Dry hopping during fermentation - krausen wont drop

[thisispants]

I'm basically planning ahead in case....

I'm making a NEIPA, I ended up dry hopping on day 2 as it kicked into gear really quickly and I read dry hopping during high krausen is good for hop biotransformation.

Anyway, I've just realised the krausen may not fall for a while....I was planning on doing my second dry hop when the krausen drops, leaving it for 3 days and then cold crashing.

If the krausen takes a while to drop, I'm concerned my initial dry hop will be in the fermenter so long it may impart grassy flavours to the beer.

I'm now day 3, gravity reading today was 1.020 (OG was 1.069)....I used lactose in the reciepe so I'm assuming the actual gravity is a tad lower than 1.020.

What should I do if the krausen takes ages to drop?

Some point to consider:

Yeast; Verdent IPA
OG: 1.069
latest reading on day 3: 1.020 ....fermentation appears to have slowed significantly....no bubbling in the airlock anymore.
125g lactose added which may affect lactose.
Batch size 18L.
Mashed at 67C.

 

[MHB]

Cant help you much with the hops, but the Lactose will have added ~0.0028 points of gravity.
Your apparent attenuation is now ~71% so a little to go.
Mark

 

[Half-baked]

How are you dry hopping? Unless you have a O2-free method, I’d be more keen to dry hop during active fermentation than waiting for the krausen to drop.

If there’s still active fermentation then the yeast will scrub at least some of the O2 you let in from the dry hop.

Say you dry hop today, yeast finishes in a day or two then maybe leave it two days before cold crashing, that shouldn’t be too long for the initial dry hops to be on the yeast.

Out of interest, where did you hear that you should wait for the krausen to drop before the second dry hop? I’m not familiar with that…

 

[thisispants]

Out of interest, where did you hear that you should wait for the krausen to drop before the second dry hop? I’m not familiar with that…

Not for dry hopping... I usually wait for the krausen to drop before cold crashing.... I'm not sure why I do this.... Is it a thing? I feel like it may be but I have no idea why.

 

[Naboo]

I'd go by gravity. Cold crashing should help drop the krausen. Tapping the side of the fermenter can also help this.

 

[Simon N]

Verdant can have pretty sticky krausen. Agree with Naboo that a bit of agitation can help it along if you’re worried.

 

[Half-baked]

I usually wait for the krausen to drop before cold crashing.... I'm not sure why I do this.... Is it a thing? I feel like it may be but I have no idea why.

Not something I’m familiar with.

Pretty much all pro brewers and a lot of homebrewers ferment in stainless (including me) and certainly don’t open up to check on krausen before cold crashing.

Now that’s not to say there is no benefit to doing so, but I don’t think it’s common practice

 

[thisispants]

Now that’s not to say there is no benefit to doing so, but I don’t think it’s common practice

Well that's good to know, I have no idea why I started doing this. Thanks.

 

[Sidney Harbour-Bridge]

I'm just doing my first NEIPA

It was mashed on Saturday, 21 L into fermenter and added a 2 L starter of S-04 (23L @ 1.060)

It reached high krausen on Sunday and received it's first dry hop that afternoon.

By Wednesday gravity was 1.013, I added second dry hop yesterday and started the cold crash, it's currently sitting at 4 C and I will probably Keg on Sunday.

I would like to bottle a bit for a friend but I have read that bottling is a no no due to oxidation, has anyone successfully bottled a NEIPA, would you care to share techniques?

 

[Lefty]

Increase the fermentation temp a couple of degrees, do the second dry hop and leave for a couple of days for a diacetyl rest to allow the yeast to fully clean up. Cold crash and the krausen will drop.

 

[mynameisrodney]

.

 

[mynameisrodney]

I'm just doing my first NEIPA

It was mashed on Saturday, 21 L into fermenter and added a 2 L starter of S-04 (23L @ 1.060)

It reached high krausen on Sunday and received it's first dry hop that afternoon.

