Captain 3 Droids Posted January 12, 2020 Report Share Posted January 12, 2020 Discussions about dry hopping are everywhere so thought I’d start up this thread for specific dry hop discussions. I prefer to dry hop with hop pellets. It is common to add the hops when fermentation is just about complete using a hop bag, hop ball or other item that will contain the pellets but allow leeching. With the droid this can be done when “ready to keg” is notified leaving the hops in for 24 to 48 hours of the ready to keg mode. However you can do it earlier on the downward spiral of fermentation so to speak. I look at the recipe profile or information from a previous brew of the recipe to ascertain a rough “ready to keg” time line and add the hops a few days before. Example a brew is predicted to finish fermentation in 8 days, then I’ll add the hops around day 6. If it’s longer than 8 days it is no big deal. Anyway the thread is open for discussion, questions, information, outcomes etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted January 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2020 Now you can also dry hop in the keg. As an experiment I dry hopped in the droid (Stone & Wood Pacific Ale) with galaxy then transferred the hop bag to a 10l stainless steel keg. You can also dry hop direct to a keg missing the droid application. I can see no reason why you could not add a hop bag (with say 10g of pellets for 5l keg) to the Brewflo kegs. Need someone to try this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Courtney Posted January 12, 2020 Report Share Posted January 12, 2020 Probably the keg spear might make it difficult in the keg. I'd worry about it rupturing the mesh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Percy Posted January 17, 2020 Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 Hey Guys, You might think I am crazy, but gonna give this a crack. I have a Coopers Sparkling Ale brewprint on the go and I am going to dry hop with 20g of Citra via hop bomb directly to the droid for 2 days at EOF. I notice the cans from the store have Pride of Ringwood on the labels, but I doubt I will get to a home brew store. I have the Citra on hand, and keen to experiment with dry hopping. I generally cold crash for 24 - 48 hours before kegging to 10l kegs. Unsure if I remove hop bomb prior to cold crash (risk infection), skip the cold crash, or leave in droid whilst crashing (risk over hopping). Thoughts? Percy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted January 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 1 hour ago, Percy said: Hey Guys, You might think I am crazy, but gonna give this a crack. I have a Coopers Sparkling Ale brewprint on the go and I am going to dry hop with 20g of Citra via hop bomb directly to the droid for 2 days at EOF. I notice the cans from the store have Pride of Ringwood on the labels, but I doubt I will get to a home brew store. I have the Citra on hand, and keen to experiment with dry hopping. I generally cold crash for 24 - 48 hours before kegging to 10l kegs. Unsure if I remove hop bomb prior to cold crash (risk infection), skip the cold crash, or leave in droid whilst crashing (risk over hopping). Thoughts? Percy Great your experimenting in hops. With the Sparkling Ale, your Citra plan will be fine. Pride of Ringwood is something I’d leave alone for a while, it has its certain place. If your using the droid, personally I don’t cold crash, don’t really see the point. Skip that and remove your hop bomb when ready to keg. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Courtney Posted January 17, 2020 Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 1 hour ago, Barrelboy said: If your using the droid, personally I don’t cold crash, don’t really see the point. Skip that and remove your hop bomb when ready to keg. Speaking the truth there. Used to cold crash religiously for 4 days and now I don't anymore and there is no difference to the clarity of the beer. The only difference was I waited 4 days longer to keg my beer 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted January 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 11 hours ago, Rob Courtney said: Speaking the truth there. Used to cold crash religiously for 4 days and now I don't anymore and there is no difference to the clarity of the beer. The only difference was I waited 4 days longer to keg my beer So true. It’s a different story with a lot of all grain recipe brews that need to be cleaned up” (and then transferred to a serving keg leaving the crap behind) however the ingredients used here are clean and smooth so to speak. With the hop pellets the hop bags/bombs ect do a good job. There is very little sediment in the bottom of the keg when finished. In addition you cold crash in a way when you put your keg in the fridge and leave for a few days. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul84 Posted January 18, 2020 Report Share Posted January 18, 2020 4 hours ago, Barrelboy said: So true. It’s a different story with a lot of all grain recipe brews that need to be cleaned up” (and then transferred to a serving keg leaving the crap behind) however the ingredients used here are clean and smooth so to speak. With the hop pellets the hop bags/bombs ect do a good job. There is very little sediment in the bottom of the keg when finished. In addition you cold crash in a way when you put your keg in the fridge and leave for a few days. Yeah thats the truth . Never gone out of my way to cold crash from the droid . The trub at the bottom always seems to settle easy enough. And because i just do I always pull the keg liner and tip it down the sink , saves putting it in the bin with liquid . Always a little more sediment in there , but only a touch ... and i have found the 9 pints to start the keg come out clear , its only the last pint from the keg that can come out a little hazy ( but doesnt upset the flavor , just feel a little more full after drinking it 😉) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Percy Posted January 30, 2020 Report Share Posted January 30, 2020 How good is dry hopping!! I think I have found a ripper here. Tasting early with very powerful hop taste but "wow" so good. I assume the hops will calm down a little after time and this one is going to be something special! