Dry hopped pellets, floating on top

[thisispants]

Hi, so I dry hopped for the first time a few days ago, and I just threw in some loose pellets into the secondary fermenter.

However, the hops are just floating on top. I thought they would end up floating to the bottom.... my concern now is that because they're floating on top with some suspended inthe wort, that they're going to find their way into the bottled beer.

Is this common for loose pellets being dry hopped?

The lesson here is that I obviously should have used a hop sock.

Any tips on how to avoid hop bits in the finished beer?

 

[Dan Pratt]

Its ok. What temp is the FV at right now? I ask as you can cold crash the fermented and all the hops will fall to the bottom

 

[thisispants]

It's at about 20C at the moment.

Does cold crashing have any other effect on the beer?

I could pop it in the spare fridge out the back I guess, it's at 4C.

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

Does cold crashing have any other effect on the beer?

It will vastly increase the clarity of your beer.

 

[thisispants]

And how long is generally required, a day or 2?

 

[DJ_L3ThAL]

1 day minimum once it's down to temp, but it will take at least a day to get there. I aim for 3-5 days.

EDIT: you'll be able to see it clearing up at the surface also, those hop floaties will sink.

 

[fletcher]

yeah keep it cold crashed for about 3-5 days. 4C will work wonders for the clarity

 

[thisispants]

Thanks guys, I'll let you know how it goes. So just to clarify, there's no need to get the fermenter back to room temp before bottling?

 

[pat86]

Nope, prime and bottle (or bottle and prime if you use carb drops) as per usual. This is how I do it, you probably just add a day onto the bottle conditioning/ carbonation time as the yeast will need a bit more time to wake up and get active.

 

[spaced]

It wont help this time, but in future this is what I do (works great for me)

- Buy socks made out of stocking material (near undies at woolies or coles)
- Boil it, then spray all over with star san
- Put hops in the bag and tie it off
- Throw it in

Others have used shot glasses to weigh it down. Whatever you put in the bag to weigh it down must be sanitised as well.

If the flakes get in your bottles they can cause gushers thats why I use a hop bag.