Dry Hopping Question

[buntyfarmer]

Hi,

I made my first attempt at a all grain brew on saturday, everything appears to have gone to plan. I used 50g delta hops in the boil, roughly following a recipe on here somewhere. I then dry hopped with 10g of chinook in a little bag. Total volume in fermenter is 10 litres. At present it tastes v bitter and the chinook aroma is not coming through at all. Firstly, is this likely to change over the next ten days of it fermenting and secondly, is there an increased risk of infection if i open up the fermentation barrel and put another bag of hops in? I am normally reluctant to do this with my usual kit brews in case something nasty floats in.

Thanks

[TC2642]

Should be fine, I just dump around 20gms loose into my FV (for 25ltrs) about a week after its started, leave for another week and keg.

[buntyfarmer]

ok thanks i will give this a try and see how it goes....

if i use a bag will i need more (surface area will be less) hops?

[TC2642]

Can't see too much of a a problem, you could try weighing it down with sterilised marbles to get as much of the hops in the beer as possible. I did use to do it this way but I haven't found a problem with putting them in loose, maybe try it both ways and see which is best for you?

[BozBru]

I do a similar thing to TC2642, except I bung the late hops in the FV dry, then drop the wort on top and ferment as usual. (I would still late hop in the boiler, drop to 80c, stir in the late, leave for 20-30 mins, then cool as normal) Its too easy to get hung up on the sterilised issues, sometimes you just gotta suck it and see.

[TC2642]

I do a similar thing to TC2642, except I bung the late hops in the FV dry, then drop the wort on top and ferment as usual. (I would still late hop in the boiler, drop to 80c, stir in the late, leave for 20-30 mins, then cool as normal) Its too easy to get hung up on the sterilised issues, sometimes you just gotta suck it and see.

Yeah, I agree, don't get too hung up on worrying about infection from hops. I've recently been putting my late hop additions in the boiler at 80oC as suggested by Gaz (steel city brewing) to preserve as much flavour as possible, hops are a natural antiseptic anyway so adding them at any point post boil isn't a real problem for me and I have not had any infection from using this method.

Saying that I will only use hops that have been in the freezer to minimise problems, even without this method I cannot see a big problem with it.

The only problem I can see from putting the hops into the FV post boil is that the aroma may be scrubbed off from the fermentation but again, as you said, it is a bit of a suck it and see method, try it with two beers and see which comes out the best.

[jimp2003]

^^^ Spammer reported

[BozBru]

Cheers mate.

When late hopping, it's always advisable to try and cap the boiler, put the lid on as best as you can. Keep the fumes in the boiler. I've cut a couple of slits in the lid to make the IC sit prettier. But, I am anal.

I've never had any issues with the following, RE late's. Cool to 80c, bung your preferred late hops in, leave for 15 mins, (30 mins would be funky), after the liquor has absorbed, cool to pitching and treat as a kit.

Boz