Dry Hopping

[Goodbeer]

Hello all

Am about to dry hop for the second time. First time round results were good, but the pellets kept clogging the bottling attachment, made for a long night bottling.

Was planning on making a tea, but most things I've read seem to suggest hops in water isn't ideal.

So I have got myself a couple of hop balls. Just wondering if people think this is a good idea? Will obviously make bottling easier, but having 20g in a ball, will it just sink into the trub and not do much?

Cheers

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Never heard of hop balls. I have used a boiled/sanitized hop sock with a stainless steel weight. In the keg. It works great with flowers. With pellets they are so fine they can escape the hop sock (different hop socks) and can be seen tiny little particals in the kegged beer for a while. It settles out in the keg after a week. Same would be in the fermenter and the tea bag contains the most of it.

 

[Goodbeer]

I think they're actually tea balls? Little stainless balls with a latch on them, some just use them for hops

 

[Yob]

Are you bulk priming?

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Pellet hops have really fine partical. If its like a tea strainer it will spill a few if but at least it will keep them from floating.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

I'm considering the experiment of a tincture. Is it viable? Its not hard to do. A tea bag of hops in a sealed jar of Vodka for cupla days. Its been done does it work? I'd guess it has. Rather than adding vegitation particals to your liquid gold. Just adding a clear hop extract to the pre bottled brew.

Edit: This is how some commercial craft brews are done I've heard. Using an extract and they call it Dry Hopped.
Is it less authentic? maybe

anyways I'm gonna try that B)

 

[Goodbeer]

Yob so far I've just used carbonation drops. I only have one bucket, as space is at an absolute premium in my place. Am thinking of giving pseudo bulk priming a go for this one.

Tincture you say Dans? Sounds interesting, will have to look into it

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I'm considering the experiment of a tincture. Is it viable? Its not hard to do. A tea bag of hops in a sealed jar of Vodka for cupla days. Its been done does it work? I'd guess it has. Rather than adding vegitation particals to your liquid gold. Just adding a clear hop extract to the pre bottled brew.

Edit: This is how some commercial craft brews are done I've heard. Using an extract and they call it Dry Hopped.
Is it less authentic? maybe

anyways I'm gonna try that B)

Not so much necessary with hops as the hop oils can be extracted with water, though you would get more oils from the hops with alcohol, if you wanted to extract oils from the marijuana bud to make a tincture then that is how you would do it but not for days only minutes soaking in the alcohol,and then evaporate off the alcohol to separate it from the oils.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Hold off on the tincture for now.
I'm just newbie experimenting. The hops just sucked up all the vodka ha! To add more vodka is like, a vodka laced beer.
I'll keep experimenting.

 

[Goodbeer]

Pellet hops have really fine partical. If its like a tea strainer it will spill a few if but at least it will keep them from floating.

So I want the pellets to sink to the bottom?

 

[Rocker1986]

I've used those stainless tea balls many times with success. Mine are only big enough to hold about 10-11g each, but they have worked well and kept all the hop matter out of the bottles etc. You have to make sure you don't put too many hops in them so that they have room to expand inside the tea ball without being squashed.

 

[Goodbeer]

Cheers rocker

As chance would have it my wife had two spare 50mm balls in the cupboard, they should easily hold 20g each

 

[Rocker1986]

I reckon they'd be a bit small for that much. They'd hold that amount of hops dry, but once they are in the beer for a short while they expand heaps and they'd only end up being badly squashed.

Mine are 65mm, although they're a weird shape, more like a tumbler glass with a semisphere "lid". This diameter is measured from the lid so at the bottom it is smaller. Probably works out at a similar inside volume to a 50mm ball shaped one, and I'd probably go 12g max in them to allow for this expansion.

 

[Goodbeer]

So what would happen if the pellets got squashed? Wouldn't just squeeze some goodness out?

 

[Rocker1986]

It's my understanding that they need to be allowed to freely expand in order to release the oils etc. much more easily during dry hopping. If they get squashed together, these things aren't released as easily, some stay held in to the hop mass, and you don't get the same effect in the beer.

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Like getting into cooking, Oh the choices, the options! B)
I'm thinking the ultimate is whole flower hops. Its like grain husks are in a filter way. That's the ultimate!
Otherwise fiddly ways to do it with pellets.

 

[antiphile]

I agree totally about limiting the quantity of pellets you should put into hop balls; but if you do they work well. Otherwise making a hop tea in a coffee plunger works well too and is a bit easier I reckon.

 

[Goodbeer]

Like getting into cooking, Oh the choices, the options! B)
I'm thinking the ultimate is whole flower hops. Its like grain husks are in a filter way. That's the ultimate!
Otherwise fiddly ways to do it with pellets.

I was of the opinion we couldn't really get flowers here in oz? Have I been misled?

 

[barls]

we get some flowers just not all

 

[Spiesy]

When I dry hop, I throw the hops in - they soak up the wort, get heavy and sink to the bottom. Crash chilling for a few days helps speed up the process (especially in a stainless semi-conical) and I usually end up with pretty clear beer. If it's a really heavy dry hop - I'll add them to a hop sock so that they can be removed.