By Wednesday gravity was 1.013, I added second dry hop yesterday and started the cold crash, it's currently sitting at 4 C and I will probably Keg on Sunday.

I would like to bottle a bit for a friend but I have read that bottling is a no no due to oxidation, has anyone successfully bottled a NEIPA, would you care to share techniques?

Not personally, but read that adding SMB at packaging helps a lot with oxidation.

 

[Simon N]

I'm just doing my first NEIPA

It was mashed on Saturday, 21 L into fermenter and added a 2 L starter of S-04 (23L @ 1.060)

It reached high krausen on Sunday and received it's first dry hop that afternoon.

By Wednesday gravity was 1.013, I added second dry hop yesterday and started the cold crash, it's currently sitting at 4 C and I will probably Keg on Sunday.

I would like to bottle a bit for a friend but I have read that bottling is a no no due to oxidation, has anyone successfully bottled a NEIPA, would you care to share techniques?

Bottle straight from the fermenter and fill to just under the brim (safer with plastic where you can push out the air and not worry about bottle bombs). I’ve had NEIPAs last 6+ weeks that way.

 

[Half-baked]

@Sidney Harbour-Bridge, you have a kegging setup, do you have a way to purge bottles?

A plastic bottle with a carb cap, gassed with CO2 to 15 psi then released 3 times would be enough to effectively purge of O2. Then gas the bottle to your serving pressure, attach the liquid line to the carb cap, then release enough pressure to let the beer gradually fill the bottle.

Or, if your mate will drink the beer fairly quickly, use Simon N’s approach

 

[Sidney Harbour-Bridge]

Thanks for the replies guys, I have some PET bottles had thought of using those as I can squeeze the air out.

I do have a kegging setup and can gas purge bottles before filling although I don't think all the CO2 stays on top of the beer while you put the cap on, I've a few swing tops too which might be a little better than regular bottles as it would be quicker to get the caps on.

I could also carbonate in the keg then transfer to mini kegs, half fill them and gas them right up and lend him a picnic tap to go with them that's probably the safest option.

I'll let you know what I did when it's done.

 

[yankinoz]

Bottle straight from the fermenter and fill to just under the brim (safer with plastic where you can push out the air and not worry about bottle bombs). I’ve had NEIPAs last 6+ weeks that way.

To clarify for varied readers, so long as you do not overcarbonate or freeze the beer, CO2 is not the problem. I've filled glass bottles to within one centimeter with no gushers or bombs, but you need to leave more if you cold condition below 4 C, because water expands with temps falling below that threshold, not just when freezing. Expanding water is an irresistible force.

 

[Sidney Harbour-Bridge]

OK it's done, I bottled out of bottling it so it's in two kegs, 16 L in a regular keg and 5 L in a 10 L mini keg. I plan to carbonate fully then give it a bit more when I hand it to him with a picnic tap and if it's succesfull I can top the mini up for him when he's done the first 5 L

 

[Sidney Harbour-Bridge]

To clarify for varied readers, so long as you do not overcarbonate or freeze the beer, CO2 is not the problem. I've filled glass bottles to within one centimeter with no gushers or bombs, but you need to leave more if you cold condition below 4 C, because water expands with temps falling below that threshold, not just when freezing. Expanding water is an irresistible force.

If you bottled at say 20C (998.2 Kg/m3) the beer volume would reduce until 4C (1000kg/m3) and then expand to 0C (999.89 Kg/m3) where it would still have less volume than when it was bottled, I think potential danger would start with bottling 4C beer, yes?

 

[yankinoz]

If you bottled at say 20C (998.2 Kg/m3) the beer volume would reduce until 4C (1000kg/m3) and then expand to 0C (999.89 Kg/m3) where it would still have less volume than when it was bottled, I think potential danger would start with bottling 4C beer, yes?

I stand corrected, except that there would be net expansion when cooling even from 6 to near zero. Of course, bottlers would start much higher than 6 if they are carbing.