dry hopping

[hard water]

i've heard of dry hopping, i understand it addds aroma and that some commercial brewers do it. but how do you sterilise the hops before they go in the cask/keg?

[Trunky]

[far9410]

To go a bit further with this, when is the best time to dry hop, at flameout,when ferment has begun, or later and for how long?

[Trunky]

[hard water]

You don't.

ta

[far9410]

200gm Seems a hell of a lot of hops, is this a typical amount

[gnutz2]

Yes 200g is a lot of hops.

I dry hopped with 100g of cascade and it took about a month for the flavors to mellow out.

[argon]

To go a bit further with this, when is the best time to dry hop, at flameout,when ferment has begun, or later and for how long?

'tis true that you can add dry additions of hops at pretty much anytime you wish, and each will give you a different aroma/flavour profile. Although i wouldn't classify flameout additions as dry hopping. The volatile compounds will be solubolised almost immediately when coming into contact with the hot wort adding bitterness and flavour and losing some aroma. Dryhopping usually refers to adding hops to the wort/beer after it has cooled to below temps that can solubolise some of the volatiles compounds in the hops.

A fairly widely accepted time to add hops to the wort/beer is a little after high krausen, when most of the yeast activity has slowed down. Adding the hops prior to this will cause the aroma compounds to be blown off by the yeast and Co2 production. You still want enough Co2 to protect the beer after opening your vessel and adding hops, but not so much that you lose all those aromas.

For those that rack to secondary, it's an excellent time to add hops to your secondary vessel. Dry hopping to secondary has the added advantage of avoiding the dry hop additions being coated (or mixed in) with the primary yeast cake. In my experience, racking onto dry hops, tends to give a brighter more aromatic profile in the finished beer.

Give it a go and see if you like it. A good starting point for a typical bitter is around 1g\l up to 2-3g\l for an IPA.

[Paddy Bubbles]

Dry hopping will also impart flavour to your beer, as well as aroma. Depending on the amount of hops you use (and how long for) it will also impart a grassy/herbaceous character that a lot of people like. Everything to be gained by dry-hopping you beer.

I dry-hop using a muslin bag which I've boiled in hot water for 15 mins. Chuck the hops into the bag and pop in the fermenter. I weigh down the hop bag using a sanitised mixing spoon/paddle. Works well for me.

I find racking to secondary before dry-hopping works well because you don't run the risk of upsetting sediment in your FV. But lots of people dry-hop in the primary with no problems. I've tried it both ways and just prefer the secondary. There's no "correct" way.

If you tell people what style of beer you're brewing, they might be able to give you suggestions about hop varieties and amounts...