Dry Hopping In The Bottle

[BobtheBrewer]

I don't dry hop very often but when I do it is in the keg. I normally aim at 21.5ltrs in the fermenter and after filling the keg I fill around 3 bottles. To date, when I have dry hopped I have not bothered with any bottles, just ditch the residue. Today I had a brew that tasted so good without the dry hopping that I decided to bottle the excess. So I got this idea to dry hop in the bottle. I put 0.3g of Cascade (5.4%AA) in each bottle. I use 1g/ltr to dry hop but figure that this will be longer term than normal dry hopping. I am wondering how it will turn out as I have never heard of dry hopping in the bottle. Comments please.

 

[barls]

most likely will result in gushers as you have just added a nucleation point to the bottle.
it has been covered a few times on here. try the search for previous topics.

 

[Adam Howard]

Arrow Brewing Company in Arrowtown, NZ did a run of their IPA with a hop flower in every bottle. Nice when fresh!

 

[Nick JD]

I've done it before and it worked - but you can't over do it (one little pellet in a bottle) and I think it worked also because the beer was bottled very cloudy and the hops become embeded under the yeast sediment so don't offer nucleation points for gushing.

 

[BobtheBrewer]

most likely will result in gushers as you have just added a nucleation point to the bottle.
it has been covered a few times on here. try the search for previous topics.

Yep, I thought about that but I don't think that half a hop pellet will remain solid in the bottle.

 

[Fat Bastard]

Yep, I thought about that but I don't think that half a hop pellet will remain solid in the bottle.

The hop bits will be the nucleation points. I just bottled a bunch of NSSA that I'd dry hopped in the fermenter without a sock and over half the bottles gush like the Kiama blowhole in a southerly swell as I didn't filter into the bottling bucket. Half a hop pellet will be plenty to get them fizzing.

 

[manticle]

DISCLAIMER: I have never dry hopped in the bottle.

BUT: I bottle all my beers.

AND: The last 2-3 beers get marked with an 'X' designating 'drink at home only (don't give away, don't put in comps)'. Most of those, but especially those that are dry hopped will gush if left to carbonate properly.

Taste is fine but they are cloudy gushers in the main. I have had many an HB from other brewers that behaves the same way for what I believe are the same reasons.

NUCLEATION POINTS ARE YOUR MAIN ISSUE - MIGHT NOT HAPPEN TO YOU BUT WORTH CONSIDERING AND IF YOU DO IT - DRINK THEM FRESH AND OPEN THEM OVER SINK OR AREA THAT DOESN'T MIND SOME SPILLED STICKY **** ON IT.

Sorry for yelling. My futsal team lost again.

 

[jyo]

I made a hop tea with about 300mls water and 30gms galaxy that was strained and put into a keg of APA a few weeks ago. I usually bottle a few long necks from what is left over after kegging and into one of the bottles I squirted 20mls of the hop tea using a sanitised syringe.

I cracked the longneck on Friday night and it was fantastic. Not exactly a dry hop flavour, due to the heat of the steep, but it was really fresh, great aroma and something I will try again.

 

[BobtheBrewer]

It looks like a case of live and learn. Just as well it's only a few bottles. Thanks for the comments.

 

[Nick JD]

Question: why doesn't yeast sediment create nucleation points and gushers?

 

[bcp]

DISCLAIMER: I have never dry hopped in the bottle.

BUT: I bottle all my beers.

AND: The last 2-3 beers get marked with an 'X' designating 'drink at home only (don't give away, don't put in comps)'. Most of those, but especially those that are dry hopped will gush if left to carbonate properly.

Taste is fine but they are cloudy gushers in the main. I have had many an HB from other brewers that behaves the same way for what I believe are the same reasons.

NUCLEATION POINTS ARE YOUR MAIN ISSUE - MIGHT NOT HAPPEN TO YOU BUT WORTH CONSIDERING AND IF YOU DO IT - DRINK THEM FRESH AND OPEN THEM OVER SINK OR AREA THAT DOESN'T MIND SOME SPILLED STICKY **** ON IT.

Sorry for yelling. My futsal team lost again.

From memory you rack off the yeast cake and cold chill prior to bottling. And you still get the cloudy gushers?

 

[Fat Bastard]

Question: why doesn't yeast sediment create nucleation points and gushers?

I would assume it's because the yeast sediment sits flush on the bottom of the bottle and has less sharp bits to create nucleation? I don't know. What I do know is that if I get too many hop bits into the bottling bucket, I get gushers in the bottles from the last half of the bucket. Filtering the beer through a stocking limits it to the last couple of bottles, and it's not an ssue innon dry hopped beers.

 

[barls]

has to do with particle size. yeast being tiny ie about 5 micron or so where as hop fragment are about a 1000 times larger and give a damn good nucleation point.

 

[manticle]

From memory you rack off the yeast cake and cold chill prior to bottling. And you still get the cloudy gushers?

More recent process sees me CC then rack only to bulk prime. Particulate matter still falls to the bottom of the fermenter within that time.

There's obviously a lot less sediment etc than no racking at all but I get enough gushers with the last 2 that they always get marked and never get given away - good test bottles to check carb.

Had one tonight - 3/4 full, only 3 days in the bottle, visible hop floaties. Opened with a massive hiss, beer frothed up and poured in the glass very cloudy.
Tasted OK but I got sick of bitter leaves stuck in my teeth, poured it out and opened something else.

 

[Nick JD]

Um, contain your hops when dry hopping?

Like breweries do.

 

[manticle]

I don't care enough about the last 2 bottles. All others are hop debris free.

I chuck 'em in. Like brewers do.

 

[Nick JD]

These 7 sacks of citra flowers are going in a 15L batch.

 

[manticle]

Flowers on the other hand, block my taps and cause frustration.

I use and recommend a minimash grain bag for containment of particulate matter in both the kettle and fermenting vessel.

 

[adryargument]

I don't dry hop very often but when I do it is in the keg. I normally aim at 21.5ltrs in the fermenter and after filling the keg I fill around 3 bottles. To date, when I have dry hopped I have not bothered with any bottles, just ditch the residue. Today I had a brew that tasted so good without the dry hopping that I decided to bottle the excess. So I got this idea to dry hop in the bottle. I put 0.3g of Cascade (5.4%AA) in each bottle. I use 1g/ltr to dry hop but figure that this will be longer term than normal dry hopping. I am wondering how it will turn out as I have never heard of dry hopping in the bottle. Comments please.

I had a commercial beer in Belgium that came dry hopped with a single whole flower.
Lets just say i only drank half of it while the other 4 patrons sitting at the bar shared the rest.