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted January 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2020 Glad you found a ripper, gives you incentive to continue with hop additions of all sorts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul84 Posted February 23, 2020 Report Share Posted February 23, 2020 @Barrelboy, just moving my pale ale convo here because its more about dry hopping now , seems silly to flood a chat about starsan with DH. So can you reuse hop bags ? I was looking at a hop strainer but didnt end up coming . Will look at an ebay one 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted February 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2020 33 minutes ago, Paul84 said: @Barrelboy, just moving my pale ale convo here because its more about dry hopping now , seems silly to flood a chat about starsan with DH. So can you reuse hop bags ? I was looking at a hop strainer but didnt end up coming . Will look at an ebay one 🙂 Good move, copy of reply- Yes reusable, clean and sanitise well. I had a big sock and cut It down to make 4 tubes. Tie knot one end, hops in and tie end. When finished undo both end for easy cleaning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Courtney Posted March 11, 2020 Report Share Posted March 11, 2020 Could kick myself, kegged and bottled a Birra, I didn't look at the notes and just hopped with Hersbrucker and not with a touch of Saaz...oh well, next time I guess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted March 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2020 It happens, don’t think any untoward flavours will develop. Will be an interesting experiment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Courtney Posted March 12, 2020 Report Share Posted March 12, 2020 11 hours ago, Barrelboy said: It happens, don’t think any untoward flavours will develop. Will be an interesting experiment. Up to now I have been using only Hersbrucker hops oils, so it should be fine, just wanted to try both 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul84 Posted March 13, 2020 Report Share Posted March 13, 2020 Hey guys . How do you store your hops . Will be breaking mine out on next brew 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Courtney Posted March 13, 2020 Report Share Posted March 13, 2020 3 hours ago, Paul84 said: Hey guys . How do you store your hops . Will be breaking mine out on next brew 🙂 Hops unpackaged can be kept in the fridge, once broken into they should be stored in the freezer. I have got tons of those zipline bags from Brewart in my time, I put the hops in one of those ( still keep them in the original packaging) and then put in the freezer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul84 Posted March 21, 2020 Report Share Posted March 21, 2020 Ok guys . Gonna dry hop this Coopers Pale this morning. How long do you recommend to leave the hops for . I am thinking 2 days would be convinient for me , but could take out earlier or later. Is there any issue if it goes into storage mode ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted March 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2020 10 minutes ago, Paul84 said: Ok guys . Gonna dry hop this Coopers Pale this morning. How long do you recommend to leave the hops for . I am thinking 2 days would be convinient for me , but could take out earlier or later. Is there any issue if it goes into storage mode ? I take it your using hop pellets. 2 days will be fine and if it goes into the storage mode there will not be any major issues. I’ve started an excel spreadsheet on fermentation times for each brew and correlate that with yeast dates (out of interest) and as an estimation as to when I dry hop. 2 days is usually the length of time and find this quite acceptable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul84 Posted March 21, 2020 Report Share Posted March 21, 2020 Awesome. Yeah I plan to bottle this Tuesday Morning once I finish night shift. So i hopped it and yeah with pellets , i went 15gr cascade and 15gr challenger ( shemsheet said 30 of each) but i heeded your advice @Barrelboy and went a little conservative. God that cascade smelt so good. Challenger also good but heaps earthier. Cant wait to see. Just put whole hop bag in might need to find a floater for next time lol . Put open bags in freezer in ziplock bags . Though seemed a strange concept . You dont have to worry about freezer burn or moisture getting into the hops ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain 3 Droids Posted March 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2020 34 minutes ago, Paul84 said: Awesome. Yeah I plan to bottle this Tuesday Morning once I finish night shift. So i hopped it and yeah with pellets , i went 15gr cascade and 15gr challenger ( shemsheet said 30 of each) but i heeded your advice @Barrelboy and went a little conservative. God that cascade smelt so good. Challenger also good but heaps earthier. Cant wait to see. Just put whole hop bag in might need to find a floater for next time lol . Put open bags in freezer in ziplock bags . Though seemed a strange concept . You dont have to worry about freezer burn or moisture getting into the hops ? Great stuff, hops should really add to this one. I use a hop bag, it initially sinks, the pellets absorb the brew, release goodness, swell and float to the top. On top hop goodness filters down. Works well I’d say. personally I’ve never frozen the hops. Once opened I seal the bag in a zip bag and remove as much air as possible. Store in the fridge. I do this because of limited freezer room and most of the hops don’t hang around for all that long. Might not be the right thing to do but happy with results I get in any event. (hop flowers I believe must be frozen to avoid mildew) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul84 Posted March 22, 2020 Report Share Posted March 22, 2020 Dont know I just heard about freezer being best method , i have just whacked them back in the fridge. But yeah they are double bagged in the fridge in ziplock bags. Might see if I can get a couple of vacuum tubs and then they should stay fresh indefinetely 🙂 . I just know with coffee that should not sit in fridge or freezer because the bean sucks in the moisture ( rotting the beans ) and also sucking in nasty flavors lol. Being that pellets are fresh produce instead i would think cool would be best , but cool dehumidified space would be awesome 😄 . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Courtney Posted March 22, 2020 Report Share Posted March 22, 2020 Interested to hear how the hops you use end up 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul84 Posted March 22, 2020 Report Share Posted March 22, 2020 I am looking forward to it so much . I can only ruin it from here. Cascade has such an amazing smell , very much what i love to get every can on an pale ale or Neipa I open. Ill have a sample on Tuesday but will have to wait 4 more week after that 😞 . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul84 Posted March 25, 2020 Report Share Posted March 25, 2020 So @Rob Courtney, no dramas using ziplock bags in the fridge with your hops ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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