Dry-hopping

[Trough Lolly]

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

 

[RobW]

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.

 

[Trough Lolly]

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

 

[GSRman]

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

 

[TidalPete]

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.

 

[Jase]

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

 

[johnno]

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

 

[Batz]

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:

 

[Jase]

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

 

[Batz]

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

 

[Jovial_Monk]

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

 

[nonicman]

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)

 

[SJW]

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

 

[Gulf Brewery]

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

 

[Jovial_Monk]

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

 

[Batz]

Yep!!

The proof is in the tasting is it not JM ?

Batz h34r:

 

[Tony M]

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.

 

[nonicman]

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

 

[Gulf Brewery]

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

 

[nonicman]

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).