Gettin My Head Around This Whole Hop Thing

[milob40]

i just want to know if dry hopping, should i be using a hop bag to avoid cloudiness?
also if i make hop tea using boiling water is this the same as adding hops at the end of a boil and how long should i let it infuse?
i only want to add aroma but i find the prepackaged hop teabags lacking in freshness.

 

[Pennywise]

You're right in that the t-bag thingo's usually aren't that fresh, and IMO, there's not enough hops in them. It depends on when you add the tea, the results will be a little different from adding them to the end of the boil if you add them 3-4 days before bottling. But will prolly be the same if you made the hop tea & added it straight to the fermenter for the whole ferment. The problem with adding hops at flame out (for aroma anyway) is that fermentation will drive off some of those aromas, so IMO it's best to add them a few days to a week before bottling/kegging. If you want to make a hop tea then 10-15 mins steeping in the hot water will be fine, pesonally I don't get the whole hop tea thing but each to their own. I'd just cut the bag open and throw the hops in loose.
You shouldn't get much, if any, hops get through to the bottle/keg if you throw them in loose, they'll settle to the bottom of the fermenter or bottle with the sediment.

 

[booyablack]

I definitely agree with Pennywise. I remember making a hop tea with those teabags for my first couple of brews. What a waste of time that is. Loose dry hops is the go.

Dry hopping won't cause cloudiness as you fear but the "danger" is that you can get the odd floatie in your stubbie/glass. You'll find this is not really an issue though since as Pennywise has already said, the hops will settle into the trub at the bottom of your fermenter. So as long as you don't bottle the part of the brew that sits below the tap (or stir it up too much when bottling) then you should be fine.

Good luck!

 

[manticle]

You can get hop related hazes from lots of late and dry hopping - hop bags won't influence this one way or the other though.

I've also had plenty of late/dry hopped beers that are clear as a bell.

Hop teabags are not worth the foil package they come in.

 

[stuchambers]

I have only dry hopped once. I added to the primary after 5 days then left the beer for another 5days, cold conditioned for 10 days. This has turned out to be the clearest beer I have made.
Dont be afraid a little bit of cloudiness or the odd floating bit of hop isn't going to ruin the beer. Some even add a hop flower to the glass on pouring.
Cheers Stu

 

[The Giant]

I really love dry hopping cause of the aroma it can impart on the beer

I differ here with others in the fact i've dry hopped a few times just loose and had plenty of floaties in my beer. It also clogged up the little bottler thing at the bottom of the filler tube. I tried finings and it did nothing for the floaties

Now when i dry hop i put them into a sanitised stocking or the hop bags, I'm contemplating buying a nice big stainless steel tea ball or something and doing it this way. I generally use 20-25g to dry hop for a 23l batch. I generally split these into 2 bags as well so they can float around everywhere and have more room to expand as the hop bags are small

 

[milob40]

You can get hop related hazes from lots of late and dry hopping - hop bags won't influence this one way or the other though.

I've also had plenty of late/dry hopped beers that are clear as a bell.

Hop teabags are not worth the foil package they come in.

my last brew has been run through a .4 micron filter 4 times and still looks like fruit juice(used clusterhops loose in fermenter)
the batch before i had to filter twice to remove the pea soup , i don't know why this is the case but it is a pain inth arse.
i don't use finings, i just brew a k&k with sometimes steeped grain but the grain has never given me cloudiness before.
i add hops dry or boiled after 4 days of ferment.
adding hops before "flame out"??? as some people suggest just isn't applicable with k&k as there is no boil in the first place.?
the boiling has been done by the goop makers, i only boil my steeped grain before adding to fermenter.

i'm brewing beer not making caramel toffee :blink:
maybe i should just stick to plain old k&k?
at least i wouldn't have this stress

 

[Pennywise]

adding hops before "flame out"??? as some people suggest just isn't applicable with k&k as there is no boil in the first place.?


i only boil my steeped grain before adding to fermenter.

That would be your flame out brah

 

[milob40]

That would be your flame out brah

so im doin it right then but how long should they sit in the hot mixture? 10 mins?

 

[Pennywise]

10 mins will be fine if what you want to do is add them at flame out, personally, like I said, I find adding hops at flame out a bit unecessary. I'd rather boil some for 10-20 mins to get some flavour, and then dry hop and get the good aroma's.

I never used to dry hop, always a flame out addition, mainly becuase I'd never remember to dry hop and miss out all together. Now that I've changed my method I'm finding my beers are a lot easier to predict flavour intensity wise, don't know why, but they are. Maybe some one has some ideas as to why this is?

 

[milob40]

10 mins will be fine if what you want to do is add them at flame out, personally, like I said, I find adding hops at flame out a bit unecessary. I'd rather boil some for 10-20 mins to get some flavour, and then dry hop and get the good aroma's.

I never used to dry hop, always a flame out addition, mainly becuase I'd never remember to dry hop and miss out all together. Now that I've changed my method I'm finding my beers are a lot easier to predict flavour intensity wise, don't know why, but they are. Maybe some one has some ideas as to why this is?

so dry hopping it shall be then. just thought it might be less of a risk of infection if i made the tea.

 

[Pennywise]

Hops are pretty sanitary in themselves, I don't think I've heard of anyone getting an infection from dry hopping.

 

[mwd]

Suggest leaving the brew longer and cooler to allow the pea soup to clear up before running through a filter. I have found hop pellets go to mush and just sink into the yeast trub at the bottom if you give them time.

 

[eXpeLL]

Hops are pretty sanitary in themselves, I don't think I've heard of anyone getting an infection from dry hopping.

I always thought one of the reasons hops were used were due to their anti bacterial properties to stop spoilage. The reason why india pale ales are hoppy due to the traditional long travelling distances (from England to India) in an attempt to ward off infection. Or it might be all BS.

 

[Pennywise]

I always thought one of the reasons hops were used were due to their anti bacterial properties to stop spoilage. The reason why india pale ales are hoppy due to the traditional long travelling distances (from England to India) in an attempt to ward off infection.

Bingo

 

[peaky]

I've dry hopped a couple of times by chucking in loose pellets a few days after racking. I wait 2-3 days then crash chill for a couple of days. Never had my bottling tube get blocked or had hops floating around in my bottles. I haven't done it for a while but will be dry hopping an APA I have in the fermenter atm with cascade :icon_drool2: 25 Litre batch and I'll dry hop with 20grams.

 

[Bribie G]

I was a hop tea fan, but don't do it any more as the resulting tea, made on boiling water, can be very bitter. Yes I know that the party line is that hops need to be boiled for 60 mins or so to allow isomerisation of the alpha acids. However make some hop tea and - sure you get the aroma - but try sipping a quarter of a teaspoon and you will look like this for the next ten minutes.

 

[milob40]

I always thought one of the reasons hops were used were due to their anti bacterial properties to stop spoilage. The reason why india pale ales are hoppy due to the traditional long travelling distances (from England to India) in an attempt to ward off infection. Or it might be all BS.

clear as mud.... just kiddin, i think this has put my mind ar rest ..... woohoo i can sleep tonight.
i must admit i thought i was just lucky not gettin infections when dry hopping, but this sort of clears up the mystery :icon_cheers:

 

[casualties_army40]

so to get some good aromas i can just add some hop pellets (around 25g?) into the fermenter towards then end of the ferment to maximize aroma?

Cheers.

 

[Bribie G]

Going to do that just now when I can get off this computer and get my arse into gear :icon_cheers:
Day 4 / 5 of fermentation (with ales) is good.

I'm chucking 30g of Cascade into an American Pale Ale.