Dry Hops and Finings

[gmc]

Hi,

I have been making homebrew for a while now but I am by no means an expert and still come across some rudimentary problems from time to time.

As a general rule, I like using dry hops and also using Harris Starbrite as finings. I ferment in my fermenter, then go to a bottling bucket and bottle for bottle conditioning all in one go.

My understanding, (which may be wrong) is that I should add the hops a few days before bottling. The closer to bottling day they are added, the more potent they will be. I typically add them 3 days before bottling.

I don't understand how the finings will impact the hops. Will they act to pull them out of suspension, thus decreasing the impact of the hops? That is a concern for me if I add them on the some day for example.

If I wish to do both steps, I would be inclined to add the hops 5 days before bottling and the finings 2 days before bottling. I am considering adding the hops 3 days before bottling for more impact and start adding the finings to the botlting bucket. I don't want to stir my primary fermenter when adding the finings because that seems very counterintuitive, even though thats what the instructions say. I don't mind lightly stiring my bottling bucket.

Can someone explain how the dry hopping stage and fining stage interact and whats the best way to incorporate both steps with the basic equipment I own. (I can't do cold crashing for example)

Thanks to all the people on this forum who are patient with basic questions from beginners.

 

[buddsy]

Interesting question.

I have a brew which has finished fermenting and has another week to go for conditioning.

I was going to dry hop but am planning to make and add a hop tea.

Im wondering if you done that you could strain very well before adding to your brew? I believe you add the tea as you bottle so you could do your finings a few days prior?

Just a thought?

buddsy

 

[gmc]

Thanks for the response.

I have never even heard of a hop tea so thats a compelling topic to look into. If its what I am guessing it is, i at least wouldn't need any more equipment than I already have.

 

[buddsy]

No as I understand you don't want boiling water but 60 deg and steep till cool for 6-8 hrs before adding.

If you boil it will add bitterness which you prob don't want

Buddsy

 

[gmc]

Down the rabbit hole in this website and turned up this incredibly useful video. All seems rather straight forward.

 

[buddsy]

turned up this incredibly useful video

Thats where I got my information.

Its what Im planning for the next stage on my IPA im making.

buddsy

 

[gmc]

Thats where I got my information.

Its what Im planning for the next stage on my IPA im making.

buddsy

Send me an DM when yours is ready to drink. I will make a tea for the porter I have on atm. I will let you know if it worked out in a few weeks

 

[Birdsnestbrewery]

I just added some dry hops to my golden ale, the intention is to bottle after 3 days. I never use a bottling bucket but bottle direct from my grainfather fermenter. I am planning to cool it and add finings to the fermenter on Saturday and bottle on Sunday. I guess that will be a bit more than 3 days but I will see how it goes.

 

[d.carey]

No as I understand you don't want boiling water but 60 deg and steep till cool for 6-8 hrs before adding.

If you boil it will add bitterness which you prob don't want

Buddsy

6 to 8 hours? Have you tried this before?

 

[hoppyscotty]

What you want out of your dry hops are the oils contained within the hops...everything else that makes up the hop is just useless to the process. I've read recent studies and experiences from pro commercial breweries that suggests for just aroma and flavour then you only really need to dry hop for 24 hrs. Any longer than that you start pulling other flavours from the hops, like more spicy/earthy notes...which you may or may not want, but typically for aromatic dry hopped beers where you want them to be fruity/citroussy/juicy as possible then you need no more than 24hrs contact time.

On my smaller batch system I'll soft crash to 15 degrees C then transfer the fermented beer out of the fermenter and into a keg with the dry hops in a stainless steel mesh tube. I'lldry hop at 15 degrees C for the contact time before cold crashing for a couple of days then transferring into a serving keg for conditioning and carbonating. From there I can bottle or hook upto my keggarator. This works really well for me.

If your worried that cold crashing or even filtering might reduce or impact hop aroma and flavour then consider the fact that most breweries that specialise in hop forward IPA style beers will centrifuge their beer on the way to packaging. This is a far more aggressive and effective solids filtering process than cold crashing or even mechanical filtering via mesh screens or paper filters, and they still produce super hoppy beers and even hazy beers.

So cold crash and filter away. You wont be stripping hop aroma and flavour from your beer.

 

[Nucbrewer]

I normally add hops 3 days before adding finings and cold crashing for a day then transfer to a bottling bucket. I use a sterilised sainsburys mesh veg bag over the end of my siphon to filter out any chunky hop bits. I am thinking of not bothering with finings as I bottle my beer and they always clear when conditioning.