/06)

Right! :beer: 
Cheers
Steve


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## Ross (10/4/06)

Boozy the clown said:


> But if i'm dry hopping I should only do so for a week, correct?
> 
> Then I CC, So I have to rack off the hops and then CC for X weeks, right?
> [post="119388"][/post]​



You can, but just as easy to leave on the hops & CC (it's what I do). If you don't want to leave dry hopping for a long period, just add to the CC a week before you intend to bottle. Or you could even add to primary after main ferment is finished & leave for an extra week.

cheers Ross


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## Trough Lolly (10/4/06)

Boozy the clown said:


> But if i'm dry hopping I should only do so for a week, correct?
> 
> Then I CC, So I have to rack off the hops and then CC for X weeks, right?
> [post="119388"][/post]​



Dry hopping durations are largely dependant on how long you like to keep the beer in contact with the introduced hops. I'd dry hop for at least a week, otherwise why bother? :blink: 

I normally CC with the same fermenter, hops still there in contact with the beer. If you find that it's too hoppy or astringent, just cut back on the amount of hops you toss in.

Rack out of CC into the keg or into the empty fermenter for bulk conditioning etc...
The more racking you do, the greater the risk of infection.

Cheers,
TL


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