FV Fitting For Multiple Dry-Hopping

[kaiserben]

Re: your comment - Dry hop #1 within 48 hours of fermentation kicking off. I've never dry-hopped so early in the fermentation, as all the aroma would be expelled with the CO2.

So when then? (specifically for New England IPAs).

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And also, I'm interested in how people sanitise their hop socks before using them for dry hops in a fermenter? (I realise hops themselves are good for avoiding infections, but what of the socks themselves?). I tend to boil them for 10 minutes, then rinse in cool water, and then dunk in a bowl of no-rinse for >3 minutes, then put hops in sock, tie the sock off (using my hands - which can't be all that sanitary).

Is this overkill or pretty standard. And is my hands touching the no-rinsed sock a bad idea.

 

[Lionman]

And also, I'm interested in how people sanitise their hop socks before using them for dry hops in a fermenter? (I realise hops themselves are good for avoiding infections, but what of the socks themselves?). I tend to boil them for 10 minutes, then rinse in cool water, and then dunk in a bowl of no-rinse for >3 minutes, then put hops in sock, tie the sock off (using my hands - which can't be all that sanitary).

Is this overkill or pretty standard. And is my hands touching the no-rinsed sock a bad idea.

I boil my balls for about 10 mins, put hops in them, then spray with starsan before dropping them in the fermenter.

 

[eldertaco]

Re: your comment - Dry hop #1 within 48 hours of fermentation kicking off. I've never dry-hopped so early in the fermentation, as all the aroma would be expelled with the CO2. I've also read this is virtually ever home brewing book I've read. So I wouldn't be recommending this myself.

It's a seemingly pretty standard component of New England IPAs. Most recipes seem to go for the first dry hop addition in the first 0-72 hours of pitching. Dry hopping while the yeast is still active increases the amount of biotransformation that takes place. Essentially some non-aromatic compounds can be turned into aromatic compounds by the yeast. Certain yeast strains are apparently better at it than others too.

 

[Gigantorus]

So when then? (specifically for New England IPAs).

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And also, I'm interested in how people sanitise their hop socks before using them for dry hops in a fermenter? (I realise hops themselves are good for avoiding infections, but what of the socks themselves?). I tend to boil them for 10 minutes, then rinse in cool water, and then dunk in a bowl of no-rinse for >3 minutes, then put hops in sock, tie the sock off (using my hands - which can't be all that sanitary).

Is this overkill or pretty standard. And is my hands touching the no-rinsed sock a bad idea.

I would wait until the fermentation action appears to have stopped - maybe 5 days into it. Though most of the NEIPA recipes I've seen don't start dry-hopping until around day 7+. Though also saw this on the American HomeBrew web site about New England styles.....as edlertaco has mentioned above. Probably more my scottish heritage and concern about how much hops would be needed to make a NEIPA - the cost would double.

Adding hops during primary fermentation has historically been seen as taboo because CO2 may carry the delicate hop aromas out of the beer. However, many New England IPA brewers are adding their hops during this phase in hopes that the yeast will distribute more hop particulates throughout the beer and help them remain in suspension.

Re hop sock sanitising. I soak my hop sock in mixture of Star San & water for 10mins, then wring out as much liquid as possible, then I fill with hop pellets and pop in fermenter. Never had an issue. I also wash my hands well and wash with Star San mixture as well before touching anything.

 

[Gigantorus]

Saw this article last night about the current "Haze" trend with NEIPA's: http://www.brewsnews.com.au/2017/05/critics-verdict-on-haze-craze/

Time will tell if it's here to stay or not.

 

[Gigantorus]

Just saw this article as well on NEIPAs: https://beerandbrewing.com/unlock-the-secrets-of-new-england-style-ipas/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_source=autopilot&utm_term=single-article-from-juicy-bits

 

[Gigantorus]

Boy NEIPA topic is everywhere at the moment. The American Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine are promoting this today:

https://learn.beerandbrewing.com/courses/brewing-new-england-style-ipas?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=promo&utm_source=autopilot&utm_term=new-class-ne-style-ipas

 

[goatchop41]

Re: your comment - Dry hop #1 within 48 hours of fermentation kicking off. I've never dry-hopped so early in the fermentation, as all the aroma would be expelled with the CO2. I've also read this is virtually ever home brewing book I've read. So I wouldn't be recommending this myself.

Your hesitation is fair enough, it's bucking a commonly accepted trend. Part of this comes down to the old school view that dry hopping is just for hop aroma, and only a little bit about flavour. DH during fermentation is about flavour, aroma AND mouthfeel.

As I stated in an earlier post, the point of dry hopping during fermentation with these certain yeasts is (as Lionman touched on) that they are capable of taking certain compounds or oils (something like glycosides and terpenes) from the hops and changing them to other flavour and aroma compunds (B.citronell, etc.) - this is allegedly one of the factors that plays in to the 'juicy' flavour and mouthfeel characteristics of NEIPAs.

Suck up the cost (it's a good excuse to buy 500g/1kg bags of hops!) and have a crack at it, you wont be disappointed!

 

[goatchop41]

If you're reading recipes for NEIPAs that don't dry hop during active fermentation (the bare minimum being when there's still a few gravity points left), then you're reading the wrong recipes, and will come out disappointed by those recipes.
Big players in the NEIPA world all are on record as dry hopping during fermentation.

Some good references about how biotransformation works can be found in this reddit comment

 

[Lionman]

Could you add fermentables with the hops?

Dip the hops into a sugary solution like a mild sweet wort and then into the fermenter, you would get a lot of yeast activity on/around the hops then.

 

[goatchop41]

Could you add fermentables with the hops?

Dip the hops into a sugary solution like a mild sweet wort and then into the fermenter, you would get a lot of yeast activity on/around the hops then.

I have no idea if that would work, but it honestly seems like unnecessary extra work when you could achieve the desired effect by just timing your DH correctly