Putting Hops In The Bottle

[steve78]

Hey all,

I made an IPA but it got infected in the cube however I had a litre left over which I placed straight in the fridge, this did not get infected (smells and tastes good).

I made a 200ml scaled down yeast starter the other day and thought I'd ferment this litre out. It appears to be fermenting well (I have different sizes beakers etc so I can do this rather easily) as it should. I'll only get about two stubbies out of it, and I planned the recipe to be a split batch (in two 15L fermenters, out of the 27L primary fermenter), one half actually dryhopped with Cascade, the other dryhopped with Amarillo. The batch was made with these hops throughout, plus Horizon as well at bittering. I wanted to ferment it out so I could at least taste it, its my first IPA.

Question: I personally don't see why I can't drop the scaled down dryhop additions, which is actually about half a pellet, straight into the bottle then cap it, this being my dryhop stage, one bottle with Amarillo, one bottle for Cascade. Wasn't this hop IPAs first started, well similar to?

Would appreciate any thoughts or comments?

Cheers,
Steve

 

[barls]

its not a good idea as you will just add a nucleation point when the bottle is carbed and you open it all you will get is foam.

 

[steve78]

Really? well I'm glad I put the post up, thanks for letting me know. I'll dryhop in the fermenter, probably just with Cascade.
Cheers mate,
Steve

 

[black_labb]

I've put a hop tea into a brew at bottling stage (with the priming sugar) but I dont know if pellets in the beer is ideal.

 

[ekul]

A few months ago i filled a bottle half full of hop flowers and selaed it up. I found it about a month ago and it was really intense but really delicious. If i knwew a way to recreate this for all the bottles i would give it a go.

So i would give it a go if i was you, what the worst that could happen?

BTW the hops i used were galaxy flowers

EDIted TO ADD~ There was no extra foam to speak off when i poured it, it was just like any other beer.

 

[Florian]

I've tried it with quite a few bottles a while ago, and every single bottle was an absolute gusher, and the bit of beer that was left in the bottle was completely mixed with yeast and hop debris, so undrinkable.
Would not recommend, ended up tipping them, even tried a few in an ultrasonic cleaner in an attempt to reduce the Co2, no luck though.

 

[ekul]

you guys that had gushers, was it flowers or pellets? My last experiemnt went so well that i have been considering doing it again.

 

[Florian]

Pellets. There is no issue with dropping half a pellet into an opened bottle, but if i recap and open later it gushes. Should also add that I added the pellets once the beer was already carbed, cooled it right down and recapped straight away. Not sure if that has something to do with it though.

 

[Golani51]

Pellets. There is no issue with dropping half a pellet into an opened bottle, but if and open later it gushes. Should also add that I added the pellets once the beer was already carbed, cooled it right down and recapped straight away. Not sure if that has something to do with it though.

You definitely wouldn't want to use pellets imho. I had an issue with an ESB and it never settled once poured (after initally bubbling out). I have also thought about sticking a hop flower in the bottle. This would give a delightful aroma, without all the floaties. After tossing in freshies twice this week (at Red Hill flowers straight off the vine into a beaut Belgian, and tonight at the Fed Square Micro brewery 'do'), I trust it is worthy of a couple bottles. This is my intention with a couple bottles of what ever brews I'll be bottling this week.

 

[Nick JD]

I've added about 1g/L of pellet hops to bottles before (at bottling) and they've opened fine.

The hops settle below the sediment after a few days.

If you are worried about nucleation points and foaming, then you needn't. Just like the yeast at the bottom of the bottle isn't an issue with foaming.

 

[Pennywise]

Might be a better idea to make up a hop tea and syringe a bit into each bottle if you're having issues with gushing & pellets

 

[ekul]

When I added it to the beer i reckon it would have been about 15g in the bottle, so 20g/L The beer poured pretty clear because the hops stopped the yeast getting stirred up. The beer itself was a bright yellow colour and far hazier than the rest of the batch. It was really resinous and tasty. Not something you'd drink one after the other, more of a special treat. The more i think about it the more i think i'm going to do this again very soon...

 

[HeavyNova]

This topic has given me an idea for what to do with my harvest of 4 Saaz hop cones from my first year plants haha!

Would it be best to throw a dried flower in the bottle or fresher is better or it doesn't really matter?

Would it be best in a pilsner or a light lager? How do you think it would it go in a light ale?

 

[S.E]

Hey all,

I made an IPA but it got infected in the cube however I had a litre left over which I placed straight in the fridge, this did not get infected (smells and tastes good).

I made a 200ml scaled down yeast starter the other day and thought I'd ferment this litre out. It appears to be fermenting well (I have different sizes beakers etc so I can do this rather easily) as it should. I'll only get about two stubbies out of it, and I planned the recipe to be a split batch (in two 15L fermenters, out of the 27L primary fermenter), one half actually dryhopped with Cascade, the other dryhopped with Amarillo. The batch was made with these hops throughout, plus Horizon as well at bittering. I wanted to ferment it out so I could at least taste it, its my first IPA.

Question: I personally don't see why I can't drop the scaled down dryhop additions, which is actually about half a pellet, straight into the bottle then cap it, this being my dryhop stage, one bottle with Amarillo, one bottle for Cascade. Wasn't this hop IPAs first started, well similar to?

Would appreciate any thoughts or comments?

Cheers,
Steve

If you use screw top/PET bottles and vent them 1 or 2 days before drinking the hops will settle down again, it will be conditioned and not over carbed as an ipa should be. I have been doing this a fair bit lately. Just loosen the cap and reseal you may need to do this 3 or 4 times if it is over carbed.

It's similar to a cask of real ale being vented in the pub cellar a day or two before being served so the hops and yeast can settle again.

 

[Pennywise]

This topic has given me an idea for what to do with my harvest of 4 Saaz hop cones from my first year plants haha!

:lol: That's 4 better than mine have done for the last (first) two years