# Adding Hop Pellets Straight To The Fermenter



## RWithers (9/8/10)

Hey all,
I was given a tip to add hop pellets straight to the fermenter before pitching the yeast to add a nice hop aroma. i wanted to spice up a india pale ale a bit and tried this with cascade hops. The airlock's stopped bubbling and SG is at about 1011. I'll take another reading tomorrow to see if it's finished. The liquid that came out into the hydrometer tube was very cloudy and had plenty of floaties in it which I assume are bits of the hop pellets. and it tasted very very bitter. Any advice is warmly appreciated.


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## unrealeous (9/8/10)

Once you rack the beer off and let the hop particles settle out - it will be fine. Raw hop pieces are nasty tasting.

You can also try dry hopping after primary ferment is over - as you'll retain more aroma. But I must admit I am a virgin to dry hopping.


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## Oatlands Brewer (9/8/10)

I wouldve waited to AFTER primary had finished..(ie.now) to add the hops(dry hopping) personaly its the second biggest inprovement ive made to my brewing so far..behind temp control fermentation.

If you want/can chuck the fermenter in the fridge for a coupla days to drop all the floaties out of suspension,once your sure its finished


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## RWithers (9/8/10)

what do you mean by rack the beer off? Sorry i'm quite new to brewing


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## Bribie G (9/8/10)

RWithers said:


> what do you mean by rack the beer off? Sorry i'm quite new to brewing



_Racking _is an old term from wine making that means transferring the beer from the first fermenter, once the main fermentation is ending, to a second fermenter where you get it off the yeast 'cake' and let it clear out and improve itself in various ways. However it's not necessary to do this with most kit beers and you will do just fine bottling or kegging straight out of your current fermenter after the week or more that you will be fermenting for. 

On the subject of adding hop pellets, the reason you do this is to add hop aroma. The aroma comes from volatile oils and compounds in the hops that can be driven off in the gases that come out through the airlock in the early part of fermentation. Best to add them later, say on day 4. And the debris will settle down to the bottom of the fermenter after a few days, no probs.

Happy brewing :icon_cheers:


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## Oatlands Brewer (9/8/10)

Racking is transfering the beer from one container to another, usually from the fermenter to another clean sanitized one to get the beer of the trub (dead yeast and hop gubbins at the bottom.

Usually done after primary has finished and you can then cold crash it to further drop any yeast out os suspension, as i said in my last post.

Clears up the beer


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## Lodan (9/8/10)

How long has this been fermenting for?

Collective opinion suggests you can leave the brew in your fermenter for 3 weeks with no negative impact on the brew. If it has only been brewing for a week, leave it for another week or two after fermentation has finished with any heating items switched off and the hop particles should settle fine.

Depending on the type of fermenter you might find the first bottle you make has some hop gunk in it but the rest should be fairly clear.


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## petesbrew (9/8/10)

The 2nd fermenter or bucket is also handy for bulk priming all those odd sized bottles.

If you don't want to get a 2nd bucket at the moment, you can always leave it for another week (or two) once the fermentation has finished. This way the yeast can drop out some of the sediment.


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## RWithers (9/8/10)

ok cheers guys, It's been fermenting for almost a week now so I might just try and let it sit for a week to let it all settle. It works out good because i'm pretty flat out this week and won't have much time to bottle. Thanks for your help, I'm sure I will be requesting it again sometime in the future.


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## felten (9/8/10)

If you want to settle the hops out it helps immensely to CC the brew before bottling (if you can), bottling while cold also can help to reduce foaming if that is a problem.


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## Scruffy (10/8/10)

Glossary for the above post.
CC: Crash Chill.
FELTEN: Further Elaboration Lessons The Effort Needed.


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## keifer33 (10/8/10)

I normally dry hop on day 4 or 5 (When fermentation is complete or nearly complete), then leave it to settle for a week and bottle when I get a chance. The odd bottle might get a bit of hop in it but normally settles to the bottom with normal sediment.


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## felten (10/8/10)

Scruffy said:


> Glossary for the above post.
> CC: Crash Chill.
> FELTEN: Further Elaboration Lessons The Effort Needed.



nice, I got a good chuckle out of that


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## RWithers (10/8/10)

checked the s.g. yesterday and today and they were 1011 and 1010 respectively so I'll check it again tomorrow but there is still a fair bit of bubble action on the top so I assume it still wants to ferment abit more. What is the method for crash chilling?


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## felten (10/8/10)

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=33089 :icon_cheers:


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## RWithers (10/8/10)

cheers, i put the airlock back in after taking a sample for the hydrometer and she's bubbling away again. HA
:lol:


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## RWithers (12/8/10)

hey guys, 
i've managed to rearrange the bottom fridge and fit the fermenter in there so i can crash chill it. how long does everyone recommend leaving it in there? Will a day or to suffice? or longer? because I wouldn't mind bottling it on the W/E


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## argon (12/8/10)

RWithers said:


> hey guys,
> i've managed to rearrange the bottom fridge and fit the fermenter in there so i can crash chill it. how long does everyone recommend leaving it in there? Will a day or to suffice? or longer? because I wouldn't mind bottling it on the W/E


Chuck it in there as cold as you can get it for about 48 hrs or so and she'll be clear as. Longer the better really ( to an extent) then bottle away and should be all good.


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## RWithers (12/8/10)

argon said:


> Chuck it in there as cold as you can get it for about 48 hrs or so and she'll be clear as. Longer the better really ( to an extent) then bottle away and should be all good.




Cheers argon, I'll probably bottle sat or sun, i had a taste when doing the Sg reading and it tastes quite nice already


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